A new journey

[Jake Allen]

Rabbit pellets will harden it up w fiber. I put too much in my first batch and it was too hard. Trial and error ....

I agree. The digested grass fiber should reinforce the resin mixture. Kind of like fiberglass, aka Fiber Reinforced Polyester.

On a side note, Pine resin is also a good antiseptic.

Good stuff Todd, I am enjoying this thread.

 

[Todd Cook]

Well, it seems to work pretty good. I tried to wiggle the broadheads around and they seem tight. I may put some fiber in it yet though. I did something else I thought was pretty neat. In the spirit of making my stuff, I made some stain, or dye. I don't really know what to call it, but it brings out the color in the wood. I put a pad of steel wool in a glass of vinegar about a week ago and used it as stain. It goes on clear but it soon turns color. After about 5 minutes I washed it off with denatured alchohol. I like it. The light colored one is a raw piece of poplar.

 

[Al33]

They look great Todd, and like many others, I sure am enjoying this thread and your journey. I have been busy the past few months making river cane arrows and stone points. Fun stuff.

 

[Todd Cook]

I loaded up a BUNCH of stuff tonight to take to Appling. Me, Vance, Charlie 2 arrows, Avid Archer, and whoever wants to join us are going to try and build some stuff this weekend. I'll take some pics.

 

[Al33]

I loaded up a BUNCH of stuff tonight to take to Appling. Me, Vance, Charlie 2 arrows, Avid Archer, and whoever wants to join us are going to try and build some stuff this weekend. I'll take some pics.

I'll be bringing my knapping tools. Hope I will have time to join you guys.

 

[2wheelfoster]

I will join in... Don't know anything about knapping......but....I want to learn!!! See y'all there!

 

[Todd Cook]

We just got home from a wonderful weekend. Above all things, my son decided to give his life to Christ. He is turning into a fine young man, and I'm very proud of him. I set up shop right beside camp and we went at it. I went to make a couple of hunting arrows, and I did, but forgot to take pictures of them. Soon I had plenty of company.

Vance brought his first attempt at making a bow, the osage piece he's posted about on here before. He had shot it a few times, but the weight was much lower than he wanted. So, I talked him into chopping 2 inches off each end. Never fear, it worked out fine and ended up a 42 or so pound weapon, throwing a hard arrow.

 

[Todd Cook]

Charlie 2 arrows showed up early too, with a big bundle of river cane in hand. We got a fire lit and straightened some, and soon were shooting one. It was the first cane he had shot, and it flew great.

 

[Todd Cook]

More soon!

 

[Todd Cook]

George(Buddy) Darden brought over a bamboo backed hickory he'd been working on. It had started to hinge a little bit, and I was worried it was headed to kid bow weight, but he pulled a rabbit out of his hat and fixed it. He worked several hours on it, scraping a little and pulling it a little farther, and it turned into a good bow.

 

[Todd Cook]

Monkeywrench showed up a little later and started on a hickory stave cut about a year ago. The fine folks at the Appling Woodworkers shop let us use the bandsaw, and soon it started to look like a bow.

 

[Todd Cook]

We had lots of visitors and onlookers throughout the 2 days. Shane Whitlock worked some too, as did Seth( he showed me just enough about flint knapping to make me dangerous. I had cut myself with a obsidian flake within 5 minutes.) Some just visited and kept us company.

 

[Todd Cook]

Michelle even started on a bow. Caught the bug bad. Talking about me adding on to my shop.

 

[Todd Cook]

I know these last few posts have drifted off the topic of the thread a little, but I wanted to show what a good time we had making homemade stuff. I work alone a lot, but this is so much better.

And folks, I need to tell you about Appling. If you like to have fun, be around good people, and shoot your bow, please try this event next year. This is our 4th year, and I'll go back as long as they have it or as long as I'm able.( I hope both are a long time).

This is a bow tournament, but it's so much more. The Appling Archers are a ministry done by Kiokee Baptist Church at Appling Ga. The Shoot is free. Everything's free. They feed the masses 3 times a day for 2 and 1/2 days. Camper spots with hookups, bath and shower houses, A huge central pavilion to gather under, tent sites, vendors, kind hearted people, devotionals, and the Word spoken freely. What a wonderful place.

 

[Clipper]

Sounds like a great weekend for you in more than one way. I am glad to hear your son made the most important decision of his life while there.

 

[Todd Cook]

I've been sorting/ culling arrows today. I figured out recently that my broadhead arrows need to be a little stiffer than the field point arrows. The hardest part of this project, by far, has been trying to make a matched set of arrows. Going forward, I need to slow down make sure the spine/ weight is very close. Different boards produce different shafts( weight , diameter, and spine).

I've got several arrows that fly great, as in no wobble, but wont shoot into a group. If I'm going to hunt with them, I need to know that which ever one I grab out of the quiver will go where it's pointed.

The broadheads are tough too, mainly because I don't have a great way to cut them out. A metal cutting band saw would be great.

These 3 I've been hitting a 6 inch circle at 17 yards pretty regular. I can live with that. The cartridge case blunt is for stumping.

I'm going pig hunting this weekend and do the first trial run of my equipment. I don't have the shooting glove or armguard made yet, but this was a goal for deer anyway.

 

[longbowdave1]

Great looking setup Todd. Good luck on the hog hunt!

 

[gurn]

Todd This has been a great thread, really interesting stuff. I sure have learned a lot. The arras and the bow look great.

 

[Todd Cook]

I haven't posted in a while on this thread; life gets busy you know It's been so hot in my shop I haven't done much lately, but I have started on something.

I've shot ole lumpy enough now to learn what she likes. And my arrows were really a bit weak. I shot some of my fir out of her and she shoots better than ever. I've always believed in letting a bow tell you what it wants to shoot instead of the other way around. So I'm making up some stiffer shafts.

These are made of Douglas Fir. I tried a new idea for the finish, and liked the way it turned out. I've been making some cane shafts also, and although I really like them, I'm getting better consistency with wood shafts. So I decided to color them like cane, the best I could.

I didn't come up with the burnt markings; I learned that from Dendy. And the stain is ancient; I dissolved steel wool in vinegar for about a month. I wiped the liquid on the shafts and then washed it off with water after about 5 minutes. The longer you leave it on, the darker it gets. The mixture forms a mild acid, so you have to wash it off.

I'm going to do self nocks and turkey feathers. And I've got to get some color on them to see them in flight. The turkey feathers just disappear. The one on the far right is cane.

 

[AllAmerican]

Sweet! Can't wait to see a deer pic with all of that. Nice job Mr. Cook!