Greenman Archery

Arrow Raffle for a Worthy Cause

2012-01-16T23:22:00.000-08:00

Many readers of this blog know that I participate in a group that does historical recreation called the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
On January 6 a gentleman whom I knew through the SCA passed away unexpectedly. Scott Jaqua, known in the SCA as Njall Olaf Hagerson was one of the first people I met at an SCA event so many years ago. In addition to his many other accomplishments in the Society he had a long and honorable presence on the archery field and shared freely of his knowledge and time.

Like many of us independent craftspeople trying to make a living by our own wit and skills, Scott and his wife didn’t have a lot of extra money. Nor do I think they had anything in the way of health insurance to help cover his final medical expenses.
In an effort to assist Scott’s dear wife, Sandra, I am offering a raffle for one dozen custom arrows. Chances are $5 each and 100% of the money gathered will be sent to her.

If the winner of the raffle is in the lower 48 states I shall pay for shipping of the arrows. If the winner is in Hawaii, Alaska, or a country other than the USA I ask that they help with half of the shipping charges and be responsible for any customs duties.

The dozen arrows will be made to the winner’s specifications and they will be ready to shoot when received. Open season on the arrow artwork, if I can do it I will. If you are a regular reader of this blog you have an idea for the kind of arrow artwork I do. If you are not familiar with my work I encourage you to scroll through previous posts here to see samples. You can also visit the Greenman Archery website to see the galleries there.

I will be happy to take entries to this raffle by PayPal, money order, or check. For more details or to arrange to send me an entry, please contact me at guy.taylor@sbcglobal.net. Individuals are encouraged to enter as many times as they wish.
I will also be able to take entries to the raffle in person at SCA events I will be attending in the next month:

Gyldenholt Unbelted, January 21 in Garden Grove, CA

Festival of the Rose and Olde-Tymer’s Tourney, February 11 in Lake Balboa, CA

Arts and Archery, February 18 in Los Angeles, CA

Queen’s Champion Archery and Thrown Weapons and Barony of the Angels Robin Hood Tourney, February 26 in Van Nuys, CA

I will not be selling at the first three events but I will be there with my bow bench to work on something. I’ll probably be the only one with a shave horse doing this kind of activity but you can also look for the Greenman banner. At the last event I will have my full booth so I’ll be quite easy to find.

Many thanks to Fayme for taking these pictures. I usually take my own camera but I almost always forget to use it. And how about that great banner she just made for me?

The raffle will be open until a few minutes before closing court at the SCA event, Queen’s Champion Archery and Thrown Weapons and Barony of the Angels Robin Hood Tourney on February 26 of this year at the Woodley Park archery range in Van Nuys, CA. With the permission of those running the event, the drawing will be held at closing court. Of course, the winner need not be present.

Legal disclaimer:
Please note that this is a privately organized raffle and is not sponsored or endorsed by any SCA group or authority. The raffle is open to anyone interested, you need not be an SCA member.

Thanks for reading.

New Arrow Work

2012-01-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Here are the latest arrows with a decal on them. I am really liking what I can do with these.

To start at the beginning…

Gary has gotten a few sets of arrow from me but they’ve all been for his own use (for the most part, his sons seem to abscond with his arrows pretty frequently). This time it was Gary’s wife’s turn for new arrows.
The funny thing is, Gary hates pink. I mean he’s flat out allergic to the color. When I make his arrows I have to keep all the parts at least five feet away from anything pink. But Diane loves pink. Just for the fact that he ordered pink arrows for her you can see what they have between them.
Gary specified the horn reinforced self nock, pink fletching, and pink stain crown. I asked him if I could try something special and he gave me the go-ahead.

When Gary and Diane were married a few months ago they had these cute little bookmarks at each table setting. Someone had made up a bit of artwork for the bookmarks that had D and G on it with a stylized bow and arrow between the letters. I scanned a bookmark and then spent more time than I want to admit taking out everything but that little logo. We can safely say that I am not a professional graphic artist. The end result is what got printed on the decal.

Reports are that Diane loves the arrows and they shoot well from her bow. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

Thanks, Gary and Diane!

GreenmanArchery.com

2012-01-05T23:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, folks… hold on to your hats, it’s finally happened…

Greenmanarchery.com is alive!

Through the hard work of a talented (and patient) web site builder, Steve Varma, we just took the site live today. Click on the link above and you’ll go directly to the home page.
Once on the site you’ll see a menu on the left side letting you choose from such wonderful pages as, Gallery of Past Work, Available Items, Ordering Information, About Greenman, and a plethora of other wonderful pages just chock full of great stuff.

Ok, I’m going overboard a little here but I must be excused as I’m really quite happy about the site going live. Steve has done a great job telling me what he needed and then getting it all together into something that will work.

Don’t worry, this blog will continue to exist and will continue to be a repository for my thoughts and my work. The new site will make ordering these products from me much easier and will give me a better forum for showing my work. One disadvantage I’ve had with the blog is the transitory nature of the posts. If I put up pictures of arrows I currently have available, that post will move off the page once I make another post or two. It’s a challenge to sell stuff when folks don’t know what’s available!

Let me know what you think of the new site!
Click the link above to get to the site, once there you should bookmark it immediately so you don’t lose it and you can easily return later. Wander through the site, check things out, read the information, look at the pictures… let me know what you think. I don’t want this site to be one of those that hasn’t been updated in a year and eight months. I’ll be changing the Gallery pictures occasionally to showcase other arrows, I’ll be adding some more information as I get it thought of and then written. Do you have ideas of what you’d like to see or what you’d like to read? Let me know!

Happy, happy, joy, joy.... archery!

Latest News on Custom Arrows

2011-11-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

Well, folks… I’ve put this off as long as I could, but I’m afraid I have to do it…

I need to raise my prices.

Every time I’ve ordered arrow shafts in the last year the price has been higher than the previous order. I try to keep the cost under control by ordering in bulk but it still adds up.
My main feather supplier raised prices last January and I’ve been absorbing the difference for the past 11 months.
It’s just gotten to the point where I can no longer afford to keep the prices where they are.

I’ll hold off for another month, but effective January 1st prices for a dozen arrows will go up $10.
So a dozen arrows of the basic design that have been selling for $70 will now be $80. The crowned and crested arrows that have been $90 for the dozen will now be $100. Other designs will see a similar increase.

No matter how I justify the increase, this is still a lot of money and I recognize that. However, if you peruse other custom arrow makers I think my work will still stand as a good value for what you receive.

I use only hand spined shafts that have been weight matched to +/- 10 grains (usually much closer in weight). Unless otherwise requested, all arrows come cut to the specified length, tapered for a tip, and field points firmly glued on. Arrows I make are ready to shoot when you receive them and this is included in the price rather than added to it as many arrow makers do.

And… all the arrows I make are true custom arrows. While I have some basic guidelines to assist folks with decisions, there is no catalog where you choose Combo A or Option 4. You and I will be working together to get true custom arrows that you can be proud of in the field or on the range.

I’ll tell you a secret… do you know the most common email I get when someone has just received their new arrows?
“These are too pretty to shoot!”
I’m just as proud of the arrows I make as their new owners are.

As I mentioned, I’ll stay with the old prices through the month of December. If you order and pay for arrows in December we’ll use the lower price. If you make your order on the first of the year I’m going to look at you with sad eyes and charge you a bit more than the day before.

Thank you for your support.

Medieval Marketplace this Saturday

2011-11-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

Rather late notice for me to be saying anything, but Greenman Archery will be at the SCA event, Medieval Marketplace this coming Saturday, November 26.
The event will be held at Kuns Park, 1600 Bonita Ave, La Verne, CA 91750. The site opens for shoppers at 10:00am and you don't even have to camp out Friday night to get the good deals.

Medieval Marketplace is essentially a shopping event for SCA-type vendors and products. There should be about sixteen different merchants there carrying a wide variety of goods, many of which are handcrafted and quite unique.
While Thanksgiving day looks like it may have some rain and dreary weather, Saturday is forecast for beautiful California weather: clear skys and a 79 degree high.
We attended Medieval Marketplace last year and had a very good time. It was wonderful to have a chance to see everyone. The site is fairly small so it's easy to visit with friends, new and old.

I hope to see everyone there!

Update!

We had a great time yesterday at Medieval Marketplace!

There seemed to me to be a slight shortage of customers but I don't think it affected our day much. Quite a few mundane folks came through the event looking at what everyone had to sell so we had a few interesting conversations trying ot explain what they saw. Most were somewhat fascinated with the whole event. There was some heavy fighting going on in a "Bear Pit" scenario and that noise and excitement is always popular for folks to watch.

I thank everyone who placed arrow orders with me. Your patronage is so very greatly appreciated as I try to make this little business work and keep me out of an office.

I also thank Master Hroar for making his late wife's books, fabric, and other items available for new homes. It's never easy to lose someone but he can rest assured that at least her things have gone on to new and loving homes that will care for and value them as she did. I purchased a book on fruit and vegetable preserving and a book on bread making - something I need quite a bit of help with. Fayme got some beautiful fabric as well as some sewing, gardening, and cooking books. Some people believe that a person is never truly gone so long as their memory is held in someone's heart. If that is the case, Mistress Huette's memory is in for a very long run as folks use and love her items.

A high point of the day for me was a surprise visit from Gary and Michael. They were very heavily involved with the SCA for a number of years but have not been participating of late as other activities take their time. Gary is a leather worker of no small talent and I've been nudging him to get out his tools to make some items for me to carry. He's currently busy with learning a new job as he prepares to retire from his first job, but I have a feeling that he's weakening and I'll eventually have some wonderful leather quivers and other parts available for sale.

Happy Archery!

Postcript...
I have been asked if there are any pictures from the day. I don't normally get a chance to take pictures due to being too busy. But Fayme frequently takes more than a couple and posts them on her Flickr:
SCA Medieval Marketplace with neovictorian

Thanks!

Robin Hood and the White Arrow

2011-11-21T01:46:00.000-08:00

So last Friday night we did something that I haven’t done in quite a long time…
We went to a play!

Let me back up a little.
A few days earlier I had emailed a friend of mine a happy 236th birthday for the USMC. Erik is a Marine who’s given his country some pretty good service over the years. Like many of today’s service men and women, he has a number of Middle East tours under his belt. These deployments have taken him away from his wife and two young children but he’s done the job with honor and courage and I’m proud to call him friend.
Anyway, Erik emailed me back to thank me for the birthday wishes and told me that he was in a play at the Rose Center Theater in Westminster, CA. The play was a musical called Robin Hood and the White Arrow. That sounded pretty good so Fayme and I started looking at our schedule and the show dates. Suddenly, Erik emailed me and asked me to call him, immediately. I did, we chatted for a bit, he asked me to do something, I agreed, and we decided to go see the play this past Friday evening.

Wow, talk about a good time!
Robin Hood and the White Arrow is a musical and we just enjoyed the hell out of it. The story follows much of the Robin Hood legend as we usually know it but goes into a unique direction that made for a very good story of the legendary hero and his followers.
There are some seriously good talents in this play and I was blown away at the strength of their voices.
Best of all, I got to see my White Arrow used in the play, and a noble part it had.
That’s what Erik had asked of me, can I make them a good white arrow? They opened the play with one of his personal arrows simply spray painted white. Then he suddenly thought of where he could get a white arrow made specifically for their purposes. I was happy and honored to do it.

Sorry, no pictures from the play itself. You'll just have to go see it for yourself. Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Thanks, Erik!

She Made a Bow!

2011-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you saw the last post you read about how Amanda met me at Pasadena and got a good start on her bow.
At this past Sunday’s SCA event she and I got back together so she could get it finished.

The bow was bending pretty good but one limb was consistently stiffer than the other. Amanda kept working on it with the cabinet scraper without a whole lot of change.

When Amanda asked me for the Shinto rasp I asked her why she wanted that tool since it removes wood a lot faster than the cabinet scraper. She showed me how she had compared limb thickness from one limb to the other and saw that she had quite a bit of wood to remove before they matched thickness. That was just about the best reasoning I’ve ever seen and it just pleased me to see her take that jump in understanding. I gave her the Shinto.

It wasn’t too much longer before she was back with the cabinet scraper. A little bit after that and we decided tillering was done: the limbs were bending well and evenly and the bow’s weight was in the range she was looking for. After thinning the limb tips Amanda re-cut the nock grooves and we were ready for a string.

By this time the event had ended and we had to leave the field. Changing location to the benches at the nearby short range I made up the new string, served it, and she put the first arrows across the bow.

Success!

At this shoot I also met a gentleman who had what is probably the most beautiful bow I have ever seen. Heath had an #85 longbow of Italian yew made by English bowyer Steve Stratton. Mr. Stratton is a Master Bowyer in The Craft Guild of Traditional Bowyers and Fletchers and if Heath's bow is a representative sample of Mr. Stratton's work, he well deserves the title.
I had the pleasure of holding the bow for a few minutes while I put a new serving on the string and I did not want to give it back. A yew bow of that weight has something it in that awakens the soul of a traditional archer.
Also impressive was Heath's clothing and kit, all period appropriate for an English longbowman. To top it all off, he was a hell of a nice fellow to chat with. Heath mentioned that he wants to learn bowmaking so I told him he really needs to come to our Pasadena gatherings where he can meet others of a like mind and we can get him started on his bowmaking path.

Watching those big arrows fly in the clout was a real treat.

Happy archery, everyone!

She's Making a Bow!

2011-10-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

It looks like I’m on a roll for posting lately!

Yesterday we had our monthly gathering of primitive enthusiasts at the Pasadena Roving Archers range in Pasadena, CA.
This is a loosely knit group with widely varied interests. For the most part we focus on doing things by hand. Some of the folks are skilled in things like flint knapping, primitive fire making, forging, bow making, making arrows from natural materials like shoots, branches, etc., and other “older” skills.

The monthly gatherings are a chance for us to show off our most recent successes, and failures, and get advice from others who may be more familiar with certain skills. Plus, we get to spend time with some truly great friends.

I met Amanda at Great Western War, the SCA event I recently attended. She was interested in making a bow but didn’t have the time available during the event. We arranged to meet at this month’s Pasadena gathering to get her going down the dark path of bowery.

Amanda was certainly working harder than those characters sitting in the background.

That's my new red wagon back there... thanks Mom! It's become invaluable to cart stuff from the truck to where we gather. Plus, Jack, who is hiding under Barbara's shirt in the background, loves riding around in it.

A number of tools are suitable for making these board bows. Personally, I prefer the block plane but Amanda got good use out of the spokeshave.

She didn’t quite get the bow finished before I had to leave, taking the bow horse and tools with me. But Amanda did get to the point where we put a tillering string on the bow and she began to get the limbs bending evenly. We should be able to get it finished at this next weekend’s SCA Agincourt event at the Woodley Park archery range in Van Nuys.

Single day SCA events don’t really have enough time for me to help someone build a bow of their own, I just get too busy working with my customers. But if any local folks would like to do what Amanda is doing then just let me know and we’ll get together at the Pasadena range to get you going.

Happy archery!

Interesting Blog Stats

2011-10-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Here's something that really kind of took me by surprise.

This is a screen shot from the stat counter I have keeping track of various things in this blog. This picture shows visits to the blog by country for about the last two weeks.
I'm not surprised by the preponderance of visits by United States residents; after all, that is where I live. But check out some of those other visitors: Hungary, Finland, Macedonia, Russian Federation, Slovakia. Heck, there are 16 hits from Greece!

How cool is that?
I had no idea when I began this blog that it would ever reach so many people across the world.
Admitedly, I don't know if all these folks meant to visit my blog. I know I've occasionally landed on an unintended page and left as soon as I realized what had happened. I hope that doesn't happen too often here but I'm sure it does once in a while.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:
My thanks to everyone who visits and reads this little blog. You guys don't always leave replies to what I post but I still appreciate the time you spend here reading what I write and looking at what I make and what I do with my time.

Happy archery!

Great Western War XIV Review

2011-10-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Great Western War XIV is done and I’m home, having survived the experience.

GWW is a multi-day Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) event currently held at the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area near Taft, CA. I was there from Monday, October 3 when merchant set-up began to Monday, October 10 when the event ended.

I didn’t do as well with sales as I hoped I would but it was better than it could have been. I heard a rumor that attendance was down a bit and that could have affected things.
It’s always a little tricky trying to sell ready-made custom arrows at an event. There are so many dynamics to the arrow that must be properly matched to the archer/bow that it can be difficult to have the right thing sitting on the table. Then there are the artistic elements of the arrow.
It’s not unusual for a customer to find the perfect spine arrow but be allergic to their pink artwork. Or maybe an archer finds the perfect red arrows but they’re spined for about a 50# bow and he’s using a 35# bow. I much prefer to make arrows custom to order but I have to have something on the tables to showcase my work.

At this event I had some prime red oak boards that Salvador had picked out for making into bows. These boards are great for beginning bowmakers and I took along the bowhorse and my tools in the chance that someone would want to get a board and make it into a bow at the event.
As luck would have it, I sold one board to a young woman and she dove right into making it into a bow. Lexi didn’t have much experience with hand tools but where there is a will there is a way. I helped a little bit when she began running out of time but it’s safe to say that she did the bulk of the work. She finished the bow Sunday evening and I made a string for it just before I left Monday morning.

There were other people who were very interested in bow making but who didn't have the time to do it at the war. For many of those individuals I gave them information about the monthly Pasadena gatherings where we can get them started on bowmaking.

I spoke with some wonderful people over the course of the seven days I was at the war. Some I've dealt with via email and never had a chance to meet in person, others I met for the first time. I even got to meet one reader of this blog (who's name I unfortunately can't remember). I thank all of you for the time you spent with me.
I didn't get any pictures of him or his booth but my neighbour to the right was Aelred, master potter of A's Round Pottery. It was a real treat to hear him joke with his customers and those just walking by:
"These are the pots you're looking for." (said in the best Obi Wan Kenobi voice)
"Come, fondle my pots!"
"The mugs are microwave safe, dishwasher safe, and drunk resistant."

Thanks, everyone!

And Now For the Real Pictures!

2011-09-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your patience, everyone!
Now I can finally give you the actual pictures of the special arrows I recently made.

First, a little background:
Back on April 30 I attended the SCA event, Robin Hood Archery, Rapier, and Thrown Weapons Tournament at the Woodley Park archery range. Prior to the event I was approached by Maestra Flavia Beatrice Carmigniani, the Baroness of the Angels, about having something special for the event. For a less than usual cost I agreed to make a set of custom arrows for the winner of the event.

On the day of the event the winner was THL James Everglad, a very accomplished archer. When I approached him to see how he wanted his arrows made James very graciously told me that he has enough arrows already. Rather than make another set for him he asked me to make them for the Baron of the Angels, Master John ap Griffin. The Baron was just getting started on his own archery path and could use some good equipment. I asked James if I could try something special that I’d been thinking about and he gave me free rein to make the arrows as I wished.
Almost at the same time, Lady Rayne the Archer of Anan ordered another set of arrows for the Baron. She wanted these to be less decorative so the Baron could have a “practice” set and wouldn’t have to worry so much about losing or breaking arrows from the “special” set.

As I mentioned in my previous post there were some hiccups along the path for these arrows. I had to order some special materials and then had computer printer issues that needed to be resolved. I tried to get a special use printer that I have up and running and for various reasons that entailed finding a used laptop to run the printer. That ended up not working out yet but eventually all the various parts came into line and the arrows got built. In the following pictures you’ll be able to easily distinguish between the two sets of arrows…

Details:
I used silver leaf on the special cresting to give a touch of flash and make a good background for the Baron’s personal device, which I shamelessly stole from the baronial webpage. The small size of the device shows some pixilation of the art but you have to look closely to see it.
The yellow crown on the arrows is an iridescent airbrush paint and the cresting is craft acrylic paint.
My judgment on these is somewhat biased but I think they came out pretty damned good.

Both sets of arrows were presented to the Baron at the Barony of the Angels 41st. Anniversary event on September 10. To my great regret I was unable to attend due to a prior commitment for the day. If anyone has pictures of the Baron getting his arrows I’d love to include them here.

Thanks for your patience in waiting for the good pictures.

Happy archery!

And Now… For Something Really Cool…

2011-09-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

A while ago I was commissioned to make some special arrows for someone. In fact, two different people placed different commissions for the same person to receive new arrows. The two sets would be similar, but different, kind of a full fancy dress set and a Friday casual set.

I had something different in mind that I wanted to try for the fancy set and once I got the go-ahead I began gathering things together. There were some unexpected bumps in the road: a printer that stopped behaving, an effort to get an old printer working again, a new/used laptop for the old printer to connect to… it’s been interesting.

Finally, everything came together and I got started on the arrows. I think they came out really well. This is a treatment that I will be making available on other custom orders. It will cost more, unfortunately. I do have to make a living and pay my bills. But it's pretty dang unique and could be just the ticket when someone wants the ultimate in special arrows.

Yeah, I know. I’m a jerk. I got you all worked up and ready to see these great new arrows and I’ve got the picture edited so you can’t see them.

The problem is, I'm really excited about these but the recipient of these arrows hasn’t gotten them yet and doesn't know anything about them. I don’t know if that person reads this blog or not and I don’t want to take the chance that the surprise will be blown. Give it a few days and I should be able to put up the real pictures. It’ll be worth a trip back to the blog to see them, they really do look great.

Happy archery!

Upcoming Events

2011-08-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

I figured I’d put up my forthcoming schedule so folks would know where they can catch me.

Not a lot coming up in the actual number of events but they are high quality events!

September 11 will see Greenman Archery at the Caid Open Archery and Thrown Weapons Tournament at the Woodley Park archery range in Van Nuys.
This is a great single day event and I’m really looking forward to it.
Unfortunately I will NOT be able to attend Angels Anniversary on the 10th.
The Barony of Angels has always welcomed me with open arms, even when I’m just hanging out beneath a tree. They’re great people and I’d love to be at their anniversary event but I have a prior commitment to do volunteer work at a rest stop in La Jolla for the Amtrak Century, a 100 mile bicycle ride from Irvine to San Diego. Although you’d never know it to look at me now, I’m a cyclist in addition to being an archer and helping about 1,200 cyclists complete the century is just a whole lot of fun (and hard work, I’m going to be a wreck at Caid Open).

The next event is Great Western War XIV.

In the past few months I have fielded a few questions about whether or not I’d be at this event. For a long time I had to reply in the negative. The disappointed looks that reply received have caused me to rethink my decision.

Consequently, Greenman Archery WILL be at Great Western War this year… hurrah!

I should be arriving Monday, October 3 for merchant set-up and will be leaving at the end of the event, probably Monday the 10th.

I will have a pretty good selection of already made arrows and a great selection of hand-dyed canvas bow socks. Be sure to check out the new colors. The purple is rich, the red is vibrant, and the moss green is just plain beautiful. I will also have some un-dyed bow socks for those who want a natural color or who wish to dye their own.
I’ve been asked why I don’t make fleece bow socks and my answer is to throw a canvas ‘sock on the ground. When it’s picked up it may be a little dusty but otherwise unharmed. Do that with a fleece bow sock and you’ll be an hour picking out the various sticks and stickers embedded in the material. However, some archers want the padding that fleece provides. For these folks I do have fleece-lined canvas bow socks. The canvas gives the tough protection, the fleece gives the soft padding… just don’t look too closely at the fleece inside the sock; I use what I find on sale and it may have ponies or teddy bears on it. Don’t use it inside out and no one will be the wiser.
Another bow sock of interest is the design I make specifically for Asiatic recurve bows, what we frequently think of as the Hun or Mongolian style. These ‘socks are canvas lined and have an exterior of beautiful jacquard material. The colors are brilliant, the feel is soft and silky… these special bow socks have an elegance that bow socks have never experienced before. They’re perfect for a Chinese lord, a Mongol chieftain, or just an archer with a treasured bow. The jacquard fabric isn’t as tough as canvas but if you’re willing to take a little care these bow socks will give your kit the perfect note of elegance.

I’m working on something new for bow socks and I’d like to get feedback from you. I’m looking at coating some un-dyed bow socks with a traditional waterproofing solution, either linseed oil or a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax. These ‘socks would be suitable for the archer desiring a more period item for his or her kit. The waterproofing solutions do have a certain odor to them but once it’s cured it’s not very strong and it’s certainly not an offensive odor at all. What do you folks think?

To keep myself entertained at the War I’ll be taking my bow bench so I can work on a bow or two. I’m also going to have some selected red oak boards available at a good price for those people who would like to have a try at making their own wood bow. The boards will have instructions included. If purchasers of these kits would like to work on them during the event I will have my tools and the bow bench available for use in the Greenman Archery booth. It is entirely feasible that a bow may be made and shot during the event.

Are you looking forward to these events as much as I am?

Happy archery!

And Sometimes You Win One

2011-08-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here’s a story about customer service. I’ve been involved with customer service in one way or another for the balance of my working life. Customer service is something I pay close attention to. Of course, I’ve also been a customer for pretty close to the same amount of time, so I know this sword from both ends. It’s certainly made for some interesting experiences.

Sometime last year I found myself in need of a new computer printer. I didn’t use my old one enough and it basically dried up. No amount of head cleaning or Q-Tips with alcohol would get it printing again so I began looking for a new one.

I’m not really picky on my printers. I need them to work and print legible pages but I don’t need photo quality work or special features. Affordable ink is a big plus, as are separate color and black ink cartridges.

I found a printer on sale at Target, a Lexmark X4650, that seemed as if it would fulfill my needs. In addition to printing it had a scanner that seemed like it would be useful, and it was on sale; that's always a big incentive for me.

For a while the printer worked well. Then it began having paper feed issues. The paper wouldn’t go all the way into the printer and only the latter half of the document would be printed on the top half of the paper. Very frustrating. After some troubleshooting I discovered that it fed better if I kept a pretty thick sheaf of paper in the tray. Then that stopped working. I ended up having to reach over to push the first sheet of paper into the printer when it was getting set to print. Very frustrating. Finally, the print quality went south. The first half of a document printed fine but the second half faded to the point of illegibility at the bottom of the page. I tried everything, head cleaning, alignment, wiping the ink cartridges on a clean lint-free cloth in the prescribed direction, nothing worked. More than frustrating.

Cruising the Lexmark website looking for solutions I happened across customer reviews for this printer. The balance of these reviews were pretty positive so I could only think that I had one of the few exceptions to the rule. I also found an email address for Lexmark Listens, a customer feedback opportunity. I took the opportunity to send them an email begging for help in getting my printer working so I could quit hacking up hairballs every time I needed to print something.

Here’s where things got interesting.

After a few days had passed with no reply I figured Lexmark was like many companies and really only wanted to hear about their customer’s good experiences and they really weren’t going to help me.

Then I got their email.

I was shocked.

The Lexmark customer service representative apologized for the issues I was experiencing and noted that most of their customers had great results with their printers, they really weren’t sure why I was having these issues and didn’t know what to tell me to assist in getting it working properly.

Would I like a new printer? The one I have is discontinued so they’ll have to upgrade me to the latest model.

Wait… what? Would I like a new printer? A better one? In this day and age of questionable customer service and companies edging their customers into taking the blame for their issues, Lexmark was apologizing and offering me a new printer. I accepted!

The new printer was sent out that week via FedEx, overnight, no less. I haven’t installed it yet but I am sure it will install and work without a hitch.
At this point I can’t say enough good things about Lexmark.

Their email to me was the proper level of compassion and apology and their treatment of my issues was exemplary. I could not have asked for better customer service. Lexmark is a company that I feel good about recommending.

Note: I was at a friend’s house the other day doing some sewing and noticed that they have the same printer model that was giving me hairballs. They said it’s worked great for them and given good service. It sounds like I really did get an exception to the rule in mine.

Happy archery... and printing!

An Observation

2011-04-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

When did it become necessary for kids to be constantly entertained?
Game consoles are now available in many cars. Heaven forbid that kids have to look out the window during a trip. Now they can watch videos or play games without ever having to see the beautiful world around them.
Hand held game consoles are common place. Sometimes it seems as if many kids have either a cell phone or a game console in their hands almost every hour of the day.

Which brings me to my observation...

Some background first:
The monthly Pasadena primitive skills gatherings that I participate in are amazing collections of knowledge and fun things to do. At these gatherings you can learn how to make bows, arrows, string and rope, work with gourds, learn how to make stone arrowheads, make fire with sticks, slings, bolos, bowstrings, do leatherwork... and the list goes on. If there is something you're interested in there is probably someone who can get you started on it or at least cheer you on. People pay big bucks for the type of knowledge we freely pass out at Pasadena. In fact, a national specialty woodworking store has bowmaking classes available for $395. The information taught in the class is identical to what may be found for free at Pasadena.

That all sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
Kind of exciting...
Different from your regularly scheduled Sunday...

So tell me, why would a kid choose to sit at a picnic bench and play with his hand held game console instead of participating in the fun?
All this wonderful stuff is going on around him, other kids are shooting their bows at the target bales, and yet he sits there with a glazed look on his face as he watches tiny figures on the game screen.

I don't even know what to type, I'm so baffled.

Happy archery...?

Chamberlin Ranch re-cap

2011-04-16T01:29:00.000-07:00

So I’ve finally slowed down a little bit so I can give my account of the Chamberlin Ranch shoot last weekend.

Headed toward the event the weather wasn’t looking good. Forecasts were showing a good chance of rain on Thursday, a higher chance on Friday (with thunderstorms), and then clearing to good weather on Saturday and Sunday.

And that’s pretty much what happened.

The drive up on Wednesday was good. I got gas and picked up a couple things at the store in Buelton before heading out to the shoot site. Once there I sorted out where I’d camp and set up the booth and settled in. I was very fortunate to have Mike (damned if I can remember his last name) on one side. I first met Mike at this shoot last year and really enjoyed his company. He did a pretty thriving business making bowstrings and selling French Opinel knives for an extremely reasonable price. He’s a good stringmaker, too, I had him make one for my spare Abbott bow.

Thursday dawned nice but got cloudy as the day progressed. The afternoon eventually saw some drizzle with occasional rain. We went to town for dinner and had a good one at A.J. Spurs in Buelton. We go there every year and they put on a good feed. I still can’t believe the spring traps they have as ornaments on the walls are fully functional. I can’t tell you how tempted I am to set one and leave it for the next nosey kid. No, I’ll never do it but am I turning into a devious individual or what?

Friday was colder and wetter. The predicted rain and occasional thundershowers rolled in so everyone just relaxed under cover and enjoyed being there.

Friday night… now Friday night was interesting. It turned out to be about the second coldest night I’ve ever spent camping. I was warm enough in my bag but would have slept better if my air mattress hadn’t leaked. We have about four mattresses in the garage and we can never remember which ones leak. We knew for sure that the Coleman mattress did not leak so I took that one on the trip. Turns out that it does leak so every morning saw my hips hitting the ground by about 6am. Anyway, Saturday morning saw everything covered with a very heavy frost with occasional ice where we had standing water. A couple people quoted about 23 degrees overnight and I don’t think I’d argue that point.

Saturday and Sunday were the actual days of the shoot and everyone had a great time. I only shot one of the three courses and opened up my booth when we finished the first course.

I’d like to thank everyone who stopped to chat with me over the five days I was at the shoot and especially those who purchased something from me.

Beef jerky was gone by Saturday afternoon, all the heavier spined arrows I’d made up went to new homes, a good handful of bowsocks are now protecting bows for their new owners, and there was a lot of traffic with bamboo arrow shafts. In fact, all the heavier spines are sold out and I need to make a new order for more.

This has been an excellent shoot every time I’ve attended. If you’re in the area and haven’t been to the shoot you owe it to yourself to go. In my opinion, this is the best traditional shoot in southern California.

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures while at the shoot. But if you'd like to see some good ones, go to THIS PaleoPlanet thread and see what folks have posted there. On the second page... yes, that's me with the green knit cap pulled down over my eyes. Fayme made the cap as a prototype and it needs a little fit adjustment. Sure was warm, though!

Coming up, I’ll be at the SCA Robin Hood shoot at Woodley Park in Van Nuys on April 30.

After that we have the Conejo Valley Archers Pacific Coast Traditional Challenge in Simi Valley on May 7 and 8. This is the second best traditional shoot in the area and I’m really looking forward to it.

Happy archery!

Upcoming Events

2011-03-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

It's time to set down some kind of schedule so folks know where they can catch me if they want to speak in person or see what I've got in my sweaty little hands.

On Saturday, March 12, I'll be at the SCA event Gyldenholt/Calafia Friendship Tournament in Garden Grove. I won't be selling at this event but will have the bow horse and the now-famous hickory bow to work on. I've been working on this danged bow for at least two years now and hope to have it finished and shooting before I have to go into a retirement home. Stop by and have a chat!

Possibly my favorite 3D shoot of the year is coming up on April 9th - 10th.
This is the Chamberlin Ranch Traditional Rendezvous near Solvang, CA. While the shoot is only listed as being Saturday and Sunday quite a few people go up there early to really pack in the fun. I should be driving up Wednesday and coming home Sunday. I'll have the whole booth with me ready to sell custom dyed bow socks, beef jerky (sold out last year!), beautiful ready-made arrows, bamboo arrow shafts, and I'll be more than happy to take orders for custom arrows.

Saturday, April 30, will see us with the whole kit at the SCA's Angels Robin Hood Archery, Rapier, and Thrown Weapons Tournament at Woodley Park in Van Nuys. This is a rescheduled date as the original February date was postponed for weather related issues. This is a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. The winner of this event receives title to a square foot of Sherwood Forest in England. How's that for a great prize? He or she will also get something else but you'll have to wait for opening court to hear what that will be.

For the time being, that's as far forward as I've looked. I'll be adding a couple more events to the list soon. For sure there will be the Conejo Valley Archers traditional shoot but I have to look up the dates for it. I'm sure there will be other SCA events, too.

Stay tuned!

Happy archery!

Sinew, It's Not Just For Soup!

2011-02-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

One of the regular guys on PaleoPlanet recently started a thread in the Trade Blanket section asking about sinew. I kept an eye on the responses because I was also interested in some.
Cesar, one of the site's frequent contributors and the owner of Legionnaire Archery, responded with information about sinew he had available. I messaged Cesar and ended up purchasing a few pieces.

Shipping was pretty quick and the cats sniffed the package thoroughly before I had a chance to open it up. It's probably a good thing we don't have a dog or the sinew would have been chewed up before I knew what was happening!
I took the sinew out to the back patio to see how it would process out. Rather than the deer sinew most places have Cesar sells cow sinew. The information I had from other sources was that cow sinew would work just fine for backing a bow or for my intended purpose, making primitive-style arrows; the price is certainly reasonable. I only did one piece and only did that one part way, but I think this stuff is going to work just fine.

Here is what I started with...

And after a few minutes of beating it with a rock, here's what I ended up with...

A little more work and I'll have some really nice threads to seperate.
Coupled with the turkey feathers I recently got, some knapped points or trade points, and some shoot shafts, I think this stuff is going to work just fine.
In fact, I've recently been captivated with short, sinew backed bows such as were used by Native Americans here on the US west coast. If you know me then you know I'm woefully slow on making bows but I suspect that when I get around to trying a short bow, this sinew will be perfect for the back. I'm sure I'll be getting some more from Cesar for that project.

Happy Archery!

Stolen Pictures!

2010-12-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Let me put forth a situation and see what you think of it…
Let’s say you took a picture of something around your home, you like the picture so you put it up on a photo site like PhotoBucket or Flickr.
While you don’t mind other people taking a look at this picture, it’s still your picture and you don’t want others to steal it from you.

And then one day you’re cruising the internet and see your picture being used on someone’s website.
“Hey,” you think, “that’s my picture, I didn’t give those guys permission to use it!”

That’s the situation we’ve recently run into.

Fayme takes pictures of me building arrows once in awhile and puts them up on her Flickr site where they may be enjoyed by interested parties.

I was doing a Google search recently to try to find a picture of a particular fletching jig when I ran across pictures of my fletching jig table on sites I’d never heard of. Whoever owns or writes for these sites apparently found Fayme’s pictures on Flickr and have stolen them for their own purposes. We’ve written to the administration of the sites and have had varied success in getting the pictures removed: one site did remove it, another site returned our email, apologized for the error, tried to justify it, and then said he’d take it down when he was able to since he’s recovering from cancer. Somehow I feel that excuse is a little lacking. He probably spent more time on the email than he would have just removing the picture. The other four sites have done nothing and have ignored our emails.

Because I think a bad dog should be called a bad dog, here are the sites continuing to use Fayme’s photos without her permission:

http://www.customarcheryarrows.info/arrow-fletching-jig/
Update, December 28: The image was removed after the hosting company was contacted... Hurray!

http://www.satirica.net/arrow-fletching-jig/
(Said he'd remove it but hasn't yet)

http://www.iawgcp.com/fletching-jig/

http://www.outdoorarchery.info/fletching-jig/

http://www.bigcountryoutdoors.biz/fletching-jig/

You may notice that these sites give the appearance of trying to teach but really fall short of that goal, being rife with misspellings, poor sentences, and generally just pretty crappy, as well as chock full of ads.

Since the site administrators have been ignoring our emails, the next step is to notify their hosting companies that the sites are using copyrighted material without permission and are apparently refusing to remove these materials. Maybe that will work. If it doesn’t, I guess we’ll have to get a lawyer to write a nasty letter and go from there. I wonder what kind of damages can be collected?

For the record, because someone is bound to ask, every picture I have on any of my blogs were either taken by me or by Fayme, who has given me permission to use them. In the rare case that I have used a picture taken by someone else, I have received explicit permission to show that picture on the blog, and if anyone ever changes their mind, just let me know and it will be removed immediately, no hard feelings at all.

Thanks for reading!

Gluing Arrow Tips with Epoxy

2010-12-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

You know what’s really frustrating with arrows?
It’s when you go to pull your arrow from the target and discover that the point has stayed in the target.
Dang, that just bugs the heck out of me!

People go to all sorts of measures to try to prevent this from happening. I’ve seen it suggested to use a tap to actually thread the inside of the field point. I’ve seen people drill the point after it’s on the arrow and pin it with a nail. I’ve also seen it recommended to rough up the inside of the point with sandpaper on a stick.

Now, these aren’t bad ideas and they can certainly help, but it may be possible to avoid these steps by faithfully following two points:
Clean the tips. Metal tips come from the manufacturer with a thin coat of oil or grease. This may be left over from the machining process and also helps keep the tip from rusting before we buy it. If that oil or grease isn’t completely cleaned out of the tip, there isn’t a glue we use that will keep that tip on the arrow.
Use an appropriate glue. Traditionally, the appropriate glue has been Ferr-L-Tite hot melt glue. It’s good stuff and properly used it’s going to work well.
Another possibility is a good quality epoxy glue.
Some folks have had reasonable success with other glues but these are the two most common glues being used.

I used to use hot melt glues but quickly got tired of juggling the hot tip, pliers, glue, the arrow, and the heat source. When the excess molten glue squeezed out of the tip I either had to (carefully!) wipe it off while it was still hot or try to chip it off once it had cooled. Neither of those was really a lot of fun.

I quickly began looking for another glue to use.

A number of years ago I built custom fishing rods. I remembered reading about guys building big game rods here on the west coast who were unhappy with using Ferr-L-Tite for rod tip guides and went to using epoxy. They maintained that the epoxy was easier to work with than the hot melt, it was more secure, and if a tip guide was broken they could easily remove it for replacement by a careful application of heat.

Dang, this sounded custom made for what I was experiencing in arrow making!
I’ll tell you what, once I tried using epoxy for arrow tips I never went back to the hot melt glues.

I recently got a little bug in my pants and decided to try my hand at video production. I chose epoxied arrow tips as my subject and I don’t think it came out too awful.

There was a brief bit of excitement when the arrow finish ignited but that was quickly snuffed. Let that be a lesson to you, some of the finishes we use are flammable so watch that flame!

Something I mentioned in the video but didn't get into detail on is cleaning the tip before gluing. I can't stress enough how important this step is. If the tip isn't squeeky, perfectly, immaculatly clean, the glue will be compromised.
I currently use denatured alcohol for cleaning the tips. This is a mild solvent that you can buy in any paint store or paint department of the home improvement store. I soak the tips and then clean the inside with an inexpensive cotton swab. Keep a pair of tweezers or something handy because sometimes those cheap swabs leave a ball of cotton in the tip.

Happy Archery!

Great Event!

2010-10-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, did we ever have a great time at the SCA Agincourt Tourney last Sunday.
In the days leading up to the event I was being a bit of a weenie worrying about the weather. I hate trying to keep my goods dry under the overhead and I didn't want to get all the way to the site and find out that it was canceled for rain.
Luckily, the day was great. Weather was a little bit overcast and cool but there was no hint of moisture until right as we were packing up to leave.

Typically, I don't sell a lot of ready-made arrows. I have a few dozen on my table so people have something to look at and see examples of the art I do but I have always thought that the chances of an archer finding the right arrow dynamics (spine, tip weight, length, etc.) in colors that they like are rather slim. That's why I make true custom arrows, so we can get all that stuff done right.
Well, this event proved me wrong. Of the five or six sets of arrows on the table, three of them are now in new loving homes. I don't really have time to make more arrows for the table before this coming weekend's Queen's Champion event so I hope everyone understands that my display will be a little bare until I've had a chance to get more put together.

Those Asian flavor bow socks I just made got a good reception. One gentleman was looking for a bow sock for his Asiatic recurve and when I showed him those cases it turned out to be just perfect. If you're gonna have utility, there's no reason why that utility can't be beautiful.

After this weekend's event I have a suggestion: if you get a new set of arrows start out close to the target.
One gentleman this weekend had the first two shots with his new arrows sail right over the target. The new arrows were apparently faster and had a flatter trajectory than what he was used to. One of those overshot arrows was recovered but the last I heard, one was still out there in the grass.
Lesson learned, start close to see how things go before backing up.

Happy archery!

Important Links

2010-10-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

See all those links over on the left side of the page?

Those are all links to places that I think you may be interested in for one reason or another. Some are good places to buy things and some are good for information.
I guess it’s about time that I give a few minutes to explain them.

Greenman Cooking Blog
This one is a little self-explanatory, it’s a small time cooking blog that I write. I really enjoy cooking, and while I’m no famous chef I have managed to keep my girlfriend and I in good food and occasionally manage to cook something good for friends or family.
In the Greenman Cooking blog I may discuss recipes I’ve tried or want to try, things I want to buy for the kitchen, cooking programs I like to watch (I love PBS cooking shows), or just about anything else that comes to my mind on the subject.

Greenman Gourds Blog
In addition to making and selling arrows I am also a gourd artist, and perhaps I am using that term a little loosely… I am no fine artist by any stretch of the imagination.
Gourds give me a good outlet for art that really isn’t suitable for the 11/32” dowel of an arrow. With gourds I can paint them, stain them, burn them, carve them, or just leave them natural. I particularly enjoy making usable gourd art like drinking vessels, bowls, canteens, cups, and drums. My gourd art runs towards the primitive style, partly due to that’s what I like to do and partly because my artistic talents don’t extend to more complicated art.

Jesse's Hunting and Outdoors Forum
Jesse’s is an internet forum covering hunting, fishing, and all the attendant variations of such. The forum is based in southern California and that is where many of the participants are located. However, as it has grown we’ve seen Jesse’s gather a much wider following.
The forum is broken up into sections covering a wide variety of subjects. If you are at all interested in the outdoors there is a good chance that you’ll find something of interest and other people to chat with about it.
Membership in Jesse’s is free.
Warning: if you’re anti-gun, anti-hunting, or vegetarian, it is very unlikely that you will enjoy the site.

Paleo Planet
With the help of the late Kris Tuomala, Tom Mills has created what is possibly the world’s best forum for pursuing and sharing knowledge of the old ways of doing things.
If you’re interested in flintknapping, primitive pottery, primitive living, primitive archery, metal forging, or any number of other subjects, you’ll probably find it at Paleo Planet. One of the really incredible things about Paleo Planet is its international membership. There are literally participants from all over the world.
Membership in PaleoPlanet is free and there are basically only two rules: no politics and no religion - two subjects that can be quite divisive.

Richard's Bowyery
Richard Saffold makes wood bows. He makes good wood bows and he makes them for a very reasonable price.
While Richard uses and is familiar with a number of different woods, he particularly loves to use ipe, a tropical hardwood. Ipe was originally brought to the US to use in the construction of backyard decks. Richard was one of the first bowyers to see this wood’s possibilities and has written a number of articles about it for major traditional archery magazines.
Steven Saffold, Richard’s oldest son, has become a pretty accomplished knapper. His work is also available through Richard’s Bowyery.

Sagittarius Archery
The Sagittarius website is pretty bare and basic. You won’t find flashy pictures of what they carry or a bunch of text. What you will find is just about the best price on feather fletching that’s out there. It’s where I get a lot of the feathers I use.
For the best service, give Ruth a call at the number listed on the Sagittarius site, she’s great to deal with and she’ll set you right up.

Trad Gang
Trad Gang evolved from people who got tired of another traditional archery forum. It quickly grew in membership and is now one of the leading forums on the subject of traditional archery with over 25,000 members.
Within the Trad Gang forums you’ll find sub-forums on many different aspects of our passion: collecting, making, selling, shooting, events, politics, photography, etc.
Membership in Trad Gang is free.

Vador Fletching Jigs
A question that comes up pretty frequently in archery forums is, “what fletching jig should I buy?”
The usual answer is Bitzenburger. While there is no doubt that the Bitzenburger is a great jig, I tend to see them as too pricey, especially if you need more than one. When it was time for me to buy my first jig I got a Vador Uni-fletch. I’ve never regretted that decision and now have a table of 12 Vador Uni-fletch jigs as well as a couple off to the side for small jobs and repairs. Some of my jigs are now about 15 years old and I can’t tell the difference with a jig I bought two months ago.
If you are in the market for a fletching jig, email Vador and there is a chance that they will have cosmetic second jigs available for a good price.

Victor Smith Knives
I first met Victor at the old Wrightwood knap-in in Wrightwood, CA. He let me shoot his Bear Kodiak Magnum and that was it, I was hooked on those beautiful short bows.
Victor makes some of the nicest and best performing hunting knives that you can imagine. He’s done extensive testing to figure out what makes a knife perform to its utmost and does everything in his power to make a knife that makes your hand happy to hold and use it. Victor's 40 years of traditional archery hunting have served well to teach him what's needed in a knife.
Take a look at Victor Smith Knives and you'll see handmade tools crafted by a man who puts a lot of love, passion, and hard earned skill into his craft, and that knife will do the job for you.

White Wolf Custom Bows
Tony Semenuk is the owner and bowyer for White Wolf Custom Bows. While I’ve never shot a White Wolf bow I have it on very good authority that they’re great shooters. Tony leans more to colored actionwood instead of expensive exotic woods in the risers. This keeps the cost under control and gives a very unique look to the bow. There are White Wolf bows that are a little flashy for the range as well as bows that are a little subdued for the forest.

None of the sites listed above give me anything to be listed in my links column. In many cases they have no idea they are even there. But for each one of these links I feel strongly enough about it to include it here and recommend it to my readers.

Happy Archery!

Thanks Everyone!

2010-10-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

You can't see it but there is a hit counter on each of my blogs.
Besides the number of hits I get on each blog I can also see interesting information like where a particular visit is coming from and if a visitor uses a link from the blog to exit.
Trust me, I can't tell who anyone is or get specific information about them. The best I can do is see about where a reader is in the world.
Speaking of which... take a look at this map, it shows the general location of recent visitors to Greenman Archery:

(click to enlarge)
A visitor from Johannesburg, South Africa... is the Internet great, or what?

From the time I started the hit counter to today, when I am typing this post, there have been 8,375 visits to Greenman Archery, 999 visits to Greenman Cooking, and 409 visits to Greenman Gourds (that's always been a slow blog, both in my posting and in visits).

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog on a regular basis and to those who just stop for a quick visit. Thanks especially to those of you whom I have had the pleasure to communicate with and answer your questions.
Not a whole lot of people sign up to follow the blogs or actually leave feedback, but that's just human nature. I still appreciate everyone who has been here.

Happy blogging!

Hand Dyed Canvas Bow Socks are Back!

2010-10-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve been running low on the longer lengths of canvas bow socks so I finally bit the bullet, bought another roll of fabric and made another order of dye.
For about the last week I’ve been cutting, washing, dyeing, washing, and sewing bow socks in the 70” and 80” sizes.
While I personally don’t care for padded bow socks I realize that some archers like them. Problem is, most padded socks are made of wool or fleece and those materials tend to collect stickers and pine needles. Both of which can be a real pain to remove from the fabric.
This go-round I’m making a few fleece lined canvas socks to see how they are received. These socks will have the advantage of a strong sticker-resistant canvas outside and a padded fleece inside. I will have some in both the 70” and the 80” bow socks.
I recently saw some really nice fabric with a decided Oriental flare to it. I’m going to get some of that and make a few canvas lined bow socks out of it. These will be really striking and unique socks that will be just the thing for an Asiatic recurve bow.
The new roll of canvas I got came at a higher price than the last roll I bought so I’m afraid these new socks will be a little higher price than in the past:
Hand dyed 10oz canvas bow sock - $10.00
Hand dyed 10oz canvas bow sock w/fleece lining - $15.00
Asian pattern bow sock w/canvas lining - $15.00
Bow socks that I still have in stock from before will remain at the old price of $8.00 each until they are gone. I’ve never really understood why stores raise prices on old stock when the new stuff comes in higher. I’m sure it makes sense to an accountant somewhere but it doesn’t to me.

Events Coming Up
It looks like the next event I'll be at is the SCA Altavia Agincourt Archery & Thrown Weapons Tournament at Woodley Park in Van Nuys, CA on Sunday, October 24th.

After that is Queen's Champion Equestrian, Archery, and Thrown Weapons on October 29-31 near Santa Barbara, CA. ~~(not yet confirmed on this one, I'll make a note when I am)~~. Confirmed!

In November is one of the premier 3D shoots for Southern California, the Gene Foster Memorial Traditional Rendezvous, November 13-14 up outside Fresno, CA. A good friend has been trying to get me to this shoot for a few years and this year it will finally happen. I'm really looking forward to being there.

Finally, the Shire of Heatherwyne is holding Medieval Marketplace on Saturday, November 27, Kunz Park in La Verne, CA. Not an archery event but this one promises to be fun.

Testimonial
I got this in an email recently. While I am normally fairly modest it made me so happy I just have to share it:
Greetings Guy: I just wanted to give you a BIG Thank you. I have had and shot alot of arrows over the years but your arrows are superior. They love my longbow and it loves them. I am shooting groups with your arrows I have not been able to shoot with other arrows. Just wanted to say GREAT JOB and keep it up. Thanks again. Don

Woo hoo!
But, lest I forget myself and try to take all the credit, good equipment will only get an archer so far. It still takes a skilled hand at the string to get the arrow going to the target.

Happy Archery!

A Day at Pasadena

2010-09-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

For quite awhile I've been wanting to do a blog post showing what goes on at the monthly Pasadena primitive skills gatherings. The time is finally here.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, once a month, generally on the third Sunday of the month, a bunch of people gather at the Pasadena Roving Archers range in Pasadena, CA.
Lots of different things happen at these gatherings. Some people work on wood bows, some on arrows, some make bowstrings, people play with hardshell gourds, make music, trade or give away materials of all kinds, plan trips, do an atlatl contest, work on making atlatls and their darts... really, the things that happen are virtually endless.
Many of the participants are visitors of the internet forum, Paleo Planet. But not everyone is and it's certainly not a requirement that they be.

I took a lot of pictures this past weekend so I'll just get those up here and let them, and their captions, speak for themselves.

Nobody said it would be pretty getting there. A fact of life for most of us in southern California: a drive on the freeway.

Finally, that's the offramp coming up.

Pasadena isn't a young town and there are some really cool homes in some neighborhoods. This is at the top of the offramp.

On the way to the range we go under the Colorado Street Bridge, built in 1913.

This is certainly one of the greener streets I've seen in southern California.

Here we are, the Lower Arroyo Park. Home to the Pasadena Roving Archers and the Pasadena Casting Club.

The road down into the arroyo is pretty narrow. With two cars coming out I'll have to wait my turn to go downhill.

The parking area is off to the left but where I want to go is straight ahead. We're not really supposed to drive across the bridge but the club is very helpful in realizing that we've got loads of stuff in our vehicles. So long as we don't abuse the priviledge, we can unload and then get back out to the parking area.

Across the bridge and there we are! By the big canopy I can see that Chris has come up from down south but it doesn't look like a whole lot of other folks are here yet.

Chris Henry of PaleoArts alongside a table full of the beautiful atlatls he crafts (and sells) along with a rack of atlatl darts he also makes. If you can't read his t-shirt, it says:
Guns are for sissies. Real men hunt with spears.

Dave (on the right) is a friend of Chris and came to visit us for the first time. He had a table full of the beautiful work he does as well as a blanket of staves he brought along. Here he's showing some of his work to Frank (left) and Greg (middle).

Dave and Chris did some knapping together.

And Tom joined them a little later in the day.

Tom spent some time with this fellow showing him different aspects of primitive archery.
I wish I could remember his name, he found us through PaleoPlanet and this was his first visit. Mom seemed to approve.
Tom has sent a note that the young man's name is Toby. Thanks, Tom!

Derek didn't have enough time to bring his tools and work on a bow but he brought the dogs out for a walk. I wish I'd thought to get a picture of the English longbow style bows Derek makes. He's a pretty talented craftsman. I think the dogs are hoping for a piece of pretzel.

Paige has found a friend.

Kate is doing the final sanding on a bow. I think Steve helped her with this one but I doubt she'll need any help on the next one. Kate has an inner bowyer that is beginning to show.

It's not all work. Sometimes we shoot the bows. Tom has probably forgotten more about bows and arrows than I'll ever learn. He also makes his own knives and leatherwork.

Tom with Paige and Mike discussing the fine points of archery tackle.

Folks wander in and out all day long depending on their personal schedules and the time they can spare on a Sunday. Don't think you need a truck to get there!

This man and his son were shooting the course with their recurves and ended up hanging out with us for quite awhile trying different primitive bows.

Tom is a past president of the World Atlatl Assoc. and periodically he'll hold a registered atlatl contest that anyone may participate in. Here's he's giving instruction to a couple new guys before the scoring starts.

Going for score now so Chris is getting serious.

Kate getting her form set for the throw.

Tom's follow through as a couple out for a Sunday walk look on in the background. We definately get a lot of people asking what we're doing.

Chris' significant other, Carey, is a skilled atlatlist in her own right.

It's not all archery and atlatls. Aimee is working with a project on her beading loom.

Paige is making a stamp for leather working.

And Mike is knitting some chain maille.
The variety of talents we have always amazes me.

Chris at a table bearing more of his incredible work.
Check out the spear in his hands. Remember the t-shirt? You didn't think he was kidding, did you?

James (left) and George (right) contemplate the layout for a new bow.

Big George (left) and Salvador (right) discussing the fine points of an old compressed wood arrow shaft that Tom dug out of his stockpile.

Salvador doing his impression of The Horned God.

All too soon it seems as if people start packing in and saying their goodbyes. Then you look at the time and realize how long you've been there.

You look around and realize it's going to be a long four weeks until everyone comes back for next month's gathering of the clan.

I hope you've enjoyed this photo journey of a Day at Pasadena. I know there is a lot of pictures so I trust I haven't choked your computer. I actually have a lot more but felt I had to trim them down at least a little bit.

My sincere apologies if I missed getting a picture of anyone or didn't name you in a picture. There really is so much going on that I gave up on getting everything and everyone.

Addendum!
Sorry, I had to wait for permission before I posted this...
The Pasadena Roving Archers is putting together a calendar as a fund raising item. The same day I took my pictures some members of the club were at another part of the range doing the shoot for the calendar.
The subject of the calendar is Women Archers Through History. All the models are actual members of the club, as is the photographer.
Here is a teaser shot...

Photo by Jhoneil Centeno, the model is Jaylee.
The primitive skills gathering was honored to supply a few props for the shoot: Derek's longbows, Chris' arrows and knapped knife, and Dave's Native American bows and arrows.

Happy archery!

Nice Work From Others

2010-08-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while someone will contact me regarding the blog and I get to chat with other artists who have similiar interests to mine.

Jeff from the UK was interested in how I did some effects on the arrows so we went back and forth on that for awhile. While I haven't yet seen the arrows we discovered a common interest in basket quivers and he sent me a picture of the one he recently made.

Jeff did a great job on the quiver and I hope mine (when I eventaully get to it) looks half as nice.

Kathy (Killdeer on TradGang) has been making her own arrows for a long time. Recently she made some and honored me by incorporating a painting technique I explained here on the blog. Kathy doesn't make arrows professionally but I suspect her style and skill could give a number of professional fletchers a run for their money.

She also takes better pictures than I do!

Many thinks to both of you for reading the Greenman Archery blog and for allowing me to use your pictures here.

Happy archery!

Finally... A New Post!

2010-08-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

I was hoping for more feedback on the cresting question I had on the previous post so I've been delaying making a new post so it would stay on top.
I've waited long enough and it doesn't look like I'll get a whole lot of feedback there. Thanks very much to those who did put in their thoughts on cresting.

On to the new stuff!! Hang on, this may be a wild ride, we've got new arrows for Mike, Delia, Sarah, Don, Derek, Alex, and Lloyd.

Let's do Mike first...
Mike and his significant other, Paige, are faithful attendees of the monthly Pasadena Primitive Skills Gatherings. Mike has been doing pretty good on making bows and has recently begun learning how to forge hot metal, too. Paige does some wonderful needlework and her Japanese cord braiding is just a joy to look at.
Paige contacted me recently about doing some arrows for Mike's birthday. We figured out what he'd like and I went at it. One special point Paige wanted on the arrows was Mike's nickname, "Murph," written on the arrows in gold ink. Let me tell you, that gold lettering gave me hairballs! Not only did I have to scramble to find something that would be compatible with the finishes I use but the gold ink had a tendency to spread. I went through two gold inks, three nibs, and two paint pens trying to find something that would work. Next time I do something like this it will be in good old black ink.

Moving right along, let's see Sarah's arrows.
Sarah is a wonderful woman who has been shooting at the Pasadena Roving Archer's range and getting instruction and feedback from some of the more experienced archers there. When she said she wanted to get wood arrows they referred her to me. Thanks, guys!
For her first wood arrows we decided to keep the cost down and go with something somewhat plain, but we still wanted them to be Sarah's Arrows. We did good.

Sarah met me last Sunday while I was at the range for the Gathering to get her new arrows. She immediately went over to the target area to try them out. Not half an hour later she was suddenly standing next to me with a smile from ear to ear. "I didn't know I could shoot that good!"
Good equipment will help, but it's still up to the person holding the bow to do the right thing when facing the target.

Don is from Phoenix, AZ and shoots for White Wolf Custom Bows. He's been looking for a wood arrow maker who can give him what he wants and I hope I've satisfied that requirement.
I know one thing, anyone who says they can't see these arrows had better double check to make sure their eyes are open.

When you get a chance, check out those White Wolf Custom Bows. They're really pretty nice.

Note: someone asked me where they could get arrow wraps like this and like I used on the pink arrows shown further down.
Sorry I couldn't help but these are all hand made, I don't use arrow wraps. Arrow wraps are fine if you don't have the time or inclination to do it otherwise but when someone orders handmade arrows from me that's exactly what they get, handmade wood arrows - no arrow wraps and no fletch tape (ok, I do use manufactured wood shafts).

You know the problem with working with creative people? They always make me think and push my skills.
Here's what Derek said: "I want the shafts stained black, but the last part of the shaft left natural."

Alex wanted a crown color but no cresting. I'm very pleased with the way these turned out.
That little mark in front of the feathers is what Alex wanted to note the cock feather. I didn't think I'd ever do pyrography on arrows but there it is.

Lloyd was standing around with some friends at the Woodley Park archery range and they got to wondering what spiral painted arrows would look like flying through the air.
Dang it, here I go again trying to figure out how to do something I've never done before...

I've saved Delia for last not because her arrows turned out poorly, but because I didn't want her and her arrows lost amidst all the others.
I understand she's officially in remission but that doesn't mean she doesn't get some nice pink arrows.

This last picture is used without permission, I've never met Delia and had to pull this picture from the Leatherwall thread where her condition has been updated for her fans.
I sure hope Delia doesn't read my blog, she doesn't know these arrows are coming to her!

That's all for now. I trust you've enjoyed seeing my recent work. If you'd like to see your arrows here just let me know and we'll see what we can do about getting an order of custom arrows started for you.

Note: I am occasionally asked why I only make six arrows. Actually, unless only six arrows are what is ordered I make a full dozen on custom orders. I usually only take pictures of six so the picture doesn't get too crowded.

Happy archery!

What Do You Like?

2010-06-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, opinions wanted here.

Cresting on an arrow can take a lot of different forms. I doubt there is an arrow maker out there who hasn't developed their own style, and it's likely going to be at least a little different from other arrow makers.

One difference in cresting style that we see is long vs. short or many lines vs. a few lines.
I've seen a few arrows that have cresting extending for over two inches, and some extreme examples that have lines the whole length of the crown, about nine or ten inches. One local arrow maker bragged to me that he was working on arrows that had over 100 lines.

My personal preference is for relatively short cresting. Most of what I do is well under two inches. I feel that while the cresting is an important design element of the arrow, its main purpose is to soften the transition from the crown color to the rest of the shaft. It should look good but not dominate the appearance of the arrow.
Of course, this is a modern interpretation of the purpose for cresting. It used to be used as an identifier for the owner of the arrow. It still can serve that purpose but the rest of the arrow is generally so different from what our companions are using that there is little danger of confusion.

I'd like to know is what you like. Please take a couple minutes to leave a comment to let me know what kind of cresting you enjoy the most on your arrows.
Long?
Short?
Lots of lines?
Not so many lines?
Don't worry if you're not registered with Blogger. You can leave an anonymous comment without having to register. But please do leave a comment, I'd really like to see what other archers think on this subject.

Happy archery!

PaleoPlanet Fund Raiser

2010-06-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

For the past three or four years the PaleoPlanet forum has raised money to send a North American member to Bulgaria for a primitive skills gathering held there. The event is organized by Iliana, a PP member who lives in Bulgaria. It's a truly wonderful event held in a beautiful part of the world and everyone who has attended has really enjoyed themselves.
Fundraising this year didn't seem to be up to its usual excitement, probably due to the depressed economy so many of use are experiencing. There was a danger that insufficient funds would be available to purchase airfare.
Then Iliana had an idea. She got in touch with a couple people to see if they were interested in her idea. After receiving assurances of participation she put her idea out to the forum to see if there was sufficient commitment there to make it work.
Iliana wanted to offer a set of archery gear: bow, leather goods, and arrows. Tickets would be available for a fixed price and the winner would be drawn out of a hat.
The tickets went like the proverbial hotcakes and enough money was raised to put us over the top and achieve our goal.

The bow was made by Steve Gardner, one of the premier amateur wood bowyers in the U.S. today. Steve makes a number of designs but particularly enjoys making flight bows. These bows live on the ragged edge of absolute top performance and making them has given Steve a considerable education in making wood bows.
Iliana herself made the leather archery accessories. She made a bowcase, quiver, bracer, tab, string keeper, and accessory pouch; all of which have beautiful tooling and designs on them.
I put in some arrows that would be built to the winner's specifications to properly match the bow and archer combination. Of course, the art on the arrows would also be to the winner's wishes.

The drawing was held while a number of us were at the Chamberlin Ranch shoot in April so we didn't find out who it was until we got home. Salvador, a good friend and archery mentor was to be the lucky recepient of this armful of goodies.

At last Sunday's Pasadena gathering we finally got Salvador nailed down so Steve could give him the bow, I could give him the arrows, and we could get a picture of him with his winnings (Iliana had already sent the leather goods to him from Bulgaria).

Here are the arrows I made once Sal told me what he wanted.

The Bulgarian gathering is taking place as I write this. From all reports they're having a great time.

If you'd like to see what past gatherings were like this thread on PaleoPlanet has links to a number of pictures taken by various attendees. Be warned, once you see the pictures you'll want to go, too.

Happy archery!

Something Special, New Arrows for a Warrior

2010-06-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Allrighty...

Let's see if I can write this so it makes sense.

About three months ago Matt contacted me to make some red arrows for him. As we discussed the red arrows I learned that Matt's wife has been battling breast cancer for about the past eight years and was finally coming out on top of the battle.

It is obvious that Matt dearly loves Pamela and is very proud of her strength and determination. Matt mentioned that there isn't a "pink" event in their area that they don't attend to support other survivors and women going through their own battles with this horrible disease. When I learned that someone was making a pink bow for Pamela I decided to surprise her and Matt with a few pink arrows to go with that new pink bow.

Jump forward a couple months and Matt made a post on TradGang that showed, in part, the pink arrows that I and three other fletchers had given to Pamela. He also mentioned that while attending a 3D shoot in Vanderpool, TX they met Melanie, a woman who has been having her own battle with cancer for 20 years. After the shoot Pamela sent Melanie some of her pink arrows and they arrived just before another round of chemotherapy. It sounds like they cheered her up a bit.

I couldn't bear the thought of Melanie not having some special arrows of her own so I got in touch with Matt and got a bit of information. I'll put Melanie's new arrows in the mail tomorrow and she will have them in a few days. I hope she likes the way they turned out as much as I do.

Health and Good Archery, thanks for reading

Update - Melanie called me Monday to let me know she got the arrows. I won't go into details on the conversation lest I embarrass myself. Let's just say she was surprised, and she does like them.
Thanks, Melanie. You really made my day.

The Bow Bench Lives!

2010-06-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

I took the new bow bench to the SCA tournament this past Saturday and got to give it a good workout.
I have to say, it worked great and I'm quite pleased with it.
The bench occasionally seems a little rickety if you sit on it and wiggle your butt but in use it is reasonably steady and holds the stave just fine. While I had no issues with the stave slipping as I reefed on it with a draw knife I am on the lookout for some heavy rubber-like material to put on the clamping surfaces.
Putting it together and breaking it down at the end of the day was a breeze. I kept a wrench handy and used it to remove the foot pedal support arm. That allowed the clamping head to come out; remove the legs and it was ready to go into the truck.

If it looks as if we were set up away from everyone else, we were. That's the hazard of putting up the overhead before you see where the others are going up and of forgetting that in the SCA everything revolves around the fighting eric. On the other hand, just about everyone walking to the bathroom had to go right by us and many people stopped to chat and ask questions about what I was doing.

Happy shaving!

Arrows for King Arthur and Arrows for Kate

2010-06-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

Remember I mentioned that I would be making some arrows to donate to the San Diego Archer's King Arthur's Tournament to be held on June 20th?
Well, they're done and in their hands.

The arrows are Sitka spruce, #45/49 spine, weight matched. I left them full length so whoever wins them can cut them to the appropriate size, 125gr field points are in the box with the arrows. I trust that they'll go to a loving home.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the shoot myself as that's the same day as the monthly Pasadena gathering. I hope you guys have a great time!

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Kate wanted arrows that would be easy to see.

All I can say is, "be careful what you ask for!"

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Tomorrow, June 12, we'll be at an SCA event in Fountain Valley, CA.
This is the Gyldenholt Anniversary event and will be held at the archery range in Mile Square Park.
There will be archery, heavy weapons, and rapier competitions. For those of a more gentile nature, an Arts and Sciences Champion will also be chosen.
I can't sell things at this event so I'll be taking the new Bowyer's Bench to play with in the shade of our overhead. If you come to the event, please drop by and visit for a bit, I'd love to meet you.

Happy archery!

Bow Bench Project

2010-06-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Back when I started learning how to make wood bows I put together a simple bench using 2" x 12" Douglas Fir and an inexpensive bench vice I had laying around. It didn't work out too bad but it doesn't break down and is pretty heavy to throw in the back of the truck.
I've been looking for something a little better. Essentially, I wanted a shaving horse that I could disassemble to take to events or gatherings. Now that I'm doing SCA events again, I really wanted something that would work well there, too. For a variety of reasons I can't sell my wares at all events so I figured if I took a bow bench and made a spectacle of myself shaving wood I could hand out business cards if someone had an interest.
Lo and behold, I found what I needed. While reading back issues of various magazines I ran across the Fall 2005 issue of The Bowyer's Journal (since changed to Trad Archer's World). In the magazine were plans for building a Bowyer's Bench, just what I needed.
The plans didn't look too difficult and they used lumber and hardware I could get at my local home improvement store. The only exception was the leg brackets. I couldn't find them in a local store and ended up ordering the Grizzly G3312 Saw Horse Brackets from Amazon.com.

For your reading pleasure, here is a pictorial journey for the construction of my Bowyer's Bench:

Gotta start somewhere. Tools are gathered, the plans are handy, the first cut is for the bench itself.

Ok, the legs are done.

Here's one of the Grizzly saw horse brackets. Pretty cool design, actually. The wingnut forces the wedge down to hold the 2 x 4 legs tightly in place yet the whole thing may be removed easily. Just what I need.

So far so good. This is going to be an easy project. I'll have it done in a day.

A couple holes need to be cut in the top of the bench for different members to fit through.

Um, yeah... I discovered that my jig saw doesn't saw straight up and down. I don't know if it's the saw or me, I suspect the latter. So some clean up is necessary when I use the jig saw.

I'm supposed to cut what and put it where!!??

The bench top also gets a hole.

I dearly dislike circular saws. To tell the truth, they scare the crap out of me.

This hinge block goes under the bench top and over the bolt for the saw horse bracket on one end. Since I wanted to be able to remove that bolt for transportation I elected to purchase a longer one at the hardware store so it could go all the way through this hinge block for removal when necessary.

I may end up re-making this piece at a later date. The bench top pedestal gets holes drilled through it so it can be moved up and down to raise and lower the bench top. A piece of steel rod goes through the holes to hold the adjustment. When I drilled the holes (not shown here) I managed to drill them in a decidely un-straight manner. Just for my peace of mind I may re-make this later and try to drill straighter.

Figuring the angles on this was interesting. I had to email a recent college graduate to ensure I was doing it right. He asked his wife. Thanks, Paige!

Cleaning up after the jig saw.

It's starting to look like it may work.

After carefully measuring and cutting the slot for the foot pedal I had to remove a little wood for a perfect fit.

It's too small... too small... too small... crap, now it's too big.

I needed four of these pieces for the clamp head.

Stacked up, screwed together, and ready to be bolted.

Cleaning up after the jig saw again. This is the piece that holds down the stave being worked on so I wanted it to be right.

I may not be able to saw, but apparently I can rasp.

Not too bad. It actually does hold a stave pretty well. I still need to stain it and put on a protective finish of some kind as well as figure out if I'll decorate it in any way.
All in all, it was a little more difficult than I expected it to be but it really wasn't very hard. The foot pedal support seems a little long and after using it I may decide to shorten that piece and re-install the foot pedal.
And, uh... yeah... it did take longer than a single day.
Other than that, not bad!

I was way too busy and preoccupied to take pictures of the process so I can't thank Fayme enough for taking over that task and for doing such a great job.

Happy bow building!

Yes, We Have Bamboo Shafts!

2010-05-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

Bamboo shafts are back in hand.
My first batch of bamboo shafts kind of sat around for a while. People looked at them, asked a couple questions, and then kept on walking. But when I took them to the Chamberlin Ranch shoot there was a sudden interest in them and every single bamboo shaft I had on hand was sold.
I've got them back on hand now, they're weighed and ready to go.
Suitable for Western archery or Kyuodo, these are Tonkin cane, the shafts are straightened, heat treated, and the nodes are knocked down. These bamboo shafts are almost arrows, needing only your skills as an arrow maker to turn them into accurate, tough, and hard hitting arrows.

As before, the shafts are available in 84cm/33" and 100cm/39" lengths. They are $3.00 each, plus actual shipping; US orders only. I'm sorry but international shipping is just too expensive and too much of a trial to deal with.
These shafts are unspined but they are weighed. If you have a particular weight you are looking for I'll get as good a group as possible in that weight. If you don't have something particular you're looking for, give me your bow specifics and I'll do my best to get you something applicable.
Included with my shipment was a very limited quantity of 100cm shafts that have been spined by the manufacturer. While spining is not usually necessary for bamboo, he does have them spined for the American market, where we are accustomed to dealing with spined arrow shafts. I only have these spined shafts in 55/60 and they will be available until I run out of them. Each one is stamped just as you see. Price is the same as un-spined bamboo shafts. He didn't charge me extra, I'm not going to charge you extra.

If you've never used bamboo arrows you are in for a treat. Called by some "Nature's carbon arrow shaft" bamboo is tough, fast, and shoots great. Just as with carbon shafts, they shoot well from a wide range of bow weights. Tuning may be accomplished by playing with shaft weight, tip weight, and overall length.

Let me know if you have any questions about what nocks or tips to use, how to make bamboo arrows, or anything else you're not sure about. I'll be glad to help.

Grass, it's the new/old arrow!

Has it really been that long since I last posted?

2010-05-21T02:12:00.000-07:00

So, it's been some time since I last posted to the blog.
At least it's been because I've been busy!
Here are a few things I've been working on...

Julian loves archery but lately he's been more involved with photography. I have a feeling that he'll be picking up his bow again when he gets his new arrows this Sunday.

Julian asked for his last name to be written in Chinese character in the cresting. I doubt I'll get any awards for my Chinese penmanship but I think this turned out pretty cool.

He also wanted brass points on these arrows. This is the first time I've used these and they really give a special look to the finished arrow.

Speaking of different points... what do you think of these? They were supplied by a gentleman in Texas for the heavy arrows for his new 80# longbow.

Last year I raffled off a set of arrows on PaleoPlanet to help send a North American member to Bulgaria for a bow and primitive skills gathering over there. Lloyd out in the San Fernando Valley won the arrows and had me make them up for a lady he shoots with at the Woodley Park archery range.
Christine loves her arrows but in the past year Lloyd has seen her borrowing his flu-flus pretty frequently. So he ordered another set in the same design as last year but this set was all flu-flus just for her.

Of the dozen arrows, nine were regular six fletch flu-flu arrows with field points. The other three were six fletch banana fletching and these special whistling heads.This was a fun set to make and I have reports that Christine loves her new arrows.
Edit on 6-12-10, in response to more than one question about the whistling heads, here is a link that will take you to their page in the 3Rivers catalog.

Next up is a set of arrows I'm making for donation to the San Diego Archer's 43rd annual King Arthur's Tournament in Balboa Park. I haven't yet decided what design to make the arrows. The shoot isn't until June 20th so I have a little bit of time for them. Do you have any input on what they should look like?

Happy archery!

CVA Pacific Coast Traditional Challenge, Simi Valley, CA

2010-04-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Chamberlin Ranch shoot is fading into our memories (except for Salvador, who is still gloating about winning the clout shoot and getting a new quiver from the quiver raffle) but there is another great trad shoot coming right up:
The Conejo Valley Archers Pacific Coast Traditional Challenge is fast approaching us on May 1-2. This is a great two-day shoot that I look forward to every year. The club does a great job and everyone seems to have a good time. Camping is available at the county park next to the range. A special arrangement with the county gives tent campers a price of $5 per night. Truck campers with no hook up is $10 and RV camping is $37.
We'll be there with the booth selling custom arrows and taking orders for same. I sold out of beef jerky at the Chamberlin shoot but I'm making more as I type this. Other vendors with wonderful wares will also be there, many of them with hand made goods that can be difficult to find elsewhere. I think there will be at least two custom knife makers in attendance.

If you can come out for both days, great! If you can only make it for one day, no problem! Either way, come have fun with us.

Who is with me?!

Chamberlin Shoot Pictures

2010-04-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

Photography is wonderful. Aside from the wonderful art that can be created with photography, there is still the documentation of people, places, and events that can be done.
The only problem is, to do it well you pretty much have to dedicate your time to photography. I've tried to take pictures during a shoot or an outing and just end up with a bunch of crappy half-framed snapshots. Sure, the event is documented, you can see that the trees were green and that Sal was using his osage bow, but there's no art, no feeling, and sometimes no focus to the pictures.
Enter the dedicated photographer. This is an individual who has invested the time, the money, and the energy into taking... no, crafting is a better word .... crafting beautiful pictures that show the event and also show the life, the vitality, and the wonder of what we do.
This is kind of a long lead up to Julian Chan's Flickr page for Chamberlin where he has posted some of the many pictures he took during the Chamberlin Ranch shoot. Julian has a bow and loves archery, but that weekend he dedicated himself to the art of photography and I can't thank him enough. I hope you enjoy his efforts as much as I do.

Thanks for reading!

Newest Work

2010-04-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

For awhile I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go to the Chamberlin Ranch shoot. When I found out I could go I began a mad rush to make arrows for sale and to get ready for the shoot.
While some of the following arrows have gone on to new homes, I wanted to put up pictures because there were some really nice arrows put together. Heck, if I can't show off the work I do on my blog, what's the point of having a blog?!

These red and black arrows were one of the most popular sets I had on my table. Everyone loved them. But out of everyone who thought they were great, they were the wrong spine. I did get a couple orders, though: "Make them just like those." Sure, I can do that.
These arrows are spined 40/44 and are already cut to 30" back of point with field points mounted. They're discounted from my regular price; $90.00 for the dozen.

Same type of design, just different colors. These arrows are spined 50/54, cut to 30" BOP with field points mounted, discounted at $90.00 dz.

Something different here. Going with the basic design I did on some bamboo arrows these arrows have small flowers hand painted in the crest area. If you want something really unique, these arrows are for you. I got a lot of comments on these. A couple folks asked where I got the little flower decals. I love to hear that... means I did them good.

These are spined at 30/34, cut to 30" BOP with field points mounted, discounted at $90.00 dz.

This is a special pattern that I love to do. It always turns out very striking and very unique. Have you ever seen purple nocks?

These are spined at 35/39, cut to 30" BOP with field points mounted, discounted at $90.00 dz.

Similar to the above arrows in style, these arrows have gone on to a new home. I had been holding out to sell them to a virgin but the guy had cash in his hands and I couldn't resist that. If you like these, I can make more.

I tried out something different on these and while they didn't look bad, I wasn't completely happy with the way the crown paint covered. I sold them as cosmetic blems at a very good discount. One thing is almost certain: the archer using these arrows may break them, but he will have a difficult time losing them.

These arrows were commissioned as a wedding present for a wonderful lady. Do you think she likes purple?

Almost forgot these. They've been sold but I can make more if you like them. Same type of pattern as the red/black and the blue/black but in green/black. Did I mention I love this pattern?

You know, every once in awhile I put together some arrows that look so good I don't want to send them to their new homes. This is one of those sets. This gentleman wanted arrows similar to some I recently sent to New York. I did the cresting slightly different and I think the whole effect is just perfect.

Happy archery!

Chamberlin Ranch Traditional Shoot - April 10-11

2010-03-29T01:32:00.000-07:00

The best shoot of the year is coming up fast, the Chamberlin Ranch Traditional Rendezvous is on April 10 - 11.
The shoot is put on by the Traditional Bowhunters of California and specifically by Vince and Cathy Grgas.
There will be three courses to shoot over the weekend as well as novelty shoots, a last man standing shoot, a battle clout and a broadhead challenge shoot.
In addition to traditional archery there will be vendors, flintknapping, atlatls, falconry, raffles, and presentations.
While the shoot officially starts on Saturday a lot of people will be headed in early. I'm hoping to get there on Wednesday myself and I know some who are going Monday. Dry camping is available at the ranch or hotels are nearby in Solvang, Buellton, or Los Olivos.

This is probably one of the best, if not the best, shoot of the year here on the west coast. If you'd like more information about the shoot you can visit the Traditional Bowhunters of California website or email Cathy Grgas at daisiemae2000@hotmail.com before April 3rd.

Hope to see you there!

Arrow Shaft Sorting

2010-03-24T01:40:00.000-07:00

As we all know (or should know), arrow shafts should be sorted before they turn into arrows.
The more uniform is the ammunition, the more uniform we can expect it to behave on the range or in the field.

Given that we're starting with quality shafts in the first place, we need to group shafts by their spine.
Not spline! I get all twitchy when I hear or see spline. It's spine!
Spine is a measurement of the flexure of the arrow shaft. The arrow flexes as it leaves the bow and an improper amount of flex can give poor results in arrow flight and on the target.
For wood arrows spine is measured by supporting the shaft on 26" centers, hanging a 2lb weight from the center of the shaft, and measuring the deflection.
While shafts used to be ordered by the deflection, today wood shafts are typically grouped into 5lb groups such as #40/44, or #55/59. These numbers are derived by dividing 26 by the deflection. For instance, 26 divided by .500 deflection = 52, usually called a #52 shaft. This number will give us a rough indication of what bow weight it should be used with but there are a myriad other factors to take into account:
Draw length, arrow length, bow type and design, bowstring material, arrow point weight, etc.
Oh, yeah, the shaft also has to be properly oriented on the tester. You can't just throw them on the tool and expect to get consistent and meaningful results.
Choosing the proper wood arrow can get rather complicated and it's not something I'm going to get into here lest I be typing until 6:00am. When you get arrows your arrow maker should ask you a series of questions that will enable him or her to determine the best shaft spine for you and your bow. There's no shame in asking how the decision has been reached and you'll probably learn something interesting about this aspect of archery.

While the shafts I order from the manufacturer are shipped in spine groups I feel I get the best results by going through them on my own and measuring their spine. There are a number of great tools for doing this, both purchased and home made.
I use an Ace Spine Master and have been really happy with it. While its design is a little different, this tool gives the same results as the 26" centers I mentioned earlier. Rather than mount it to a wall as intended I mounted mine to a piece of plywood and then made removable legs so I could take it anywhere. It's very convenient.

Here is a really good slow motion video showing the arrow flexing as it leaves the bow. The video's maker has even put in footage of what happens when using a dangerously underspined arrow. It's well worth watching.

In addition to measuring spine and grouping the shafts accordingly, we want to group our shafts by physical weight.
While some archers may not feel this is important I feel that it is, even for new archers.
Wood is a natural material and as such it can have some pretty wide variation, even in the same tree. Shafts that are the same spine can have wildly varying weights. If we don't match our shafts for physical weight we can easily get into a situation where our arrows have quite a bit of weight difference from one another. That is not generally good for accuracy.
Arrow weights are expressed by grains; there are 7000 grains in a pound. There have been a number of good inexpensive grain scales introduced to the market in recent years but I use one I got back when I reloaded all my firearm ammunition: a Dillon D-Terminator (the design has changed a little over the years since I got mine). While not the cheapest scale out there (although it was the best when I purchased it, and still is the best), Dillon is a great company and really stands behind their products.
Most arrow makers or shaft sellers who sort their shafts for weight go for +/- 10 grains. This means there could be a 20 grain variance from your heaviest to lightest shafts in a dozen. Believe me, 20 grains isn't very much so this standard works pretty well.

Here's the results of a day's worth of measuring shafts on the spine tool and the scale.

Now all I have to do is sort them by weight.

I'm going to bed.

Here's Something Different

2010-03-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I saw some antique Persian arrows up for sale on eBay. I couldn't afford to bid on them but they were so beautiful I just had to capture the picture on the auction.
Recently, in response to people asking me what to do with the bamboo shafts I have, I made a couple arrows based on those old Persian arrows.

When the cat decides to help sometimes there isn't much you can do but humor him.

Details:

I used craft acrylic paint for the yellow crown, for the flowers, and for the black and gold lines around the shafts. The flowers were outlined with a crow quill pen and appropriate ink. Thanks to Fayme for suggesting the outlining, it really made a huge difference in how things looked.

The nocks were hand made from bone I got from PetSmart. To fix them to the shaft I made a little tenon on the base of the nocks and glued that down into the hollow bamboo shaft.

Because none of my choppers were going to give me the fletching shape I wanted I broke out the feather burner for its first ever use.

I was in a little bit of a hurry to take these to an event last Sunday so I didn't wrap the leading edge of the feathers with silk. When I take more time on future arrows I'll definitely do that step.

Now all I need to do is figure out a way to make a nice ornate head suitable for a presentation arrow...

Arrows for Texas

2010-03-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

I sent these out today and they're a little different than usual.

Matt wanted some arrows just like I recently posted but with a red band part way down the shaft so he could find them easier when the target jumped aside.

I also put together some arrows for Chet, Matt's son. He said Chet likes darker colors. From the video I saw, Chet will put these to good use.

Matt's wife had a rough time with breast cancer for a few years but has now beat the devil. Matt mentioned that there wasn't a "pink" event within driving distance that they don't attend.
How could I not make these arrows for a courageous lady?

As you can see, these three sets of arrows are very different from one another. But the feathers and the cresting keep them all in the same family, just like their new owners are.

Happy archery, Matt & family!

March Arrows

2010-03-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

I'm sending some arrows out to their new homes this week and thought I'd post a picture or two...

Understated, functional, and easy to see. These should do the job.

For some reason these remind me of arrows for a warrior. Not very fancy but don't be on the wrong side of the bow.

Understated yet elegant, arrows fit for a king.

A little bit fancier, but still fit for a king.

I really like these. Self-nocks with horn reinforcement, wrapped feathers, and a special crest to bring it all together. There's gold in the cresting that doesn't show in the picture, it looks great in the sun, where arrows should be viewed.

Happy archery!

A Very Handy But Inexpensive Tool

2010-03-08T00:56:00.000-08:00

There are obviously a lot of different tools used in arrow making. Some necessary (depending upon your viewpoint) and some that just help the process go easier.
This is one of those tools that help things go easier for me.
When working on arrows we can't always have them all in our hands. Eventually it is necessary to set a shaft down while we work on another shaft or we need to let something dry. The best tool I have for holding arrows is a box that was given to me by a good friend. I think Salvador won this at a shoot and it bounced around in his garage until he got tired of looking at it and offered it to me. I jumped on it... figuratively.

The Arrow Caddy looks pretty much like an office file box, the kind the bookkeeper uses to store files that won't be accessed very often. The difference is in the 54 holes punched in the lid and the matching holes in an insert that sits midway down the inside of the box. These 54 holes let us store 54 arrows upright and in little danger of tipping over when the cat rubs up against them. I use the box to hang onto arrows while the nock glue is drying, while cap paint or dye is drying, while cresting is drying, etc. It's become a very handy tool in my shop and I'd really miss it if it ever walked away.
I've only seen this box in one archery catalog: FS Archery in California. For $8.99 it's not a half bad deal.

For those individuals handy in the shop an industrial strength arrow caddy box can be made with some plywood and an "egg crate" fluorescent light diffuser grid from the hardware store.

The company that makes the Arrow Caddy also makes the Arrow Hook, a tool that is very helpful for finding arrows that skip along just under the grass and leaves after a target is missed... but we'd hardly ever use a tool like that, right? I mean, who misses a target?

It even holds miniature arrows. How can you beat that?

Do you have any special tools in your arrow shop that really make life easier for you?

A Great Weekend

2010-02-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

After an absence of some years I finally set up shop at an SCA event.

Caid's Queen's Champion Archery was just right for my return to the SCA. The event had been rained out from its previous date but the autocrat was gracious enough to accept me for their new date. The only question was the weather.
While southern California is typically pretty dry we've been experiencing some good rains lately. Of course, some of this rain was forecast for the weekend of the event. Saturday had a bit of rain and Sunday wasn't looking too good. But the day dawned fairly clear so the event was on with many a crossed finger. The clouds looked dark and ominous a couple times during the day but not a drop fell on the field and it turned out to be a fantastic day.

I got to meet and deliver arrows and a quiver to a lovely woman who had been corresponding with me via email. Sydney shoots a Martin Stick glass lam longbow, the same bow Fayme uses. I'm pleased to report that she is quite satisfied with both the arrows and her quiver. The quiver was one I made a number of years ago for my own use when I began archery in the SCA. I haven't used it for a long time and I'm happy it's gone on to a new home where it will see the sun and be appreciated.

I got a couple arrow orders from a gentleman who I have made arrows for in the past and holy cow, now he's the King of Caid (just goes to show what can happen when you aren't paying attention). Patrick makes harps and beautiful wood longbows. He's still using the osage bow and yew longbow I made arrows for way back when. It's an honor to make more arrows to set aside his lovely handwork.

I was gratified that so many people remembered me and my work. I just confirmed tonight that I will be at the Robin Hood Tourney on March 14.
I guess the SCA hasn't seen the last of me after all.

The humble Greenman Archery booth. My table cloth isn't much to look at but it's what I do my arrow dyeing on so it seemed appropriate.

We took a few gourds, too.

Some of the bows we had available. The wood bows are not really fancy bows but good servicable bows that fit well with the SCA archery experience.

Some of my mundane friends came along and really enjoyed the day. Due to his experience at the event there is a very good chance that at least one will soon be participating in SCA events.

These two had a great time together. One taught the other about bows and had wood finish information given in return.

Thanks to Fayme for taking all the pictures, I was way too busy.
Does she look happy, or what?

Happy Archery!

Finished and Shipped

2010-02-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

I got these arrows finished last night and shipped out this afternoon. They turned out really nice: horn reinforced self-nocks with the leading edge of the fletching wrapped with thread to ease the feather's passage over tender skin when shooting off the knuckle.
When wrapping the leading edge of the feathers I usually like to use the raptor cut because I can trim the vane to accomodate the thread and not change the profile of the fletch. However, if care is taken to not cut too far into the feather then this traditional shape looks pretty good.
These arrows are a birthday present for the recepient. He told me what he wanted but Mom and Dad did the funding. How cool is that to have parents who know there are better gifts for an archer than a new sweater?

Happy Archery!

Nocks... again, but worth it

2010-02-07T02:02:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago I wrote about how self-nocks should be beautiful. I went over the procedure I use for horn reinforced self-nocks and showed a couple pictures of nocks done by others.

Today I’m dedicating the whole post to Arne Palmgren of Scandinavia. Arne and I both frequent the internet forum PaleoPlanet, a site dedicated to the old ways of doing things. Arne has put up pictures of his arrows and I had to share them with you. Fortunately, Arne has graciously given me permission to do so.

Arne does a horn reinforced self-nock similar to the way I do mine, although with different tools. I’ll let his pictures speak for themselves, because my words just won’t do his beautiful work justice.

This saw does the initial cut for the horn reinforcement.

The horn is cut on a table saw.

A clamp holds things together while the glue sets (no glue shown in this picture)

After the glue cures the excess horn is taken down.

Here's the rig Arne uses for the string slot cut. This is a much cooler system than I use.

From here on it's hand work.

Arne obviously knows his way around a self-nock. But the cool thing is he's equally good at the rest of the arrow. Following are some shots of different arrows that Arne has made. The metal heads are from Hector Cole and the knapped heads are made by a friend of Arne's.

As I mentioned to Arne after he posted some of these pictures on the forum, "You just don't make ugly arrows, do you?"

Thanks for reading!

Nocks

2010-01-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

I am of the firm belief that arrows should be beautiful.

They may be primitive, they may be rough, and it may be only in the eyes of their maker, but arrows should always be beautiful.

And that includes the nock.

There’s nothing wrong with plastic nocks. Not everyone has the inclination or the skill to craft a nock out of bone, antler, horn, wood, or to make a self-nock in the arrow material itself.
But for those who do, these nocks should add to the beauty of the arrow, not subtract from it.

I’ve seen some arrows that looked pretty good, until a glance is given to the nock. Then I see a self-nock made with a string slot that has been cut with two hacksaw blades taped together, wood splinters and fibers have been left standing proud where the cut was made, carpet thread is wrapped haphazardly about the shaft below the nock, and a sloppy soaking of super glue is given to the thread for a finish.

If a self-nock is beyond the skill of the arrow maker but he or she has given it a go anyway, it would still look better than this nock. This is not a beautiful nock. This is a nock where no beauty has even been attempted.

I do ok with making self-nocks, particularly self-nocks reinforced with a sliver of water buffalo horn. I do the initial steps of forming the nock on a little table saw but the balance of the work is done by hand. I take a lot of pride in what I make and thought I’d share the process and results with you. I’ve also got pictures of a couple arrows I did not make, but that exhibit skill, pride in workmanship, and the desire by their makers to create beauty.

Here's the Dremel table say I use along with a jig I cobbled together to hold the shaft while cutting the slot for the horn and for rough cutting the string slot.
This is a very basic jig and is nowhere near as nice as some I've seen people put together.

With the blade as high as it will go this operation is for cutting the slot for the horn. I use a single cut here the width of the saw kerf.

It's important that this cut is in line with the shaft's grain. The bowstring needs to be perpendicular to the grain so this one is necessarily in line with it.

Not much to look at yet but it's an important step.
The other hole in the jig is for 5/16" shafts.

This water buffalo horn is actually marketed for knife handles. It's just the right width for making nock reinforcements and looks great polished with a finish applied to the arrow shaft. Texas Knifemaker's Supply is one source for this horn.

There is some loss when cutting pieces this thin. The cut piece of horn typically falls down next to the blade and not all survive this trip. It also takes a little trial and error to cut the sliver the right size. Too tight in the arrow and there won't be enough glue to hold it in, too loose and the glue won't fill the voids.

I use the same 12 minute epoxy I use for tips to glue the horn into the arrow. It's important that epoxy is applied to all the surfaces so there are no holidays.

I guess I could use fancier equipment but these clothespins work as great clamps while the epoxy sets. If the clothespin is weak I spruce it up a little by wrapping a rubber band around it.

After the epoxy sets I use my Woodchuck to take off the extra horn as well as any epoxy that's leaked out.

Another trip through the table saw gives me the rough string cut.

This cut is perpendicular to the first.

Now we're into the hand finishing. I use a variety of small files and sandpaper to shape the nock into something pleasing to the eye and to fit the nock to the string. By using care and a short sample string I can create a snap action nock without a lot of trouble.

Almost done (my apologies for the overexposed picture).

And the nocks are finished. Now I just have to make the rest of the arrow.

Obviously, my way for making self-nocks is not the only way.
Here are some beautiful self-nocks made by Curt Cabrera (Guru on TradGang) of New York (photo used with permission).

These antique Persian arrows take nocks to a whole new level of art.

This antler nock is on an arrow made by Art B. and owned by Steve Gardner of Torrance, CA. While the nock itself is beautiful, the whole arrow is very much a work of art.

The nock of an arrow may seem somewhat insignificant. But it's the interface between the arrow and the bow; it must be strong and sound, there's no reason why it can't be beautiful as well.

Thanks for reading.

Making a simple (!) canvas bow sock

2010-01-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

I used to sell arrows and archery accessories at local Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) events a few years ago. While business wasn’t bad, for various reasons I kind of faded away from the SCA.

Since I no longer have a “day job” I’ve been looking for ways to build up my arrow making. I recently learned of an SCA archery event happening on February 21st in Van Nuys, CA. After getting the information regarding selling at the event it looks like I’ll give it a try: Greenman Archery is headed back into the SCA and we’re dragging Greenman Gourds along with us!

One of the items I carry is a nice hand-dyed canvas bow sock. These aren’t fancy but they fit the need for a classy and simple utilitarian case to protect either a longbow or a recurve from the inevitable scratches and dings that can happen with loading and unloading to go loose arrows somewhere besides the backyard. While fleece and wool are popular materials for bow socks I find our southern California environment to quickly populate them with stickers and thorns from the local flora. Using #10 cotton duck canvas avoids this sticky problem and gives the bow excellent protection.

The problem is these things are a major pain in the butt to make!

I buy the fabric by the roll and then take it all the way to a finished bow case. I thought some readers of the blog may find it interesting to see the process I go through to make these bow cases so I took a few pictures along the way for this batch.

Rather than the ubiquitous RIT dye we can buy in the local grocery store I elect to use a better quality dye from Dharma Trading Co. Dharma specializes in fiber arts of all kinds and I know the products they carry are top notch. If you go to their site be sure to visit the artist pages to see what others are using their products for. You’ll be amazed at the beautiful work there. The Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes come in a great range of colors, are very easy to work with, and give excellent results. I’ll always love good ‘ol RIT dye for arrow making, but the Dharma Procion dyes are my choice for fabric.

From here on I’ll shut up and let the pictures and their captions tell the story:

First we've got to cut an appropriate length of material off the roll. Since this is 100% cotton it is going to shrink a bit. I usually cut enough to account for shrinkage but sometimes I miss it by a little bit and the cases come out an inch or so short.

That length of fabric will need to be washed to pre-shrink it. Washing will unravel the cut edge so I run an overlock stitch there so I don't lose material to raveling.

Into the washing machine with you!

If you wash it you then have to dry it.

And since this is cotton canvas and not permanent press, now it has to be ironed so I can work with it.

Now the fabric gets cut to the proper domensions to make the cases. I really miss the big cutting tables we used at CAMP 7 where we made backpacks, sleeping bags, duffel bags, clothing, etc. I'd have been able to lay these all out in layers of fabric and use a stack cutter to cut them all at once. Those were the days...

After cutting the cases need to have the side edges sealed so they don't unravel. It's back to the overlock machine. At least these pieces are smaller than the whole roll width and easier to work with.

What is it about cats that they'll curl up in the oddest places just so they can be near you? Wallop napped in the trash can under the sewing machine while I sewed.

It's finally time to start dyeing!
The fabric to be dyed needs to be weighed so I can be sure to use the proper amount of dye, salt, water, and soda ash.

Pour in the salt...

Note: be sure to buy the big bags, this goes through a lot of salt.

Salt is such a great deal. Throughout history salt has been so scarce in some cultures that it's been used as a currency for commerce. Now we can buy a 25lb bag for less than $4.00... what a deal.

The water doesn't have to be boiling, just warm from the tap.

The dye is mixed with a small amount of water to make a slurry. This helps assure that it is completely dissolved in the bath.

Add the dye to the water/salt and mix well.

Finally, the fabric gets added to the dye bath.

The fabric gets stirred around every few minutes for about a half hour and takes on the dye color.

To fix the color we'll add soda ash, first mixing it with a bit of water so it's all dissolved.

After the fabric is rinsed of excess dye it goes through the washer and dryer again to be sure all the excess dye is gone. A quick trip under the iron gets the cases flat and ready to be sewn into their finished shape.

I've cut the ties from grossgrain ribbon and used a small alcohol burner to heat seal the ends of the ribbon.

Now we're all ready to go out to the garage for some quality time on the industrial sewing machine. It's supposed to rain in a couple days and this is a great rainy day project so I'll set these aside for a little bit and work on some arrows and gourds that need dry weather. I'll put up some more pictures when I get back to these.

Happy archery... and sewing!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, as predicted, we got a little bit of rain today. Perfect for sewing in the garage.
I cleared the coolers and miscelaneous junk off the trusty Mitsubishi commercial sewing machine, ran a strip of test fabric through it, and Bob's your uncle, I'm back in the sewing business.
My hands were a little busy so Fayme took a few pictures for me to finish up this post.

Holy crap! When did my hair turn white?!

The tie for the top needs to get caught in the seam.

Then I race down the edge and close across the bottom.

Except for turning the cases right side out, they're all done.

Jeez... that wasn't hard, what am I complaining about?

Thanks for reading!

Exactly what are we trying to do here?

2009-12-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

I tend to hang out in a few forums that concentrate on things I'm interested in. Most of the time, forum members are very friendly and helpful. But there is something I see happening kind of frequently that rather irritates me. It's not something purposefully mean or unhelpful, but it turns out that way. Here's an example...

A couple days ago a fellow on a traditional archery forum asked for information on using water-based acrylic craft paints for crowns and cresting on wood arrows. As I write this he has gotten seventeen responses to his question. Exactly one of those responses has addressed his question... ONE! All the other responses are from those individuals who use different materials for crowns or cresting and are essentially trying to talk him into using what the responder thinks is better.

Now, I can understand this kind of response when someone is seeking information on what they can or should use. If what he'd decided to use was dangerous or obviously won't work, I can see how that would also justify the kind of responses he got. But this fellow has already decided on something and just needs information. Yet only one person saw fit to help him with information applicable to his search.
I've seen this same phenomenon in other posts, too. Let's say someone asks what epoxy they can use for gluing on tips. He'll get a few posts with good information but he'll also get a whole bunch essentially castigating him for the decision to use epoxy and extolling the virtues of various other glues. But that wasn't the question!
Are people just naturally superior about how they do things and feel they need to convert the world to their particular path? Or do people just like to see their writing on the internet for no better reason than to increase the number of their posts?

Okay. That's my soapbox for the day. If you read this and are offended by it, I essentially offer no apologies because you're likely one of those individuals I'm ranting about. But if this has made you sit back with a thoughtful look on your face, that's a good thing (to my mind).

Thanks for reading!

Pasadena Trad Shoot - It was a great day!

2009-10-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

The long anticipated traditional shoot at Pasadena Roving Archers has now passed us.
I'm sorry to say that I did not get to actually do the shoot. I've found that when I set up my booth to sell I am better off not doing the shoot. When I've tried to do both I do neither very well. Too bad, the reviews I heard about the targets were universally good.
I didn't speak with anyone who didn't have a good time. The weather was great. The food the club had available for purchase was great. The target set-up was great. We didn't even get bothered by the big U2 concert that was held at the Rose Bowl that evening. Good thing, too. The concert was sold out at 95,000 tickets (!). The shoot was over and we were long gone before the traffic really got bad.
If you'd like to see some pictures Fayme took during the day you can go to this PaleoPlanet thread. Scroll down a bit to get to the pictures. You can also see them at Fayme's Flickr group for Pasadena Roving Archers.

Ron Buehler of the PRA has been trying to get the club to have a traditional shoot for some time. They finally got tired of listening to him and gave the go-ahead.
Ron, you did a great job putting the shoot together and running it. The club should be proud of you.
You can be assured that I'll be at the next traditional shoot the club has.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see my work and chat for a bit. And many thanks to those of you who purchased something. I got a lot of great comments on the arrow sets I displayed. One of the most common was, "those are too pretty to shoot."
Folks, pretty arrows fly just as good as ugly ones and they cost the same. Arrows are made to be in the sun and the wind. Let's get them out there where they can fulfill their destiny.

Thanks for reading.

Mario, your arrows are ready...

2009-10-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'll have them at Pasadena tomorrow.

No sooner did I put down the cloth to take the above picture and I had a subject...

New Arrows for Richard

2009-10-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished these arrows for Richard Saffold of Richard's Bowyery.
Rather than a whole set of arrows all the same, Richard needs a variety of arrows so he can test the bows he makes to see what works best with each bow. When needed he includes a couple of these arrows with the bow when it goes to a new home so the new owner has an idea on what to get when they purchase arrows.
For Richard I typically make two arrow sets in a mix of spines and total weights. That little grey area of cresting is where I write the spine and physical weight of the arrow.

I tried some new colors on these arrows. The two greens turned out really nice as did the green metallic. The purple is exceptional and I'm still amazed at how good a purple arrow looks. I wish someone would order a set so I could make more purple arrows.

Do you remember Julian, the 85 year old fellow in New York state who shoots my arrows with one of Richard's bows? Richard just told me that he heard from him recently and he's headed for England for some longbow competition. He's still very pleased with Richard's bow and my arrows. Best of luck to you, Julian!

Pasadena Traditional 3D Shoot - October 25

2009-10-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Pasadena traditional 3D shoot is coming up soon on October 25.
This will be a good shoot to attend. Ron is a dedicated traditional shooter and he's been bugging the Pasadena Roving Archers to put on a trad only shoot. Since he's the one running it, we can be assured it will be fun and well run.
I'll have the Greenman Archery booth set up to sell custom wood arrows, gourd art from both Fayme and I, and knitted and crocheted products Fayme makes. She's been making some great caps and tams from 100% wool in colors that are good for the outdoorsman. I think she'll also have some of the jewelry she makes. I'll also have some killer gourd drums that I've been making. You won't want to miss those!
Richard Saffold is getting some of his bows to me so I'll have them available, too. Richard was one of the first bowyers to use ipe, a tropical hardwood that makes incredible bows. He's written a couple articles for traditional archery magazines regarding these bows and they are being used all over the world by happy archers.
Sagittarius Archery should be there as well. If you need feathers, points, shafts, or other archery supplies be sure to see them. I know I'll be dropping a pile of money on their table as I'm running low on a few things. They're great folks to deal with.

Be sure to stop by to say hello to me. I'd love to meet you and get some feedback on the blog.

Happy shooting!

New Blogs in the Greenman Woods

2009-10-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

Since I started the Greenman Archery blog it has become a repository for my custom arrow making, gourd art, and lately my passion for cooking. All these things are fun to do, write about, and share with my readers but some of the content hasn't had a lot to do with archery or custom arrows, the original subject of this blog.
Consequently, I've decided to branch out a bit. I've opened up two new blogs: Greenman Gourds and Greenman Cooking.
These two new blogs will give me a place to focus on gourd art and cooking. Greenman Archery will get back to... you guessed it: Archery!
I want to thank everyone for their support and I hope you enjoy reading all my blogs

Guy

Sauerkraut Update

2009-10-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I visited my friend, David Brunetta, at his studio in Laguna Canyon to do some work with him. I'd been bragging to David about how good the sauerkraut was and brought a little bit down for him to try.
Tonight I got an email from David that contained nothing but this picture:

I think I could ask for no greater accolade. Thanks, David!

Something Fun That Tastes Good

2009-09-22T21:22:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I was buying some sauerkraut at the store when I suddenly wondered how easy it would be to make it myself. I figured it couldn't be too difficult. After all, sauerkraut is one of those primitive food preservation methods that has been done for a few centuries. Now, folks growing up in the midwest or those who remember Grandpa making sauerkraut may think this is no big deal. But for a California boy this project was sounding like something great!
I did some web searching and found a great recipe site with complete instructions at Kitchen Gardeners International.
That first batch of sauerkraut is long gone but I got the yearning for another batch the other day and bought three heads of cabbage at the store. For those of you who have never tried this I thought I'd document my progress. Having just started it tonight, the cabbage isn't sauerkraut yet. I'll do additional posts as it matures.

First, we get some cabbages. After cutting them in half I remove most of the core. It's supposed to be ok to eat but tough. I declined to keep it.

Next, the cabbage gets sliced. I went for pretty thin cuts.
After slicing some salt is mixed into the cabbage. Since I had three heads to do and my bowl wasn't big enough for all three at once, I did this step one head at a time.

After the salt is mixed in the cabbage is put into the fermenting container. I'm using a clean bucket. The cabbage should be pushed in pretty tight and thoroughly. Since I couldn't get the potatoe masher at a good angle I decided to just punch the cabbage down with my hand. This packs the cabbage and aids the salt in pushing the moisture out.

Here you can see how much three heads makes. These were fairly small heads, not those really big ones when cabbage is really in season.

Something needs to be placed on top of the cabbage to keep it beneath the liquid that will start to develop. If you're using a round crock then a plate works well. With a square bucket I cut the lid down so it will fit into the bucket.

While the cabbage should make enough liquid to cover itself, it may take a day or so. I generally add a few cups of salt water to raise the liquid level so it covers the cabbage right from the start.

To keep the lid beneath the liquid level I put a gallon jar full of water on top. I'll check tomorrow to be sure the liquid level is right.

It's appropriate that I used this particular jar. It's from kimchee, the Korean version of sauerkraut. Many times I've had to explain to someone what kimchee is and I've fallen back on saying it's the Korean version of sauerkraut. One time I had to explain to a young Vietnamese woman what sauerkraut was, "um... it's German kimchee." That worked for her!

The bucket of salted cabbage now rests in a corner of our kitchen with a clean towel over it to keep out debris, dropped spoons, and curious cats. As the batch progresses I'll do updates to the blog. If you like sauerkraut, I can just about guarantee that you'll be jealous.

Day 2 update: When I looked in the bucket this morning there was more liquid and the bucket definitely smelled like sauerkraut. Pressing down on the bottle brought bubbles out from under the bucket lid. All these are signs that the fermentation process has begun and I'm well on the way to having great home made sauerkraut.

Day 3 update: Things are looking good today. The fermentation process can make a bit of a bloom appear on the liquid's surface so I took the jar out and washed it off, there didn't appear to be anything on the surface that needed to be skimmed off. I pulled the lid up off the cabbage and tried a little fingerfull. It's getting there but it's not yet at the "sour" point. Another day or two should be good.

Day 4 update: Things are looking good! When I looked this morning the liquid has taken on a darker color and the smell is definately getting to that special sauerkraut aroma. As yesterday, I rinsed off the bottle and pried up the lid to take a taste. Eureka! We have sauerkraut! I'd like it a little more sour so I'll leave it about another day before I pack it into that big jar and put it into the 'fridge; but right now it is definately sauerkraut.

Day 5, final update: "If you like sauerkraut, I can just about guarantee that you'll be jealous." Here it is! It tastes great, looks good, smells good (although, that may be a matter of opinion for some folks), and was simplicity itself to make. Give it a try, the link at the beginning of the post has great instructions and there is nothing like eating food you've grown or made yourself. Besides, anyone can grow tomatoes, but not everyone makes their own sauerkraut.

Thanks for reading!

New Arrows for Sale

2009-09-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

So, just finished up some new arrows that are available for immediate delivery. These three sets are all Port Orford cedar and all three have a dark brown dye on the shaft. All these sets have 12 arrows; it's easier to take a picture with just 6 of them.
As always, the price includes cutting the arrows to the desired length, tapering for points, and field points glued on. The arrows are ready to shoot as soon as you can open the box and run to the backyard. Shipping is extra; with priority mail it is typically about $8.oo, depending upon where you live in the US.

These arrows are for the archer who doesn't want to spend a lot of time behind the target looking for errant arrows. Between the bright crown and fletching, and the fluorescent nocks, these will be easy to track into the target and easy to find downrange. Spine for this set is 45/49#, price is $80.00.
These arrows are a good mixture of bright and classic. I did a little bit of a trick finish on these so the blue crown isn't completely opaque. You can see the dark stain through the blue very slightly for a kind of "antiquish" look. These are great arrows for a beginning archer shooting a light bow. They look great and will be easy to find. Spine is 30/34#, price is $80.00.
These arrows also have the antique sort of look, it turned out very nice and rather classy. Spine is 45/49#, price is $80.00.
Update: these arrows were donated to Pasadena Roving Archers as a raffle prize on their traditional shoot in October. They now have a new home.

As always, if you're interested in any of the arrows I have for sale just drop me an email and we'll get your questions answered. You can reach me at guy.taylor@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks for looking and happy archery!

Cliff's Arrows

2009-09-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

These arrows went into the mail today headed for Richard's Bowery.
Richard makes some incredible wood bows, primarily from ipe, a tropical hardwood frequently used in the US for decking.
Richard was a pioneer in the use of ipe and has had a couple articles regarding its use for bows printed in a leading traditional archery magazine. You should definitely take a look at his site.
These arrows are for Cliff, who recently purchased an ipe/bamboo bow from Richard.

As you can see, I did something a little different with the cresting on these arrows. The flecks of gold give a nice splash of color to offset the green and black.

I've had the pleasure to work with a few of Richard's customers to get them arrows for their new bows. One gentleman who had rather stringent requirements was Julian in New York state. Julian is 85 years old and shoots the longbow Richard made for him in competition. He needed arrows very closely matched in spine and weight as he's a rather serious competitor. He was very happy with what he got.

Shoot safe!

Recent Work

2009-09-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some arrows recently finished for some folks.

The first three sets are for a family who have been shooting for some time. The daughter has recently become involved with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and needed additional arrows as the set I made for her a few years ago had finally dwindled down.
These arrows are proof positive that not all my arrows have a kitchen sink's worth of art thrown at them. Sometimes relatively plain is what the archer wants, and that's what they get. All the quality is still there, just not the same amount of art.

This first picture has given me all sorts of grief. It shows properly on my computer but as soon as I upload it to the blog it falls on its side. After a dozen attempts to get it right I'm giving up and posting it as is.

Almost everyone has something nice to say about well executed purple arrows, but hardly any men will shoot them. I think it's a great color to work with and the results are something I'd be happy to have in my quiver.

These two sets are for an old friend who I lost track of for a while. He's now recovered from a divorce and leading a happy life with a new partner.

These arrows for Gary's partner have just a tiny bit of gold paint fading out from under the cresting. It's just a little bit extra to really set them apart from other arrows.

Thanks for looking!

Thank you!

2009-08-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

It happened sometime yesterday, and unfortunately I don't have any way to discover the party responsible for it or I'd thank them specifically - this little blog of mine passed the 2,000 hits mark! In the grand scheme of things that's a tiny little number, especially compared to many other blogs that are out there. But I'm pretty chuffed about it.
I'd like to thank everyone who reads this. There are only three actual followers, and only one of them is unrelated to me. The other two are my ex wife and my lovely significant other. But there are obviously a lot more people looking, reading, and possibly even enjoying the blog. My sincere thanks to all of you!
The blog has gone through a bit of a metamorphosis over time. It started out solely as a showcase for the custom arrows I make. Then came some posts about things I do or small trips we take. The gourd work got added in and I've had a lot of fun with that. The most recent addition has been two short works of fiction that I really enjoyed writing. Throught it all people have been very supportive of everything and I have enjoyed communicating with those who have left comments in various areas.
Going forward we'll have more of the same: arrows, gourds, trip accounts, and maybe some additional writing when I get some done.
Just so you know, if you've been thinking of getting a set of custom arrows, this is a good time for me to do some. My daytime job ended about a month ago and, unfortunately, I have some time on my hands. This is a good time to order arrows!

Thanks for reading!

We Happy Few - a work of fiction

2009-08-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

We Happy Few…

Henry V, by William Shakespeare; Act 4, Scene 3
A portion of Henry's Eve of St. Crispin's Day speech:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Years have passed since that famous speech:

We saw the smoke when the sun came up.

Most of us had been up and working for some time already. Fields need sun light to be worked, cows can be milked by lamplight.

We could tell from the smoke that the village in the next valley would have precious little to eat this winter… if there was anyone left to do the eating.

We’d been expecting this for a while. But just as with mortal man knowing that death would someday come, we had hoped it would somehow pass us by. That hope was lost when we saw the smoke and soon thereafter saw Geoff come charging up the road. He flung himself off his horse in the square of our small village. The horse was lathered, gasping, and barely able to stand; Geoff was little better, “They’re here.”

We sent the women and children into the hills where we had prepared a place for them. As many of the animals as possible went, too. The marks of their passage could not be hidden. But if it wasn’t us coming to get them the women had already made it clear that their lives would come neither cheap nor easy.

We weren’t always farmers and herdsmen. Each man went to his home to prepare for what lay ahead. Dusty sheaths were brought from under beds but there was nothing dusty about the honed and oiled steel within them. Longbows were brought down from rafters where they had lain idle, but not forgotten. Sheafs of arrows with clean gray fletching and bright steel piles were pulled from chests. Brown chain mail sighed softly as it was pulled over heads, as if it knew what lay ahead. What passersby had thought an odd assortment of low rock walls outside the village became bulwarks to blunt charges. What our old men had been whittling in the evenings as they told stories to the children became caltrops spread in the long grass before our walls. We weren’t always farmers and herdsmen.

Their scouts hung back to await the main body when they saw us. They weren’t sure what to do when they came upon a village that seemed to be protected by something other than farmers with pitchforks. Still, they were proud and fierce men who had not known defeat. Not since they left the steppes of their people.

What I remember most is the smell. A smell that I never have forgotten since I first laid sense to it so many years ago. A smell of bright blood and dark bowels loosened by steel or death. A smell of sweat and fear. There is noise in a battle, screams of horse and man as well as the clash of steel and the thud of blows. But ears become deafened to the din and ring for days afterwards. The nose never forgets the smell of battle. It lingers for days afterwards and richens as the sun rises and wild animals glean the fields of dead.

I finally became aware that it was over when no foe stood before me. Perhaps we had resisted unexpectedly. Perhaps they had decided it was not our day to die. Not a one of us had escaped wounds of some kind. Here and there were wounds that would overwhelm their bearer in the hours and days to come. Some wounds would bring limps or shortened limbs to remind us of the day. Some of us lay in quiet heaps in the torn and bloody grass, never to rise again. But more of us stood than lay in the grass, and more of them lay in the grass than rode away.

Perhaps we won because of our resistance; perhaps we won because it was not our day to die. But perhaps we won for the day, St. Crispian’s day. It was a day that marked another day, before we settled here in our retirement. Another Crispian’s day, when we few, we happy few, we band of brothers, had stood against another foe, and carried the day there, too.
We few, we happy few… We weren’t always farmers and herdsmen.

The Pirate's Lament

2009-08-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

It’s a sad thing, it is.
Sad to be a pirate on the beach.
With no ship to call home, no berth of me own.
No horizon to beckon the eyes.
I sailed with the best:
Stede Bonnet, John Rackham, and the worst of all, Edward Teach, known to you as Blackbeard.
My luck ran out. When I lost a leg I took the King’s Pardon.
Better to be a crippled former pirate remembering the days that were than a one-legged corpse floating on the tide.
Now I sit in the sand and drink to stay drunk.
When I’m drunk I remember the glory. I remember the thrill of the chase, the blue sea and the blue sky. I remember the willing wenches in the taverns of Port Royal, and the gold… I remember the gold.
When I’m sober I see only the one shoe before me in the sand.
So I sip grog from this gourd to stay on that smooth edge of drunk. The smooth edge where the one lonely shoe fades into the blue sea and the glitter of gold coins.

The gourd is about 8 1/4” high, 6 ½” wide, and holds ½ gallon.
Due to the weight of ½ gallon of liquid, this would best serve as a tabletop drink server.
The inside of the gourd is finished with brewer’s pitch, a waterproofing and sealing agent in use for a very long time in drinking and storage vessels of various materials.
The pyrographed design on the gourd shows the flags of the pirates Bonney, Rackham, and Teach outlined with anchor chain and rope borders. The lanyard is 7-strand French sennit held under a 5-strand, 3-pass Turk’s head. The lanyard is tight, but don’t be swinging this gourd about your head to repel borders, the lanyard could pull loose if abused.
This is a one-of-a-kind design. Hand wash only, this piece is not dishwasher safe.
Buy this piece of unique art for $60 and bring the romance of the pirates to your feast table. I’ll pay shipping to the lower 48.

Update: In response to a question from Garith, here is a link to see brewer's pitch on the Jas Townsend & Son web pages.

New Gourd Art

2009-07-29T20:24:00.001-07:00

This piece is something of a departure for me.

Typically I do gourd art that has a use, a purpose, something you can do with it.

Canteens, cups, bowls, jugs... that sort of thing.

Well, this one is absolutely useless as a functional gourd. It's art. At least, I think it's art.

My Heart is Locked for You is 3 1/2" high and 5" in diameter.

The heart on the lid is imitation gold leaf outlined by acrylic paint. The body of the gourd has been stained with leather dye and the whole thing has been sealed with lacquer.

The lid is fastened down by 4 brass straps. I guess you could unscrew the straps to find out what is inside the heart... but then the heart wouldn't be locked any longer.

And that's the point: My Heart is Locked for You.

What do you think? Have I wasted a perfectly good gourd or am I an artistic visionary with a devious mind?

A Great Day at the Gourd Farm

2009-07-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

Last Friday the company where I have my day job was closed for the 4th of July but my department was open (and it was busy! what was everyone doing calling us instead of enjoying the holiday?). It was my turn to work the holiday so I didn't get the day off. But I got to make up for that by taking this Friday off!

Fayme and I have been having so much fun with gourds again that we decided to take a safari down to Temecula, CA to visit the Welburn Gourd Farm to re-stock on gourds for particular projects we've been thinking of. At least, that was my plan. Fayme tends to wander around, get interesting gourds, and only decide later what to do with them. I usually pick mine with a particular use or end in mind.
Fayme took a few photos while we were there:

If you live close enough or happen to be passing through the area, I can't recommend visiting Welburn highly enough. You'll find great folks who will be happy to answer all your questions about this fascinating and versatile art medium. As you can see, their selection is vast. In that little building in the background you can purchase all the tools and supplies you could want to make great art.

Update: Garith had a question about pricing for Welburn gourds so I thought I'd post a link to that particular page of the Welburn site. Wholesale at the farm is definately the way to go if you're in the area. Also, I suggest buying un-cleaned gourds. They are way cheaper than already cleaned gourds and I think half the fun is seeing the gourds character emerge from beneath the field dirt. Cleaning the gourds isn't at all difficult.

Are these beautiful, or what?

2009-07-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

A few months ago a gentleman left a message here on the blog asking how I did the faux finish on arrows. I wrote up a good reply and sent it off to him. His question prompted me to also put together a post here on how to do the finish.

He wrote back to me today and included a picture of some arrows he made for a woman. I think she's one lucky archer because these arrows turned out beautiful!

Thanks, Craig! I'm glad I was able to help get you started on these.

Gourd Drums

2009-07-07T00:07:00.000-07:00

I started these two gourd drums some time ago but put them aside when I ripped the rawhide when trying to fasten a head on the brown gourd. Fayme rekindled my interest in the project recently and this time I had a bit better success.
The blue gourd got a different fastening method and I definately like that method better. Both drums sound great to my untrained ear.

Something a little different...

2009-06-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote this with the intention of submitting it to one of the primitive magazines but never got around to doing that. Rather than let this stagnate on my computer's hard drive, I'll post it here. I hope you enjoy it.
(edit) I've gotten some great feedback on this story. I feel it's only fair to let you folks know that this is a work of fiction. I'm not nearly as good an outdoorsman as the man in the story, or his mysterious visitor.

Vision Trip

I sat in my truck having a last soda before putting my gear together. Even though I had prepared for this by taking “survival” classes and learning about how to survive in the wilderness, this was still a big jump and I was a little apprehensive.

My plan was to hike into the mountains for three days and two nights, and to live solely on what I had with me or could find in the land: food, tools, and shelter. Doesn’t sound that hard, does it? Your average granola eating backpacker does it every weekend. But I was throwing a big wrench into the works by having with me only what I would have had as a primitive resident of this land: buckskin clothes, leather pouches, dried meat and berries, and a bow and arrows I had made myself. I did make a couple anachronistic additions; I had a wool blanket and some aspirin. And since I’m a less than competent knapper, I also had a forged steel knife, primitive style, of course. I still have my standards.

I finally decided that this wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t get my rear in gear. There wasn’t anyone else around at the trail head so I changed into my buckskins at the tailgate of the truck. I double checked all my gear, rolled up my blanket, hung it over one shoulder, and hung my quiver over the other. For the time being I would leave my bow in its case on the quiver. I needed to make some miles to get to my campsite and having a strung bow would be too much of a temptation so slow down and creep.

It took a little while to wear the cobwebs off my city muscles and get into the rhythm of trail walking. I was glad that I had taken the precaution of gluing thin rubber soles to my moccasins. I know rubber soles aren’t primitive but a lifetime of wearing shoes had left my feet somewhat tender to the trail. Besides, the rubber helped with traction on slick rocks and I didn’t relish ending my trip with a sprained ankle, or worse.
All my other trips had been with light hiking boots and I was surprised at how much quieter the moccasins were. I was seeing birds and squirrels that normally would have had plenty of warning that I was coming up the trail. One turn of the trail brought me upon a bobcat with a chipmunk under its paw. I don’t know who was more surprised, me for walking up on one of the forest’s best hunters, the bobcat for having been surprised, or the chipmunk for his sudden reprieve as the bobcat sprang into the bushes.
When I stopped to rest I thought about how this trip was going so far. I felt more in tune with my surroundings than I had on any other foray into the woods. I don’t know if it was the spiritual feel of my (mostly) primitive kit or the way in which I blended into my surroundings better, but the forest seemed to accept me more readily than in the past.
It took a couple hours of walking and a hot spot trying to turn into a blister on one toe, but I finally got to my projected campsite. While this spot wasn’t completely unknown, it was a little off the beaten path. Besides valuing my seclusion, I didn’t want to have to explain how I was dressed or what I was doing to a Girl Scout troop or a Sierra Club hiker. For some reason I just didn’t think they’d understand. My campsite was up against a big boulder that was set just slightly back into the tree line. The site overlooked a meadow with a small lake about two hundred yards away. A clear stream came out of the trees a few yards to one side of the boulder and chuckled across the meadow to empty into the lake. One side of the boulder offered a natural campsite that must have been catching traveler’s eyes for a few hundred years. Soot stains on a small overhang in the ancient stone bore evidence of many fires preceding mine. When I was here a couple years ago I found an arrowhead deep inside a lightning split tree while I was gathering firewood. There was no telling how long ago the arrow had missed its intended target and struck the tree but it was one of those big grandfather trees that were here when Lewis and Clark were in diapers. Workmanship on the head was incredible, far surpassing my own pitiful creations. My own knapping has been in a “learning” stage for quite some time. The arrows I’d brought on this trip were tipped with my best efforts. I reasoned that if they weren’t beautiful or weight matched, at least they were sharp and they may give a lethal blow to a rabbit or squirrel.

I took off my various pouches and bags as well as the blanket and quiver and set everything on the grass. A few minutes wandering through the woods at the back of the campsite gave me enough firewood to last the weekend. I wouldn’t be needing a big blaze, just enough to give warmth and to cook with. Building my fire against the boulder would reflect much of its warmth back to me. I also took the time to gather a couple armfuls of long grass and dry pine needles for my bed. After gathering firewood and bed materials I switched to gathering food. I took my bow out of its case and strung it. Hanging the quiver at my side had me ready to go shopping for dinner. Deer season wasn’t open but I had been seeing plenty of squirrels and even a couple rabbits and marmots during the walk in. Past trips told me that the edge of the forest line would be good for rabbits but squirrels would be just a little deeper into the trees. If I turned to marmots I’d find them near boulders and stumps out in the meadow.

Two hours of hunting netted me one broken arrow, a lost arrow, and the realization that the jerky and dried fruit I’d brought would be dinner, and probably breakfast the next day. I consoled myself with that ancient saying known to all hunters regardless of time and culture: “That’s why they call it hunting and not catching.”

I had elected to bring a flint and steel rather than my wood fire starting tools. While I could make fire with the wood tools I was more confident in flint and steel. This was my first primitive trip and I didn’t want to push my bubble too far until I was more comfortable in my skills. I got a small fire going and set some rocks in it to heat while I went to the stream to get water in my gourd bowl. Using my knife I shaved a generous serving of jerky into the water and decided to add some dried fruit as well. When the stones had been in the fire long enough I used some sticks to lift them one at a time into my bowl. I’d done this before at home and it always surprised me how well it worked to boil water. When a stone cooled I placed it back into the fire and put another hot one in the bowl. It wasn’t too long before I had a fairly serviceable stew steaming in my bowl and I leaned back against the rock to enjoy it.

By the time I finished dinner the sun was just about down. I rinsed my bowl in the stream and refilled it with water in case I got thirsty in the night. I have a hard enough time getting to the kitchen at home for a midnight glass of water without killing myself, a trip to the stream for a drink didn’t seem advisable.

With the setting sun the temperature began to drop and I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders as I sat next to my little fire. I looked out over the darkening meadow and thought about the trip so far. I had felt very in tune with my surroundings during the walk in. While my hunting results didn’t show it, I’d seen more game than on any other trip to the area. Walking up on the bobcat and its disturbed lunch had been completely unexpected and would be in my memory for many years to come. Did this “mind meld” with the forest happen because I was quieter, was it because I was wearing earth toned leather clothes, or was it simply because I was acting more as one with my surroundings? I couldn’t tell, but I was willing to accept it as it was. I get a little philosophical when I get tired so this line of reasoning was my clue to fluff up my debris bed, roll up in the blanket and lay down. I made sure the firewood was within easy reach so I could replenish my fire through the night and closed my eyes.

I awoke the next morning to a gray dawn. The sun hadn’t yet come up over the eastern mountains so I put an arm out into the chill air and prodded the fire with a stick. A few coals glowed red in the bed of ashes so I dropped a handful of pine needles from my bed on them and then lay some sticks over those. The pine needles caught pretty quickly so I put on a couple bigger sticks and then pulled the blanket over my head and went back to sleep.
I came awake again when the sun hit me. Temperatures can change quickly in the mountains and I was soon too warm to stay wrapped up. I sat up on my pile of grass and pine needles and looked around. As I blinked the sleep from my eyes I became aware of a slight sore throat and I reasoned that the dry mountain air may have irritated it as I breathed deeply the day before during my walk in. I picked a couple drowned bugs out of my water bowl and drank a deep draught of cold water. I immediately became aware that my throat was sorer than I first thought. Rummaging through my bags I took two aspirin and figured that would be that.
Within a couple hours I realized that was not going to be that. I was sick. Even sitting in the cool shade I could tell that I was getting a pretty good fever. You know how when you have a fever you’re cold so you wrap up in blankets but you’re also sweating and too hot to be wrapped up? I had it with a vengeance. No doubt aspirin would help bring down a fever but I really hadn’t expected to get sick on this trip and had only brought a few. They were quickly consumed to no effect. I knew I’d be in this one until it was over so I filled up with water and then made sure my bowl and cup were both full. I gathered a little more firewood, made sure all my food was within reach, and settled down to get sick, cursing that salesman in my office who’d come to work while he was sick. I was sure this was his fault as he’d wandered around all day coughing and sneezing on everyone in sight.

It must have been some time in mid afternoon that I felt something wonderfully cool on my face and I kind of swam to the surface of consciousness. I was mildly surprised to see the silhouette of a person bending over me but in my fevered state of mind it seemed ok. Whoever it was had a wet rag and was gently washing my face with it. I felt a little cool water trickle into my mouth and I swallowed, wincing as it went past my sore throat. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
I don’t think too much time had passed before I woke again. I looked around for my new companion and saw him sitting on the other side of the fire watching me. I remember thinking, “I’ll be damned, there’s two of us nuts loose in the world.” He was dressed as I was, in leather buckskins. But he had taken things a little further and had a shaved head. In itself that isn’t uncommon these days but the red and black paint on his face and head was. He nodded to me and I nodded back. Somehow it seemed right that we should communicate silently. Once he saw I was awake and mildly functional he reached to a pile of leather next to him and drew a wood bow from its case. He stood up, strung the bow, and hung a quiver over his shoulder. Taking a last look at me he strode into the forest and was quickly lost to me view.
Kind of a freaky guy, I thought as I struggled upright to sit crosslegged. Then I thought, look at me, if a hiker were to come across me I’d look pretty much the same. I wondered what the odds were that two re-enactor type people would be in the same place at the same time like this; pretty slim, if you ask me. But I wasn’t going to complain, it was obvious that I was pretty sick and his brief presence had cheered me considerably. I was suddenly startled when he stepped around the boulder. Do I walk that quietly? I was also startled to see a rabbit in his hand. Either he had a freezer back there in the trees or he’s a heck of a lot better shot than I am, he’s hardly been gone 15 minutes! I walked for two hours the day before and we know what kind of results I had. Carrying his quiver and strung bow with him he walked out into the meadow a few yards and quickly skinned and gutted the animal. He then walked to the stream to rinse the meat briefly and returned to the little camp. I slept some more while rabbit stew was cooking. I was happy to see that he cooked the same way I had the previous night.

As I lay there in my fever I thought I saw my companion draw my arrows from their quiver. While he nodded approvingly over the nocks and fletching my crudely knapped points earned a grimace. Putting the arrows back into the quiver he opened one of his pouches and pulled out some antler knapping tools and small obsidian pre-forms. I drifted off to sleep lulled by the steady snick and tink of his knapping.
When I awoke the next day my fever was gone and I felt as if I may just survive the ordeal I had put myself through. I sat up from my bed and looked around for my new friend. He was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around my little campsite to see if his things were still there against the rock and they were also gone. In fact, the closer I looked the less I saw: there was no depressed grass where he had sat and lain, my gourd bowl was at my side full of water, not rabbit bones, and there was no pile of obsidian flakes from his knapping. I looked closely where he had sat and the debitage just wasn’t there.
I felt it pretty odd that he had left but I guess there’s no accounting for some folks. It wasn’t like we had shared life stories. I was feeling pretty good so I went ahead and packed my things back up and prepared for the walk back to my truck. I knew I’d be weak from my illness so I wanted plenty of time to take things slow and easy for the walk back.
Four hours later I was back to my truck and really starting to doubt whether someone had shared my campsite with me at all. After a nap across the front seat of my truck, I headed home. On the drive home I turned things over in my mind:
I’d been pretty sick with a high fever.
I had no evidence of anyone else being there with me.
Had I hallucinated the whole thing?
By the time I pulled into my driveway I decided that was exactly what I had done. My mind had taken my buckskin clothes, primitive gear, and desire to “get away from it all” and created a companion for me while I was sick. Well, I think this is something I’ll just keep to myself. My wife knows I have an eccentric side and the people I work with suspect it. No sense in confirming everyone’s suspicions. I racked the weekend up to an interesting trip that could have gone pretty badly, but didn’t. I was a few days recovering my strength but overall it was a weekend well worth the experience.

Epilogue: Three weeks after my camping trip my son asked me to show my primitive gear to his Boy Scout troop. No way could I pass that up so I gathered everything together and went to his meeting with him.
The kids were pretty excited to see what I had so we sat in a circle as I showed them each part of my kit. My handiwork on sewing the buckskins and pouches has never been the best but the kids were impressed; they even liked my crude attempts at beadwork. I strung the bow for them and after threatening dire consequences for dry firing the bow I passed it around the circle. Not wanting to let the kids have arrows at the same time as a strung bow I waited until it came back around the circle to me and I unstrung it before picking up my quiver. I pulled the arrows from the quiver and looked at them with some confusion. Then the hair on the back of my neck bristled and stood on end. At the end of the arrows my crudely knapped points had been replaced with the most beautifully knapped points I have even seen. Without having to compare them I knew that they would match perfectly the arrowhead I had found deep inside that lightning struck tree.
No matter how many times I have re-visited the spot, I have never again seen the quiet man who sat with me when I was sick. But I always wonder just how long he’s been camping there.

Richard's Arrows

2009-06-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

I got these mostly finished yesterday while Curtis was here. The final touches went on today and they'll be headed to Richard's Monday morning.
Richard Saffold is a bowmaker in Goleta, California. You can see his website here: Richard's Bowyery. While he's accomplished in many materials and a number of designs, Richard particularly likes working with ipe, a Brazilian hardwood normally used in the US for decks. Richard was one of the pioneers of working with this wood and he really turns out an incredible bow.
When necessary, Richard likes to send out a matched arrow with a bow. That way the customer has an idea of what to get when he orders or makes his arrows. This bunch of arrows I've made have the spine and weight written on that white strip right in front of the cresting.
Not a lot of art on these arrows. Richard will be using them for test shooting and some may go out with various bows as they get shipped to their new homes. It's been a little while since I used stains or dyes on the crown so I thought this bunch would be a good opportunity to reacquaint myself with the beauty of still seeing the wood grain in the crown.

Thanks for looking!

And a fun time was had by all...

2009-06-07T00:39:00.000-07:00

Had a great time today. A gentleman from PaleoPlanet came over to learn a little more about building arrows. Yotman on PaleoPlanet, Curtis in real life, seemed to have a good time visiting. I was in the middle of making some arrows for Richard Saffold so Curtis got to see a little of the process and get a lot of questions answered.
You know, all the information is out there on the web and in books and magazines but for the most part it’s spread all over the countryside and it can really take some time getting it all together. It’s not always easy to decipher terms or determine what tools are needed and what tools are just nice to have.
Fayme took a couple pictures today but nothing planned or with any particular purpose. Unfortunately, Curtis isn’t even in them, just my grey head and fat fingers.

Funny how small the world is sometimes. Turns out that Curtis is a current member of a predator hunting club that I was very active in a number of years ago. It was great to hear some familiar names and find that we had so much in common.

18th Annual Pacific Coast Traditional Challenge

2009-05-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend found the gang up at Conejo Valley Archers in Simi Valley, CA to participate in one of the best traditional archery shoots of the year. I may get disagreement from some people but I find this to be *the* best trad shoot of the year.

This is a two day shoot over Saturday and Sunday. The club has been able to make arrangements for special camping fees at a county park right next to the range. This year little miss ranger must have gotten the word because we didn't seem to have any problems with her. Last year her supervisors neglected to tell her of the special prices and she was about ready to lock us all up before a CVA officer saved the day.

Over the years this shoot's format has changed a bit as the club tries different things. This year it was 50 3D targets. There were also some novelty shoots with a seperate entry fee but the opportunity to win part of your fee back if you shoot well. On the regular targets we shot 30 targets on Saturday and the remaining 20 on Sunday. There was a smoker round on Saturday that drew a pretty good crowd.

I shot with a great bunch of folks and everyone had a great time. Tom Mills got permission to use his atlatl and darts in place of a bow and as I predicted, he threw his 7' bamboo and cane darts better than I shot with my bow and matched arrows.

Here is Ken getting ready to rain doom on a hapless foam animal. Ken likes heavier bows and it's fun to see his big arrows rock the target back.

Salvador lets one fly as Aimee, Phil, and bit of Ken look on. Salvador is a great person to spend time with. I am forever in his debt for the things he has taught me. Things like, "You'll shoot better if you come to full draw and anchor before loosing the arrow..."

Here's Tom on that same target, getting ready to show us all how it's done.

This is a fun shot. All you have to do is shoot under the rope. You can lay on your back, your stomach, or try to kneel low enough to get an arrow under the rope and into the target. Phil elected to lay on his back and he did pretty well.

Yeah, here's Tom again showing off his form. Carl looks like he's about to tip over with the amazement of it all.

This is a really fun target. One of the club members hides behind a piece of plywood and tosses up foam disks for us to shoot at. Guess how Tom did...

I didn't get any pictures the second day. Fayme took a few while she manned a craft and face painting booth she put up. Here is the link to her Flickr pictures for Conejo Traditional Archery Shoot.

Thanks for a great shoot, CVA. I'm ready for next year!

An Arrow Art Build-Along

2009-03-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

I got a request recently for direction on how I do some of the art I use on arrows. I sent the gentleman a pretty detailed email but didn't have any pictures to include. I spent some time today taking a series of pictures for three different techniques that I'll post here.

Here are the supplies and tools I'll use for this series. We've got an arrow shaft that I've already coated with grey paint for a base, three different paint colors, glaze, plastic wrap, a sea sponge, and a plate to mix the paint on.

First, I'll show a simple technique using just the base color and a top color that is mixed with glaze.
Glaze is a paint extender, it slows the drying time and in some instances can change the color a bit. In this application I used a light glaze instead of the transparent glaze I intended to use. By the time I realized I'd grabbed the wrong glaze I was too far along to stop and go get the right one.
For this application I'm mixing paint and glaze 1:1. After mixing the two together I take a little wad of plastic wrap from the kitchen and dab it into the paint/glaze mix. Dab most of the paint off on a paper towel and then randomly dab it on the arrow shaft. Move the plastic wrap around to maximize the random factor. You can put on as much or as little as you wish.

For the next technique I won't use glaze, just the paint. With this one two colors are used in addition to the base coat color.
With a dampened sea sponge the first color is dabbed onto the shaft in a random manner. As you do this turn the sponge around in your hand. Just as in the previous technique, get the paint on the sponge and then take most of it off on a paper towel so you don't get too much paint on the shaft. Most of the base color should be covered over but some will still show through.

After the first color is dry, do the second color in the same manner. To help blend the colors and make softer edges you can lightly mist the shaft with water before putting on each of the two colors.

The effect will look different depending upon which color you do first and the other second. With the two colors I chose there was little difference. If you'll look back through arrows pictures I've posted here you'll see some done with brown paints that look like a dirt camo one way and kind of sand camo the other. Be sure to do what I didn't do today: test your colors before starting the project.

The last technique is kind of interesting. This time we'll mix the paint and glaze at about a 1:5 ratio, 1 part paint to 5 parts glaze. Use the sea sponge to get the paint/glaze mixture on most of the shaft and while it is still wet, wrap it in plastic wrap. Wrap it rather snug. After a few moments, unwrap it and you'll see the plastic pull off some of the paint mix and leave behind an interesting texture.
Here are pictures of all three techniques, and of the bottle of glaze I meant to use...

My apologies for the quality of the pictures. I was trying to shoot with one hand, hold the other hand in the picture, and do it all before the paint dried. I hope you're able to see the process without too much dificulty.

All the paints and glaze are available at craft stores like Michael's, Jo-Anne's, etc. These are the same paints I use for cresting. They are inexpensive, easy to use, and they come in enough colors that always be able to get just what I need.

If you have any questions just let me know.

Tool Time

2009-02-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

I don't remember where I saw it on PaleoPlanet but someone recently made a post about converting a shingle hatchet to a bowmaking hatchet by trimming the head and making it into a bearded hatchet.
That sounded like a pretty neat project so while we were in Quartzsite a few weeks ago I kept an eye out for old shingle hatchets in all the piles of rusty tools and "antiques." I picked up these three.

Today we spent some time at David Brunetta's studio in Laguna Beach, CA and he helped me do the conversion. Actually, all I did was use his metal cutting bandsaw to trim the "beard" out of the two bigger heads and take care of rough shaping. David did the final shaping, polishing, and heat treating.
David had an idea for the smaller hatchet and did some trimming, forging, and welding to make it into a small adze. It's too small for building a dugout canoe but I'm hoping it will work well for bowl making.
As soon as I figure out handles for these three I'll be able to see if the concept has merit.
All in all, I think things turned out pretty well.

David also gave me forging lessons and I really learned a lot:
Hammer control is everything.
Playing with red hot steel gets pretty warm.
It's not as easy as a master like David makes it look.

While the two little knives I pounded out aren't worth public exhibition, I have hopes that future pieces will be better.
David is getting ready to offer forging lessons on a one-on-one basis. If you get the chance to take lessons from him, you won't regret it. He is an absolute artist with hot steel, and a number of other mediums.

An Arrow Build-Along

2009-02-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

A number of years ago I participated in an archery group on Yahoo Groups. To contribute something to the group I put together a simple arrow build-along detailing steps I took to build a basic set of arrows. Some of my practices and methods have changed a little now but the build-along still has great information in it, especially for a new arrow maker wondering what tools to get and how to use them.
After I had finished with the series of posts Fayme volunteered to host the whole series on a free website she had access to. I think the account she created it under is long gone so we can't make any changes or updates, but the site itself is still floating around out there for folks to look at.

Arrow Build-Along

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy it.

July 10 update: We just found out that Geocities will be deleting the free website the build-along is hosted on in October, '09. If you wish to do so, this would be a good time to copy any pictures or descriptions to your computer (for your own reference only, please).

Some new arrows

2009-02-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

I got these arrows delivered to Jason and Kim last weekend and finally have a chance to get a couple pictures up here. Jason and Kim have been coming to the Pasadena gatherings and are working on their first self bows. Since their new bows do not have shelves we wanted to wrap the leading edge of the feathers so their hands won't be cut as the arrow is loosed.

When wrapping with thread I like to use the Raptor cut because I can trim off a bit of feather from the quill and not change the profile of the feather. If you take a look at Gary's arrows a little further down the page you can see that the shield shape of his fletching has kind of a blunt look to the leading edge from the feather being trimmed for the thread.

New Arrows For Me... this may be scary...

2009-02-14T22:38:00.001-08:00

The world of traditional archery can sometimes be pretty traditional.

Take arrows, for instance…

Arrows typically come by the dozen and each arrow is the same as the next. In a way it makes sense. You can always tell which arrow is yours amongst the others in a target at the local shoot. Many times the cock feather is different from the two hen feathers so a visual clue is there when nocking the arrow. The two hen feathers will always be the same.

Something about all this sameness has always kind of gnawed at the back of my mind.
So I decided to do something about it.

I had this bundle of cedar shafts I’d purchased on eBay that I finally got around to spining and weighing and I took out a set of shafts for my new arrows.
I wanted a design that showed all the arrows were in the same set, but in which each arrow was unique, unlike any other arrow in the set.
I call these the Harlequin arrows. I think they came out pretty good.

I decided not to specify which feather was the cock feather because I use Bohning index nocks. With these nocks I find that orienting the arrow to the string is something my fingers do without any help from my eyes.

This set of arrows can be seen as a pretty radical departure from tradition.

Tell me what you think.
Do you hate them?
Do you like them?
Do you think I’m some kind of whacked out artist?
Or do you think I’m a ground breaking visionary?

Bucket Brigade

2009-02-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Fayme and I decided to spend some time out in Quartzsite, Arizona this weekend. At this time of year they have a bunch of flea market-type events going on throughout the town. While they are mainly concentrated on gems and minerals you can also find all kinds of other stuff from antiques to motor home accessories... lots of fun.
We left Friday night after I got home from work. I gathered together the last minute stuff, we packed things into the truck, and off we went.
I've found really great utility in empty cat litter buckets for carrying odds and ends for camping. This time I had a bucket with a few snack foods, some ammunition, flashlights, and wet wipes for cleaning up. While I was getting something into the back of the truck Fayme came out with a couple more items and said she couldn't get the bucket out to me, it was too heavy. I know what I put into it and I'm thinking that it wasn't very heavy so I don't know what her problem was. I go to the apartment porch, bend down to grab the bucket handle and holy crap, this thing weights a ton! How did it get so heavy?! I lug it out to the truck, set it on the ground and prepare to hoist it into the bed. Then I see another bucket already in the bed and suddenly remember already bringing a bucket out. Once I got done laughing I clued Fayme into the joke. Can you already see what happened?

Here are the two buckets:
Here is what was inside the two buckets:

That's right, I carted a 40lb bucket of cat litter out to the truck. No wonder she couldn't lift it. Hope I don't make that mistake too often!

We had a great time in Quartzsite. I brought home 60lbs of obsidian and a few pounds of chert for knapping. I'm not very good at it right now so this stuff will help me get just that much better. The obsidian was $.50 a pound so I was pretty pleased at that. I got one piece of bloodstone jasper that will someday make a very beautiful arrowhead, if I don't screw it up first.

The weather couldn't have been better. Daytime temps were on the warm side and night time was just cold enough that a campfire and the sleeping bag were just great.

Bamboo Arrow Shafts

2009-01-25T23:47:00.000-08:00

I have a limited number of these bamboo shafts available for sale. I have two lengths, 85cm / 33 1/2" and 100cm / 39 1/4". These shafts are almost completely ready to go with the skin already removed, the nodes flattened, and only needing final straightening. They are not graded by spine like the arrows shafts we are accustomed to, they are sorted by weight. These shafts are a great deal at $3.00 each plus actual shipping.

April 13, 2010 update: these shafts got a great reception at the 2010 Chamberlin Ranch shoot and are all gone. I have more on order. When they arrive I'll make another blog post about them.

If you've never tried bamboo arrows you should consider them. Some people call them Nature's Carbon Arrow Shaft. They are tolerant of a wide range of bows and are very tough. If you want to keep things simple it's easy to mount plastic nocks and standard fieldpoints or broadheads to these shafts. With some more work a self-nock and a trade point would really be wonderful. Can you think of a better looking arrow to shoot from a self bow?

In between other projects I'm working on a set of these for myself. When I get them finished I'll post up pictures.

New Arrows Out the Door

2009-01-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

I finally got a bunch of arrows finished and off to their new homes.
For your viewing pleasure, in no particular order, here they are:

Mario said he wanted something unique, it just had to have green and white somewhere in the design. If these aren't unique, I don't know what is. When I'm asked how I do this design my usual answer is, "a very small brush and about two hours per arrow." It's a little easier than that, but I'll keep my secret unless you email and ask, then I'll let you in on it.

Steve isn't particularly worried about what his arrows look like. He knows what he wants in colors and he leaves the rest up to me. They usually turn out satisfactory.
Steve hasn't seen these arrows yet, he wasn't at the Pasadena gathering when I brought them.
He'd better show up for February, I had to turn down a couple offers to buy them.

Garry is a little perturbed with his son. The dang kid took Garry's bow and a set of arrows I'd made for it and went and collected a couple nice California deer. Now he won't give either the bow or the arrows back to his dad. So Garry had to order this set for himself.

These arrows have horn reinforced self-nocks and the leading edge of the fletching is wrapped with thread. Garry's bow doesn't have a shelf so the arrow rests on his hand. With the thread wrapping the feather won't cut his hand.

Gilbert wanted a set of bright arrows, he got bright arrows.

Gilbert also wanted a set of less bright arrows, so he got them, too.

Greg has the right idea, he tells me what spine he wants and to go with banana fletch, then he says, "Use your imagination." He's been pretty happy so far.

It's difficult to see in this picture but there is red mixed into the black crown. In shade it's not very obvious but in the sunlight it really pops out for a special look.

Sig wants bright arrows, too. Two sets of them.

That's it for now. I've still got another two sets to wrap the thread on the fletching. I'll post pictures of those once I'm finished with them.

Now maybe I'll have time to do a new set of arrows for myself...

Cowabunga!

2008-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

I get up Saturday morning and I'm finally caught up on orders and have a free weekend to look forward to.
By Saturday afternoon I have received an order for 3 dozen arrows.
Today, after the monthly PaleoPlanet gathering at the Pasadena Roving Archers range, in Pasadena CA, I have a total 9 1/2 dozen arrows on order!

Thanks, everyone; you shot my weekends in the butt and I couldn't be happier.

Cowabunga!