I finally got the brush rest done on the Hickory flight bow, so I went to the flight field with the 60 pounder Yew bow and the Hickory flight bow.The Yew 60# shot lovely and smooth with the 11/32 diameter field arrows, (490grain) reaching 190 yards. Oddly with my regular 5/16" field arrows (~400gn) it was about 5 yards shorter, mind they are about 1" shorter, so the draw was less.
With a bamboo flight arrow (28" overall length) it made 234 yards.
With the Hickory flight bow, my nerves are still shot from the 2 smashed arrows, so I had extra strapping on my left arm, safety glasses and a bump cap (yes really!).
The arrows flew sweet and true, I was using the 28" (over all length) flight arrows, but just didn't have the bottle to take 'em anywhere near full draw. First shot was only 260yards, but then I got a couple at 278, I could barely see 'em as they left the bow so cleanly.
I'm hoping I can make some more arrows and get the confidence back into my draw and loose. I may also heat treat the belly some more.
It was hot out on the field, so when I got hope I made myself a concoction in a tumbler, a dollop of ice cream, some shards of dark chocolate topped up with tonic water. I sat outside contemplating that it would maybe better with some Gin or Whiskey in it.
Talking of which, I spent an enjoyable afternoon with Nick a guy form Cambridge way who popped down to see if we could find him a stave.
We went over to the woods and found a big Hazel which had recently toppled and got 2 nice lengths of timber off it. We ran them through the bandsaw and also trimmed some of a Yew branch which he'd brought for me to look at, it looked V promising.
He'd also brought a half log of unidentified wood which he'd found fallen and had been cleaning up, it looked a bit dodgy with some blue/grey streaks on the back and I could dig my thumb nail right into it. So I tried to flex it and could hear it going... I just lent a bit harder and snapped it clean in two! A half log that size should have been able to support a small car!
Anyhow, it saved him wasting any more time on it, and the Hazel staves we cut are were a far better replacement.
The time flew by and presented me with a nice bottle of Whiskey for my trouble... just a shame I didn't think of putting a splash of it in with my concoction!
So, do you think the brushes are stopping(minimising) the arrow bend? I was expecting them to be on the bottom and bow side of the pass.
ReplyDeleteI think they are ensuring the arrow is starting off pushed to the centre of the bow, helping to stop it clattering about as I loose and perhaps damping out some oscillation. So the arrow can flex either side of the bow, but not where it passes through the bow. My suspicion is that without the brushes on the left edge the arrow was flexing left and hitting the left edge of the window and snapping off just before it left the string. Now the brushes just cushion it and stop that whipping....dunno really now way to see it without a load of expensive gear.
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