Mkii Automaton

 I've started on the mk ii automaton. Its based on the mki and on the copper sculpture I made some time back (it's approx' twice its size). The waist pivots and I've mad two shoulder blades which are split to house the shoulder bearings/joints. It's relatively easy to build up the framework, the animation will be the tricky bit. I'll probably power it with an electric motor this time, or at least with a gearbox from a motor/gearbox assembly salvaged from my last employment.
The real challenge is to see if I can make it load the arrow, but that is probably too tricky... we'll see :-)

H Bow smashed and a new camera

 I bought a new camera off E-Bay, a Sony RX100 iv, it has much better performance and 1000fps slo-mo ( but only for 4 seconds).. the HFR (high frame rate) slo-mo has an interesting feature. You can trigger it before the event you want to film, or after (post trigger)! (It must run a continuous 4 second buffer)
I was setting up to try some more slo mo of the H-bow when it exploded, unfortunately I didn't even capture it on video! That's because when it went bang, I didn't have the presence of mind to post trigger the camera as I was too busy swearing.
I did some test filming with a bow on the tiller and the quality is vastly better, mind I'm not sure how it will look on youtube as their processing sometimes reduces the quality.

Automaton Musings

 I've been toying with the idea of a bigger improved archer automaton.
Maybe steam powered , 8' tall self propelling, sentient and able to take over the world (cackles wildly). Sorry, getting carried away in steam punk fantasy for a moment. But seriously, something more modest, but made of steel with a greater range of movement and maybe 2' tall.
My gasless mig welder has proved to be very handy and capable of doing fairly fine work, and the mechanical release aid for the H bow, could well be the basis for the archers hand and loosing mechanism.
I have a few other projects to get on with first, but it's good to have ideas bubbling away in the background.
I've just bought a new camera off E-bay that should have a much better slo-mo capability (well slightly faster frame rate, but at full screen and decent resolution). I'm also looking at improved lighting, which is needed for high speed photography.
The next actual bow I'll be making will be a Rowan primitive.
Meanwhile I'm doing a bit of practice shooting into the garage as I've booked into a field shhot at the end of the month... I only do one or two these days and Cloth of Gold is always a good shoot and a chance to meet up with some mates.

High Tech addition to the H Bow

 Low tech-high tech!

I've made this flight bow ~50# @ 19" draw.

The bow itself is made from a single piece of Yew (38" long), slotted down the middle, steamed and then spread apart to allow the arrow to shoot through the centre. 

The extended grip allows the short draw to be shot from my usual anchor point. 

A brass weight adds stability, helping to avoid the bow tipping forward until the arrow has left the bow.

Elevation is shown by a plywood pendulum with a brass weight. When the bow is at 45 degrees 2  pointers line up just above the flat 'deck'.

The high tech addition is the doppler radar (OEM unit bought online) which measures arrow speed and has some limited tracking capability. Data is transmitted to a phone app that gives velocity, approx' range and position of the arrow which has a thin strip of aluminium foil stuck along the shaft to act as a radar reflector. 

To give a clean loose I've made a mechanical release aid. The pic' shows the finger position when in use. I've had test shots with a leather 'flipper' release but haven't tried the mechanical version with this bow yet. Current best 286 yards...