dicksarcheryactivities

Archery Bulletin Board - This is a handy board where I can post archery projects or adventures either as I work on them on on completion. Sometimes these projects end up becoming permanent postings under their own link, sometimes they are of only temporary interest. Subject to frequent change.

A Gallery of Some of My Bows - Here are some of the bows I have made that stuck in my mind for whatever reason. There are frequent comments on things that were different about many of the bows, and the actual layup formula for each is given.

How I Build a Bow - Here is a step by step explanation of how I built one of my earlier bows. It's so detailed it takes multiple pages, so you'll encounter new links as you go. There's a lot of valuable basi information here, though over the past couple of years, I've refined and modified how I do some things. See below...

How I Build a Bow 2 - I built Arrowl Flynn, the bow in "How I Build a Bow" above, a couple of years ago. Since then, my building techniques have developed and I do some things quite differently. I recently built a bow for a bow swap. As a prelude to it, I did the project of converting a flat sander to a vertical edge sander and used that for the build. That project turned out very well and is covered below. The bow actual bow build turned into a detailed build along showing how I do things now.

The Bow Styles I Build - As more folks getting into building visit my site, we get involved in email discussions of my bows, and I thought it would be helpful if there was one place that showed the styles, or models, I build. The Gallery (above) is great for looking at lots of bows, but it's not handy for checking on just what a specific style is like. I'm hoping this will help.

Design Specs for Building My Traditional Stringfollow Bow Form (Bamboozle) - I've received a lot of questions about Bamboozle and my Traditional bow pattern, which features fairly extreme string follow. This is the most forgiving bow design I've ever shot. It's not as easy to build a shaped form as the flat forms I use most, but the process is basically straightforward, a 1/1/2" plywood layup with the bow form shape sawn off the top. There are numerous presentation fo this procedure on the web. I think this information should give you what you need to end up with the form shape required.

How It Goes - The two links above are to pictorial bow build alongs. This page is something different, a narrative diary of an actual building project, day by day. Every project is a bit different and every bowyer works a bit differently. Each bowyer has tools they favor over others and techniques they have found work well for them. No one way is always right for every bowyer or for every bow. You start, and then you use all your past experience to cope. It never goes exactly as planned! Hopefully, this is a window into the thinking and working process: the decisions that have to made, the problems that always arise, and how I dealt with them in this case. I hope that you find it of interest and helpful.

Using the Connexion Hinge to Build a Two Piece Longbow - There always seems to be a degree of interest in making two piece bows, and particularly in converting an existing bow from one piece to two piece. I've had numerous two piece bows, from noted makers and companies, using different systems. I recently decided to try to build one using the Connexion hinge, a system that used to be used by Black Widow bows. It's an interesting experiment.

Building a Bow Oven - A bow oven is necessary to cook, or "cure", a wood and glass laminated bow. Here is how I built mine.

New Glue Room and Modified Bow Oven - I recently modified my furnace room to provide a specialized glue up space. This included modifying my oven from top opening to front opening. Here is the result.

Building a Bow Form - Once you have an oven, you need a bow form... a structure on which to lay up the type of bow you want. Here's how I built mine.

Building a Bow Form 2 - Much of the material here is aimed at helping newcomers to laminated longbow making. I figure that if they can see my development and learning process, it should be of some help to them. I recently had an idea for a new approach to building a very simple form with less cost and effort than is usually involved. The idea is simply to use a piece of 1 1/2" square tubing and lay the bow up on that. This page shows how I went about it.

Converting a Horizontal Belt/Disk Sander to a Vertical Edge Sander - A vertical edge sander is a fantastically useful tool to a bowyer. I'm blessed with a big 6x80, but many folks don't have the room or the budget for that machine. In this section I convert a 6x48 horizontal belt/disk sander, a much more common and less expensive machine (often to be found used) to a vertical edge sander.

Captain Dick's Shop - Here is the shop I work in. I've gone to a lot of trouble to set it up so that I can work efficiently in the small space I have.	Bowroom - This is my bow room, which also contains my arrow building work bench and a nice indoor target.
Back Yard Field Range - In August 2006, I finally finished my back yard field range, featuring 6 bag targets on a very compact move around course. The course was updated in 2008. This link will take you to pictures of the whole layout and information on how I went about the process of building it.	A Tour of My Local Club Range - I have membership and access to an excellent shooting and archery facility here in the Seattle area, the Washington Wildlife Committee's Kenmore shooting ranges. I took a camera around the field archery course with me... come on along.

Making a 3D Pig Target - My range is in my back yard. I can't have commercial 3D targets due to the hard curved surfaces they have on rumps and backs, which make ricochets likely. With a hog hunt coming up, I needed a target to practice on, including broadheads, so I made "Herman"... a more or less 3D target. He's worked out well, and cost me less than $40.

Dick Makes Arrows - "See Dick make arrows. Fletch, Dick, fletch". Yep, sounds like the Dick and Jane reader, doesn't it? It may come off that way, too. Here is my first effort in arrow making, step by step, picture by picture. Hopefully, others can learn something from what I did.

Setting Up a String Jig - The first time I built a child's bow I had to find a way to make strings shorter than the standard jig I had would accomodate. It turned out not to be hard to adapt the jig to cover a much wider range of strings. Here's what I did, and also how I set up and use a jig.

Making a Yarn Silencer - Sometimes folks want to quiet a bow string down. You can buy silencers, but it's real easy to make one with a bit of yarn.

Lakota Quivers - I am unable to use a back quiver and found the Lakota, or Plains Indian quiver very satisfactory. I made some up in 2006, using some leftover upholstery leather. I wanted to post a build-a-long eventually. While eventually was coming, Dennis Jackson posted a very good Lakota build-a-long and kindly gave permission for me to use his material here. I wanted to try building a heavier one, and went ahead and also did that, varying considerably in technique from what Dennis did. This link accesses a page with three links: to my original effort, Dennis' build-a-long and the second quiver effort that I made. If you want to make a Lakota quiver, you certainly should get the ideas and information you need by reviewing all of these pages.

Making a Simple Hip Quiver and Arm Brace - I liked my Lakota quivers, but once I tried them, I found that I like the simplicity of a regular hip quiver even more. However, I wanted a hip quiver a little longer than standard and was due for a project, so off I went. Here is the process and result. I had a lot of fun and hope if you try it you will, too.

Building a Shooting Machine - If your really want to know how your bow is performing, you need to be able to machine shoot it through a chronograph. It isn't that hard to build a machine to do this accurately. I had a lot of fun building and testing it.

Building a Paper Tuning Frame - Paper tuning is one of the popular and easier ways to tune arrows. If you're going to be doing much of it, a frame to hold a roll of paper is a great convenience. I put one together quickly and easily.

Making a Canvas Roll Up Bow Case for a Take Down Bow - When I posted my first take down bow, I included pictures of the canvas roll up case I made for it. The case got more reaction than the bow did! I promised I would do an instructional page on how to make it.

Archery Shoots and Adventures - For many of the major shoots I go to, I build a web page documenting the shoot as a "mini-adventure". This lets folks who went relive the event, folks who couldn't go see what they missed and those who just feel like an armchair 3D shoot share the experience. This link accesses records of shoots and other archery related events I go to each year. Come share my fun.

Stump Shooting - Stump shooting... going into the woods and just randomly picking old rotten stumps as targets, is a time honored archery tradition, and excellent training in shooting targets at unkown distances. I had been wanting to try it for a long time, but somehow just never got it organized. When I completed one of my first bows, I wanted to initiate it right, so I took it up to an old logged over area of Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains and we went stump shooting. Come along a trip through the beautiful northwest woods and shoot some stumps with me.

Trash Hunting - Rules and a Typical Hunt - Hunting wild or feral trashes is a wonderful archery pastime and a great way to get out in the woods, either for the enjoyment thereof or to sharpen your shooting skills. Here I present some background on trash hunting, along with a discussion of trash hunting ethics and equipment advice.

The Old Phartt, The Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs - While not by training or past history a hunter, I have been intrigued by the possibility of hunting invasive and/or damaging species like hogs and carp. Somehow, the possibility of doing that never came my way... until Sept. '09, when I got the chance to go to Texas hog hunting. This is the story of that advenure, told as it unfolds.

Targets and Backstops - Here you will see examples of target and backstop ideas used by members of the Howard Hill Longbowmen.

Restoring Wet Feathers - I hate shooting in the rain because of the affect it has on my fletching. Here's a simple way to get the fletching back into good shape after shooting in the rain.

Shipping Longbows - Bows are particularly vulnerable to shipping damage. Here are some thoughts and examples of how to and how not to do it.

As I See It - I am a rather philosophical person and like to ponder things. Sometimes those things are archery related. I reach conclusions on issues, and those conclusions are purely my own, but I do like to post them for others to think about. They can agree or disagree, but the thinking, I believe, strengthens our understanding of archery as a whole, where it's been and where it's going. If you're feeling up for some reflection, get a cup of coffee (or better yet a good pipe) and check out the things that may appear here from time to time.

Collection of Club Patches - As I go to shoots, correspond with other shooters, etc., I try to collect patches as souveniers. I have plans to make a large quilt, with an archery patch in each of 80 blocks. I still need more club patches... hint, hint.

The Legend of Arrowl Flynn - This is a children's story of how a bow came to be, meant to be read to young archers.

The Shoot Light Concept - I take every opportunity to promote the use of lighter bows to prolong the shooting life of archers. This is a good idea that will keep old archers shooting and help young archers keep shooting longer.

Traditional Bowhunters of Washington - This is my state trad organization, of which I am a life member. They sponsor a number of fine 3D shoots, purely trad, very laid back and just for fun. If you are in Washington/Oregon/Idaho and don't know about them, or if you are planning to visit the area, check them out. There's a link on their site to access their shoot schedule.

(Formerly "Old Phartt's Archery")