Tennessee Classic 2

The jet lag is easing off and it's raining, time to write up some more of my trip. I've included a couple of pics taken by someone else showing one of the 3D targets and the group of guys that shot it all using self bows (Osage by the look of 'em). Hopefully it shows what I mean about real hunting, no lucky leg shots there! Oh and by the way, one arrow only...
One guy was telling how he used to shoot compound and he came across a bedded deer 3 rows of corn away, that's less than ten yards. All his fancy sight marks were no use so he just went back to how it's been done for millennia, drew to somewhere near his nose and loosed. Watching these guys shoot confirmed my suspicions about Olympic style target archery. Now this is just my opinion and millions of people enjoy it so look away now if that's your thing.
I think it has evolved so far that it has nothing to do with archery, which is surely about hunting and warfare. The thought that the Olympics may include compound one day is appalling to me, far better if it reverted to self bows, or at least barebow.
As I said, just my opinion and we are all entitled to shoot what we want, however, in presenting "Archery" to the public gaze at the Olympics I feel something more natural and rooted in the history of mankind would serve better and be more entertaining, probably not so lucrative to the manufacturers of equipment though (hmmmm).

The other two pics show another Derik (it took a while to realise were were actually both 'Derek') and Matt who was there with his family, showing one of his horn and sinew bows backed with snake skin. He was helping out the new guys to get bows tillered and he let me use his spokeshave. I hadn't brought any tools over due to baggage limits, but all I had to do was call out "Anyone got a (insert tool of choice here)" and I'd be offered one. The farriers rasps were a revelation, huge coarse jobs that could really take off some wood, now I know what they look like I'll be trawling the web for one.
Derek was making a bow out of a skinny little piece of Ocean Spray it looked like it would make a plaything for an 8 year old kid, but that stuff was tough as old boots and at the size you see in the pic was still too tough to brace! It would easily have taken 60# or more to draw it to even 20". It had a fair bit of reflex and some nasty S shaped sideways bend. It was trying to flip sideways all the time, my experience with narrow English Longbows allowed me to give him some guidance (he was fairly new to bowmaking) and it was braced and on it way to being finished at the end of the weekend.



In one of my earlier posts I mentioned shipping bows, excess baggage and the like.
Someone asked for details, here is what I found. Note, the flights were with Virgin and Delta who are partners in transatlantic flight (other airlines will have different allocations and measurements)
Going out I took one carry on bag and my drainpipe with 3 bows in it to be checked in at no extra cost.
The free allowance was one carry on bag:- 10kg max.  dimensions 9x14x22" max
and one check in bag 23kg max. dimensions 81 linear inches (e.g length + width + depth)
That's enough for longbows but not warbows.

The big problem was that they say extra bags may be charged on each leg of a flight and you can get charged for it being over weight and over length as well. This could end up being horrendously expensive.
The may is irritating as it is not defined, maybe if you have 2 flights on the same airline they might not charge all legs but who knows.
Much of the information available is ambiguous or contradictory. If you are taking longbows just completely ignore their free sporting goods allowance as anything other than a modern take down or compound doesn't fit their allowance.
They know zip about bows. When I checked in the drainpipe of bows they asked if there were arrows in there too, I said yes. They said are they pointed (which I took to mean broadhead) so I said no. Of course a 50# longbow with a field arrow couldn't hurt a fly could it? They are just kids toys....
I had a great result for the return trip.
Due to it being a busy time of year and my booking the flights fairly late, I had to book a minor upgrade on both the return flights from Economy to Premium Economy.
When my E-Ticket arrived it showed I was allowed a second check in bag free! I also had more leg room etc. Because I was bringing back more stuff this probably saved me money and made me more comfortable. So if you are taking a lot of stuff it's well worth checking out the baggage allowance in the various grades of seat.

Tennessee Classic

Wow! Back from the USA. I'm still so jet lagged that whilst feeding the cat I put my breakfast cereal in her bowl!
Anyhow, I've just got to post a few pics to give you a flavour.
Firstly, for those who don't know the Tennessee Classic at Twin Oaks is surely the best traditional archery meet anywhere on earth. There are already some pics of the event on there.
There are really three three stories to tell. How I came to get there, the place itself and the bows. But above all that is the real story which is the people. I can't tell it all in one hit, so I'll just ramble!

I got there on the Thursday evening and was being shown around, there were two brothers (Steve & Eric), big guys and fairly quiet, I made some lame joke about using band saws and held up my hand with a finger folded down so it looked like it was cut off.
One of the guys Eric (left in the first pic) leaned in towards me and held up his hand with two finger tips missing and the silence was deafening... He let it hang for just a second and then gave a big grin.
I knew right then I was going to fit in just fine! A couple of days later they gave me the pick of some staves from their truck and I picked out a great piece Hop Hornbeam. It's not the same as what we call Hornbeam, which is more like what they call Blue Beech or Muscle wood. All this naming of wood is hugely confusing.
Enough chat, here are some pics... this post will get spread over the week and I'll hopefully be writing up the whole story for Primitive Archer magazine.
My host Pappy is the guy in the bib overalls, a great bloke non stop on the go and he put me up in his cabin which is an Aladins cave of stuff, bows, arrows flint knives, arrow heads , trophies, furs all sorts of stuff picked up, or left as momentos etc. You could sit in there and spend a week looking at each bit as he told the story associated with it.
One of the big things that struck me was the difference in target set up over there... There were more deer sized targets and they were closer. Heck this is easy I thought but No! They are real bow hunters and are looking for the clean kill. A 'lucky leg' is fine over here shooting NFAS for points,but those guys are shooting to get meat to feed themselves and family. An entirely different outlook on hunting which is at one with the environment. It's far removed from the excesses of country house pheasant shoots or the stories of inept 'townies' blasting away at things with firearms. Most of the people hunt with both rifle and bow and they knew what they were doing and talking about... It was a pleasure and privilege to sit quiet and listen to the hunting stories..

The pictures are random mix to try and give a feel for how it was.

Refurb' Progress

Here's a couple of pics showing the the initial sorry state of my poor old bow, and how after some steam and heat work it's a bit refreshed.
I'm going to do horn nocks which will allow me to slim the tips substantially.
The target weight is 70# at 28". I've checked it at 21" (I did some arithmetic and worked out I was looking for about 43# at 21") this allowed me to look at the tiller without over stressing the bow and forcing the set back into it.
It looks like I have a few pounds to play with, so I can slim the outer thirds a tad and get them moving a bit more. If necessary I can always beef up the heat treatment on the lower limb as take out a little more set. I was keen not to be too greedy initially.
The real aim is to see if I can get it to throw an arrow further than it's original 220 yards.
The fat grip has been slimmed down and I've removed the Ivory arrow plate and rasped away the wood so you can't see where it was (I never did like that arrow plate).
When I first made the bow, I allowed too much extra wood at the grip to allow for the big knot. I've relieved it a bit to let more of the bow flex. The original draw weight was about 75# at 28.

That's about it for me until I'm back from the USA. I've got 3 bows, 8 arrows and a couple of Damascus steel knife billets in my plastic drain pipe. Some stuff in a holdall and my passport at the ready. A couple of days at the day job and I'll be up early to jet off.

Fidgety Britches

I've been messing about with odds and ends. I didn't want to start on a new bow until after my big trip so I've been refurbishing my trusty old Yew longbow, the first  I ever made. It's had huge abuse over the years being only 70" long, yet drawn to 32". I've been toying with doing the re-furb' for ages as the bow wasn't being used.
I'm taking out the set (3" from belly to a straight line tip to tip... like a 3" brace height when unstrung) using both steam and dry heat. I'm heat treating the belly and adding a belly patch where there was a knot and a rather thin heartwood area. I'm applying what I've learned over the 30 odd years since I made it and I'll be re-tillering it.
I've also spliced two skinny triangular section off-cuts of Ash to make a backwards bow, this will just be a quick play/experiment. The wider bark side will be the belly of the bow and the narrow point of the V cross section will be flattened to follow a growth ring and will be the back. So it will be narrow back wide belly or "trapped" as it's called (short for trapezoid cross section) The tillering will be done by removing wood from the belly which will then be heat treated. I don't know if it will work as it may be too narrow to be stable and the back may snap. It's just an experiment so I don't mind failure.

I went up the club today, shot 18 3D targets with the Monkey bow scoring 224 which is ok for a course I hadn't shot before with a bow I'd only used at 10 yards.
Popped along to medieval corner to see how the re-tillered Austrian Yew bow shot. It was chucking arrows a prodigious distance and the tiller looked good.

I can pack my bows, arrows, quiver etc away for the trip now.

Getting Ready...

I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas, because this time next week I'll be at the Tennessee Classic !
Over a year ago one of the guys on  Primitive Archer (PA) asked what I'd think if an Airline ticket to the Tennessee Classic landed on my doormat?!
Well at first I was a bit stunned and full of British reserve, saying I couldn't possibly accept such generosity, but then got to thinking that if I didn't do it now while I'm young and fit ;-) at a mere 62 I never would, so I gratefully accepted the offer.
It all went quiet for about a year and then all of a sudden the game was afoot! The guys on PA were raffling bows, knives, carved walking sticks and donating their dollars to the 'Get Del To The Classic' fund.
Their generosity is astounding and I'm just hoping I don't disappoint! Well, even if I do, they can at least have a laugh at my accent and quirky British ways (mustn't forget to pack some tea!).

I'm tweaking and cleaning up 3 bows to take amongst other things for trade, gifts and 'thank you's.
I've heat treated and straightened the deflexed lower limb of my sidenocked Yew longbow as a trade for a native American style bow from Rich who makes stunning short bows. Swapping a longbow for a shortbow will be interesting for both of us!
Some of the guys over there tend to use a shorter draw, possibly the influence of the native American shorter bows? Maybe it's just better for hunting... that's the sort of thing that I can find out.
The heat treatment and removing the deflex has made the tiller look much nicer and restored the draw weight a bit. I'd recently tested it on my new digital scale at 47.8# at 28", it's now 49.5# at 28" and about 42# at 25" which is Rich's short draw.
I'm hoping it will see some hunting, the thought of an English Yew longbow bringing down a deer for meat is very satisfying and harks back to reading Robin Hood stories as a kid.

Meanwhile I'm hoping to try the Monkey bow at the club over the weekend and then I'll be packing the bows and getting ready to travel. The thought of a long haul flight and jet lag isn't very endearing, but I'm sure that being amongst fellow bowyers with their own entirely different heritage, styles, timbers and techniques will be enthralling. The adrenalin and the notorious colourless liquid should quash any ill effects of the travel. I'll have my camera and note book at the ready and I'll doubtless be holding forth myself if anyone is unwary enough to ask me about ELBs ! There is a Yew stave waiting out there for my attention too, another generous act, hopefully I can turn it into some kind of bow over the three days... no pressure then!

Retillering a Yew Warbow and Monkey Bow Shoots!

My mate JT came round with a warbow which he'd bought and found it was over weight. Written on it was 93# at 28" (it registered over over110# @ 28" on my scale).
Anyhow as few hours of chatting and reworking improved the tiller, the look of the tips and brought down the draw weight, he was interested to watch the process and was amazed how little wood came off to first adjust the tiller and then drop the weight.
Theoretically I don't like to re-work other bowyers bows, but it gives me a chance to view their work and play with different timber, this being from Austria I believe. I wouldn't generally do it, but for friends or people who make the effort to visit (especially if carrying a couple of bottles of wine) I do enjoy spending a couple of hours chatting and working on a bow.

The change in tiller is rather subtle but you can see the poundage has dropped a good bit.

While he was here he had a go at reshaping a horn nock on one of his other bows, it had started to wear and split on the lower nock which was far to pointed to withstand the rough service it gets in use. A few minutes with rasp, file, wet and dry paper and the buffing wheel and he'd done a fine job. It was great to give someone the confidence to have a go, as until one has worked horn, it's all a bit of a mystery. We had a go on some scrap first to get the feel for it.
The Monkey bow had a bit of a work out too, if you make the video full screen, you can see the Monkey face nicely.

Monkey Bow Lives!

I cut off the split bit of limb, re-shaped them to match each other, spliced on a few inches of Ash and an overlay of Laburnum. This gave me about 4" increase in bow length.
It's ended up at about 40# at 26", There was a slight cracking noise as I pulled it back to a real full draw, it was just the very inner edge of one of the overlays lifting a tad. They are held on with superglue, so a spot of low viscosity superglue will tack it down.
It's  more of a show bow and a bit of fun rather than a real work horse. The big natural deflex means I can pull it into a fairly extreme bend.
First time I've used Elder, and I'm looking forward to trying the better longer reflexed piece I have seasoned. Once I've really cleaned up the feature Monkey face I'll post a pic. I've shot a few arrows from it to tune up the arrow pass. I'll make a string and give it a work out, prob' call the maximum draw 24"
Here's a frame grab from the video at 26" draw.
It's 58" nock to nock.