Wednesday 28 December 2016

Funny Old Year 2016

Ha! I've got the archer automaton fished:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UajIxPdUZVE

Been a funny old year even ignoring world politics (which I try to do here).
I've made some decent bows, a 150# Warbow being my heaviest yet, an Osage flight bow that stretched my PB out a few yards to 310 yards. not to mention the hickory flight bow that was a bit dodgy with it's arrow snapping, 'shoot through' window.
The wonky hazel was fun and there were other primitives too, not all of which survived! A half of the Yew heartwood primitive which I ended up destruction testing became a mini bow which I shipped to the states for the Marshall  Primitive Archery Rendezvous mini bow challenge.

At a personal level, my funny turn at the start of the year made me wonder about the nature of memory and self, having lost my memory for several hours. We lost a pet cat and got another (rescue cat) I've retired and had plenty of visitors both old and new friends. I've harvested some Yew with friends and kept pretty busy. Retiring in September has given me more time to ejoy making bows and doing other stuff on my 'want to do' list.

The archer automaton has been engrosing and has been well received on Youtube, as have the two video series of making a Warbow and an ELB.
At times I get a bit jaded (especially after a breakage) and take a rest from making bows, but they always call me back. I'm still making a few to commission, but I'm getting more inclined to only make them for friends or those who are close at hand, that way I can maintain them... it's worth noting that having Warnbow shooting friends is an education in itself and the bows do need some care attention and maintenance to maximise their life.
Anyhow enough blethering on, all the best to all who read this and those I see at shoots I wish you all good fortune good health and good shooting for 2017.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Derek ,
    Happy New Year!
    I found your video"Archer Automaton" on Youtube,and I want to make the automaton(A gift of birthday) for my little brother.but I don't fully understand the mechanism of "archer automaton".How are arrow, bow, and human hand joined and separated?How do you make sure the arrow is in an accurate position?And how does the trajectory of the human arm work?
    Could you supply more detail picture and design instructions? I am curious of your design process.
    I am looking forward to your reply!
    Sincerely,
    Leslie Wu
    email:lesliewu1112@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Derek ,
    Happy New Year!
    I found your video"Archer Automaton" on Youtube,and I want to make the automaton(A gift of birthday) for my little brother.but I don't fully understand the mechanism of "archer automaton".How are arrow, bow, and human hand joined and separated?How do you make sure the arrow is in an accurate position?And how does the trajectory of the human arm work?
    Could you supply more detail picture and design instructions? I am curious of your design process.
    I am looking forward to your reply!
    Sincerely,
    Leslie Wu
    email:lesliewu1112@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, I will take some more detailed pictures later today, but the real point is that this sort of thing is very much built by trial and error. Almost every part was made at least twice and modified/adjusted. The adjustment of the linkage between cams and rods took a lot of experimentation. even when finished it is rather temperamental. It was really just built to show the principal.
    BTW you shouldn't really post your E-mail address as the spam bots will probably pick it up.

    ReplyDelete