Hello from New England

Hello from New England. New member. I currently own and regularly shoot a New World Arbalest "straight-bow" and hope to commission another soon. I am also planning to build my own stone-bow with my brother-in-law, an accomplished woodworker and also a Crossbow fanatic. I am fortunate enough to have a range in my backyard, but also enjoy shooting at my local bowmen's club. I try to shoot at least 20 minutes to an hour a day before work - hey some people like the gym

Stone-bows are of supreme interest to me, and I hope to someday either own one from Tod's stuff, or be able to build one of similar quality/authenticity.

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell.

Stone-bow? I recommend using shooting goggles with a stonebow. It's possible to make them shoot backwards... so what's directly behind the lock? Your eye. Nuff sed.
Geezer, who doesn't make stonebows any more.

Sound advice, Geezer. I will definitely take that to heart, especially with anything I make myself! Seriously, I had not considered this - you probably just saved my eye

Hey and welcome to the forum Villista
I have a couple of New World Arbalist crossbows myself and they are quite nice. Fortunately for us Master Iolo (Geezer on the forums here) and his apprentice Lightly both post here.

I should set up range in my backyard as well. If I am going to get better than getting some practice in everyday is going to be important. (As long as my bolts don't catch fire from the heat its a bit hot down here)

Yeah building a stone bow would be a lot of fun, someday its a bit down on the list of projects). I second what Geezer said about eye protection. Even the old stone bows had built in eye protections. Some had a wide spoon like sight and older ones had carved wood block behind the lock. If you look through "The Crossbow" by Ralph-Payne it has quite a few wood cuts of old stone bows and with out fail they have the carved block on them.

Thanks for the welcome Basilisk. I am fortunate, in a sense, to work second shift so I am able to shoot in the mornings. As a new father, my time for all my other hobbies has been pretty much eliminated, but fortunately I can still get out and throw some quarrels down range each morning. Our local Bowmen's club (who welcome crossbows of all kinds) is also a nice day out for me as it is set up on a series of trails through the woods, with various targets dispersed along the paths. Lots of fun, and good exercise as well!

Welcome to the Arbalist Guild! That archery club sounds awesome. I wish we had something like that around here.

Hello, I now became a member of this community here and I would love to be a part of it. Just enjoy the environment here

Stone build.....as a kid I used to love to hunt with fence staples using elastic bands and fork made from a coathanger.

I quickly found out not to put have it strung so there is an initial tension in the "powerband" or else it would come right back at you and release....

Key ingredient is controlling exactly when the projectile is released.Too late and it will git ya everytime. Fence staples are not ideal hunting projectiles to begin with, but cheap enuff to obtain "by the pound".

However, if you study JoergS U-shaped slingbow for arrows(youtube), you can see an easy adaptation allowing you to tension the string.

The other simple way to avoid that is to install perhaps a modified "string stopper" and exert control on the release. Hope that helps revitalize your amibitions.

Welcome to the forum villista22,

Guys here have excellent points regarding stone bows. Hope you got a little grasp on the risks and aren't turned down by them, but instead - inspired.

I've been looking into stonebows myself and so far one of the best resources was a book called "Practical guide to man powered bullets" written by Richard Middleton. and a few other sources including the great hands on experience that guys on this forum were willing to share.

Happy Building and Be Safe.

Regards,

Ivo

Hi Villista!

This is Lightly, apprentice to Geezer at NWA. I did build a straight bow some months ago, but not sure it was yours...
Where in New England? Born and mostly raised in North Conway, NH, altho, I lived in Maine as well. Both very beautiful. Texas is a far far cry!

Welcome to the forum, I hope you find some interesting things....


Lightly

Thanks all for the tips on Stone Bows - I'm not put off at all and am very interested in everyone's input.

Lightly - I live in Western Mass, and my Straight Bow probably would have been born at N.W.A. around October - November of last year..thereabouts? And I recently commissioned a Padre Island that could be in the works as we speak.....giggity! And as I said, I shoot my Straight Bow darn near every day and it has performed flawlessly!

Cheers, John

Hi. I live in Western MA myself. Small world, eh? If you are near Deerfield, I'm rebuilding a long dormant archery program and a new range, which should be done before the end of summer. Crossbows will not be second class citizens there, as well as primitive archery and the atlatl and dart, bolas, rabbit sticks, and slings.

I just found out that there is a crossbow competition happening on August 7 in Leominster. I can find out more details for you. The day before is going to be a reenactor / primitive skills swap, an all day event that should be a lot of fun.

Maybe we can do some shooting together some time.

Dane

Villista;

The bows that came out of our shop all have Geezer's mark on the butt end, an "I" done in brass tacks. If, in addition to that, there is a little dog head on the underside of the bow, usually nearer the nose, then I made it...
And giggity indeed! That P.I. bow is in the que! I am working on three P.I. bows at this time, the museum bow, and two others. Not sure which of those two is yours, but, I will check when I get in today. I really like 'meeting' or at least, knowing who the bow recipient is, I tend to be more fussy and meticulous about it then. Lucky you!
And *ahem* ...if you have a look at the museum bow photos and really like the bronze, that could be done for you too; yeah yeah, it costs more.. but holy cow is it pretty (and authentic as well). Otherwise, the default is the blued metal. Which is not bad looking, either!

Take care;

Lightly

Dane - I am about 15 minutes from Deerfield. I shoot in my yard and at the Bowmwn's Club in Greenfield. I also shoot Traditional Archery from time to time. I have a low-end longbow and a high-end Turkish Horse Bow (though I can't ride a horse!). I also have a pair of Atlatls that could use a dusting off. And slings are also a hoot, though anything but underhand style throws out my shoulder... Both of those events in Leominster sound great! And I would love to get together for coffee, talk shop, and shoot a little bit. Very small world indeed!

Lightly - Shoot me a PM about the Bronze!

John

John, I was out on the Cape for the last week, so sorry for the delay in responding.

I agree, let's figure out a time to get together. I will send you a message with my contact info later today.

As for the event, here is the info. I will be there all day, so if you show up, give me a yell. I will be in the latest Mesolithic fashions for the morning, and as a Roman auxilia in the afternoon. If I can get my crossbow finished in time, I will have that with me. Bring any atlatls or toys as well to play with. A number of my Legio III comrades will be doing demos, and Ed Nash and Jim Dina are both great guys to meet.

The Leominster event info is as follows:

Saturday – August 6, 2011
To be held RAIN OR SHINE at
Leominster Sportsmen’s Association
1455 Elm Street, Leominster, MA 01453
(978) 534-9755
in the Primitive Area
Free Admission

INFORMAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

0900 AM Opening with Nipmuck Prayer
Ed Nash – making cordage, deadfalls and snares
Gary Bergeron, Frank Herndon & Tony Franklin – basic blackpowder shooting
Dane Donato – stoneage atlatl & spear
Ed Nash – short presentation in basic bowie knife, tomahawk & spear fighting
Clay Forest (1986 NMLRA National Champion) – how to throw a t’hawk and knife
Jamie Foote – early net making
Joe Whitley – Coli stick fighting & “open hand” techniques
Jessica Whitley – Kempo techniques
Jack Walsh – basic banjo
Greg Cobb – traditional and modern fire making techniques
Bob Smith – making powder horns & scrimshaw techniques
Walter Bickford – making leather
Jim Dina – basic lute

POT LUCK LUNCH BREAK

Frank Hunt & “Phoenix Swords” – Medieval weapons fighting and fire show
Jim Dina – pre-contact Native Amerindian skills
Dane Donato – Roman staff sling
Tim McKinney – Roman hand sling
Quinton Johanson – presentation as “Optio Quinton” Roman combat leader
Brian Dermody – presentation as heavy “miles” Roman infantryman
Randi Richard – Roman torsion catapult demo & Legio III mule cart
Julia Winitsky & Randi Richard - ancient battlefield medicine & mock amputation
Kevin Kneeland & Jamie Foote – modern battlefield & field First Aid

Unconfirmed events:
Dan Pano – basic foil fencing
Todd Kulpinski – U.S. Armed Forces Survival & Unconventional Warfare

Topics to be determined
Marieke from “Roots” – aromatherapy, sprouting, essential oils, homeopathic medicines, natural foods & healing

“Quickie” events – Stick & string navigation, improvised washing machine, making a tripod, birchbark cup and boiling pot, use watch as compass, bolas, folding paper cartridges, improvised canteen, cooking & handtool trivia, brief on colloidal silver, water filters solar generators and medical frequency machines.

ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 7th, LEOMINSTER SPORTSMEN’S ASSN. WILL HOLD A CROSSBOW COMPETITIVE SHOOT – camp Saturday night and shoot in the morning!