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Bowmaking - (archery) some serious traditional craft woodworking

I've been researching an old Chinese bow that's been in the family since Grandpa brought it back sometime in the early 20thc.

Unfortunately, we've used it hard over a couple generations with little respect. So I'm trying to atone.
The missing string bridge still exists - somewhere in my cluttered office. Legend has it that dad (as a kid) eventually shot away all the original arrows. Then contrived his own out of dowels, tipped them with Grandpa's sail needles, and shot them all away over time, too. :)

Grandpa gave it to me in the 60's, at which point one of the limbs was herniated. I laced a reinforcement slat of oak over the bulge, and continued to shoot it occasionally.

I've got leads on most of the sites and dont' do facebook (where there is a lot of presence); beyond that, I'd be happy to hear any knowlegeable info.

Here's instructions to build one. :)

Bow making | Fe Doro - Manchu archery

smt
 

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As you say, serious craftsmanship. I have played around a bit with bow making but could only dream of aspiring to such a complex lamination. Thank you for your post.
 
I am by no means an expert, but it looms to be of the "reflex" design - what shape s it when it's unstrung?

What particular info are you after? I have a friend (woodworker) who knows a bit about bow making and wood and glues and the such
 
.... it looms to be of the "reflex" design - what shape s it when it's unstrung?

yes, it's a recurve bow.
When strung it looks about like the 2nd bow up from the bottom on this paqe:

Horn Bows - Saluki Bow Co.

What particular info are you after?

Age, use, where made.
About a decade ago an intern's mother(educated native Chinese)studied the glyphs and said they seemed to be sort of generic good luck symbols. "Longer ago than that" I don't remember the context or person who commented that it was too decorative for real war/weapon use and though fully funtional, might have been more ceremonial in intention. I do know the early types (1700's)usually had birch bark, not dragon skin :) on the limbs. They all had ray skin in the wear areas around the grip.

I have a friend (woodworker) who knows a bit about bow making and wood and glues and the such

I think the directions in the link in my first post are pretty complete except in the details (how thick the horn, how much mass of sinews) but i can't find which catalog to order those products or the fish bladders from. :D

smt
 
Hi Stephen:
A really nice resource for bowyers is a 4 volume set edited by Jim Hamm called "The Traditional Bowyer's Bible".
It's an absorbing read as well as a great "How To".

Here's an Amazon link:
The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 1: Jim Hamm: 978158574857: Books - Amazon.ca

If you want to repair it properly and get it the best it can be again; that set of books is a great starting place.
Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining
 
Marcus - vols. 2 + 3 of that set were suggested on OWWM & have been added to my wife's next Amazon order. :)
There are further resources from the Manchuarchery.org connections in the link in my first post.

Have you built a bow? (or more than one?) what kind? How long did it take?

I also posted this on OWWM.

It would be a hoot to build one, but I have to be careful which interests to pursue because currently, every new one pushes an old one off the other end of the shelf. I'm old enough at this point to think i will never hazard shooting this specific "historic?" bow again. Conservative feelings aside, the bow is far from original tension capability as is natural with natural materials. But it is tantalizing remembering how "different" the experience was from the modern recurves and fiberglass stick bows of my childhood. It would be quite wonderful to try that again with a new build; but not sure i have the years to devote to it at this point. More info is always good, though.

I'd like to learn more about the history. Say like if a highboy was posted here (on OWWM), many people would be able to immediately identify through the embellishment (carvings for the furniture) & materials, let alone the overall shape and proportions, whether it was US made, when, in what city, and for a distinctive or high quality piece; probably which actual maker might have been involved and when in his career of for which client. I of course would be astounded at that level of granularity, but this if posted in a few places. If nothing else here, it really is pretty neat wood & traditional materials "high technology" artifact.

"Value" is peripherally interesting in starting to reduce the clutter around here, from the perspective is it unusual enough to be in a museum or serious collection and better conserved, as opposed to hanging loosely on a nail on my wall; & possibly trashed on my demise.

smt
 
Stephen, I found a few longish videos on You Tube going through the process of making a ?Ukranian? version.
Again not wholly clear due to poorish transcription but gives you the idea.
The wholesale use of fish glue puts me off as I'm slightly phobic of fish smells!!
 
Is anyone else having a problem getting emails through to China including Hong Kong?
Any way around it?

I have at least one friend on the ground, last in Shanghai. We bonded over pool and the sticks i made while he was a math grad student at Cornell for a couple years. We had a weekly match & he reached out when he got back to China over last new years. I have not been able to raise him since. Also another, longer ago contact that used to keep in touch. The other one that obviously bounces (IOW, notified it did not go through, not just vanish in the ether) is several to Stephen Selby/ATARN who invites communication and seems to be active in media such as TED.

On the bow, one somewhat expert proposed a maker and era that is later than ship logs seem indicate it was acquired. The maker is not unlikely. But dates are at least a decade later than likely window of acquisition. That said, the bow seems later than i thought. I knew it was not an "ancient" bow because they were birch bark, not snakeskin & were less decorated. The deoorated bows started to occur in the early 20th c when it became clear that they were no longer going to be effective as a weapon of war. Interestingly, the last few makers could apparently sell "all they could make" to the Mongols between the 2 ww's.

This bow seems to date from between the wars as well, possibly as late as 1939 - 1940. Grandpa's original logs were lost when the Steel Navigator was torpedoed in the North Atlantic on Oct 19, 1942 and sank rapidly. Reconstructed logs including from a steady stream of post cards to his family seem consistent, and indicate no Asian voyages past the Indian Ocean between about 1940 & 1948. Unfortunately, the (extant) reconstructed logs start in 1938 with "voyage #44". He was originally shanghaied by a British crew in San Francisco, made a circumnavigation including first Horn passage, and was awarded AB papers at Tower Hill, London around 1903. He started a family & does not seem to have sailed between about 1920 & about 1934.

smt
 








 
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