Question on shooting self bow

[equin]

Couldn't resist the dirt cheap $41 price on a Siege Works self-bow off ebay. Got it in the mail, did the break-in process and wrapped the handle with jute string as advised by the instructions that came with the bow, and had fun shooting a few arrows.

Anyway, I noticed that the fletching caused some little cuts or nicks on the side of the riser, just above the handle and below the part where the upper limb and riser meet. Is this normal? Or am I shooting it wrong? I'm shooting it off the bow hand since there is no shelf, using a leather glove to protect the skin from fletching cuts.

If not normal, do I need to continue wrapping that part of the riser with the jute string? Or should I glue on a leather patch in that part of the riser to protect it from more nicks and scratches?

Thanks for any info,

Ed

[equin]

Oh, and I don't have a pic of the bow yet, but it looks just like this one from the Siege Work Creations website:



Here is the website address for their self bows:

http://www.siegeworkcreations.com/self_bows.htm

For what it's worth, mine came "ready to shoot," sanded and with a wood finish/seal.

[rubydog]

Just get a piece of leather or self stick velcro and put it where the scratches are.
Good luck!!!

[equin]

Ah, self-stick velcro! Never thought of that. Thanks for the tip, Terry.

[equin]

For anyone else interested, Siege Work Creations has more of these self bows on ebay ranging in price from $41.99 to $46.99:

http://myworld.ebay.com/seigeworkcreations

He's out of Mt. Pleasant, TX.

[woodsman1031]

Are you shooting vanes or feathers? I am suprised feathers would dig into the wood. I saw his bows the other day on ebay as well. Is it a good bow? I may have to order me one. Another thing you could do is put a floppy rest made from leather on it so you dont have to wear a glove.


Tommy

[equin]

I'm shooting feathers. The arrows are the Redhead Carbon Supreme Lite feathered from Bass Pro. They left some cut marks on the side of the bow and drew blood on my hand when I first tried shooting without a bow-hand glove. No cuts on my hand with my leather work gloves, though. I haven't tried vanes, but may try them just to see how they go. And had I not already lost and broken all of my Rubydog wooden arrows, I would've tried those just to see how they shoot out of it. I don't have any arrows yet to match the bow since they're all made more for my higher poundage Bear Montana, but that hasn't stopped me from having fun shooting it!

As for the bow, heck, for $41.99 it's an awesome bow! I mean, it doesn't look all nice and smooth and polished as the nicer, higher dollar bows, and isn't anywhere near as beautiful as a Sarrels or Bob Lee bow, but it's a decent, perfectly symmetrical, functional bow made out of red oak. As for how well it shoots, well, I'm a beginner, so even if it were the most expensive, most forgiving of all bows, I'd still shoot crappy with it! So I can't really tell you how well it shoots, but if you're ever up in the Dallas area, you're welcome to try it if you want. The bow came with a string and break-in instructions, which I'm grateful for since my newbie self would've never known it had to be broken in. I'm tempted to buy another one at a different weight at that ebay price.

[Deb]

Arvin once made a very attractive arrow rest on a self bow using a cow tooth. It would save some wear and tear on your hands.

[equin]

Cow tooth?! Wow, that sounds pretty cool! Any pics?

For what it's worth, this afternoon I discovered that I can shoot vanes with no nicks or cuts on the bow or on my hand (without a bow-hand glove). Also, David, the Siege Work Creations bowyer, e-mailed me to tell me that if I tie some thread around the front part of the feathered fletching it should help. I'm going to try that later on.

Aside from that, after about 10 minutes of shooting I was able to group the arrows better than with my other bow! That was with the longer, vaned arrows. So my uneducated guess is that the longer arrows, being less spined than the shorter, feathered ones, are better able to achieve the "archer's paradox" flex around the non-center cut self-bow. But I think the most important reason is that the lighter draw weight (30#) definitely helps with my form.

[Deb]

Sorry, Equin, no pics. We don't own a camera. Anyway we sold that bow long ago. There wasn't much to it, tho, he just glued a tooth on it. It looked really good.

[Texas5o]

I think I'll stick with my Weaver selfbow. I have used the last inch of an antler tine for a rest. Glued it on my grandson's bow I built for him. He loves that bow!

[Deb]

I think I'll stick with my Weaver selfbow. I have used the last inch of an antler tine for a rest. Glued it on my grandson's bow I built for him. He loves that bow!

I don't think to many people will be switching over, Steve. If I get to go to the state longbow shoot I'm going to shoot my self bow.

[fletcherfor2]

I've never shot a self bow and am certainly no expert. I have heard from those that do (and it makes perfect sense) that the arrow spine is much more critical with them. They have no rest (or not much), they are nowhere close to center-cut, and the arrow does have to flex to bend around the bow as the fletching passes by (rather than bouncing and skipping off the bow.

Generally the spine needs to be lighter and it's more critical that it is right. That's the extent of my knowledge about them.

[Deb]

I've never shot a self bow and am certainly no expert. I have heard from those that do (and it makes perfect sense) that the arrow spine is much more critical with them. They have no rest (or not much), they are nowhere close to center-cut, and the arrow does have to flex to bend around the bow as the fletching passes by (rather than bouncing and skipping off the bow.

Generally the spine needs to be lighter and it's more critical that it is right. That's the extent of my knowledge about them.

We need to fix that, Dusty. Next time you are here lets shoot selfbows.

[Kingslayer]

What do arvins self-bows sell for ?? Id like to maybe get one just to play around with.