Could be a joint project?
Mick , sounds good to me , I bought a copy of " The Design and Construction of Composite Long (Flat) Bows " from Ausbow industries several months ago , will have to dig it out , also have a copy of " The Traditional Bowyers Bible Vol. 1 " I could lend you , I do intend to get Vol. 2 & 3 as well but there are other books I need more at the moment , I also have some other stuff on bowmaking as well , seems that many epoxies aren't really suitable for making bows but I talked to Boatcraft and they said that their Bote-cote epoxy is more flexible than most and should be very suitable for the laminations in a bow , pretty much all the bits and pieces needed for making a bow can be bought from Ausbow
http://www.ausbow.com.au/bowmaking.html , there are also several forums dealing with bow making available , here is a Australian one that is quite good , I'm a member ,
http://www.ozbow.net/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=3 the site administrator is a guy by the name of Jeff Challacombe from Maryborough , just down the road from you , the forum deals with all sorts of trad tackle and there are a number of build-a-longs with pictures , both of laminated bows and selfbows ,
While I like selfbows I have to admit they rarely shoot quite as well as a laminated bow and tend to be harder for a novice to learn with , but in the hands of a experienced archery the will deliver the goods , one thing I did notice with mine was they didn't travel well , when I used to bring them down from Clermont where the humidity was about 3% most of the time down to the coast where it was 85% they wouldn't shoot worth a dam for a while , I don't have any self bows any more , I gave some away and the other ones I lent to friends who claimed them and were reluctant to give them back , I have one that I'm part way through making but as I've been part way through making it for two years and the limbs twisted when I bought it down from Clermont I'm not sure I'll ever finish it .
I've been thinking of buying a take-down recurve for some time , always figured them to be a great idea for a kayak hunt , actually hunting from the water was the reason I got back into kayaks and canoes , I prefer to hunt with recurves rather than compounds and figure to sell my compound some time in the future and just shoot recurves and longbow but I'm in no hurry , I think I'll look for some thing about 62 " long and 50# to 55# , some thing like that would suit Mick as well as he's reasonably tall
Mick
If you ever want to go hunting with rifles some time just let me know , I have enough to lend you one for the trip and as long as I'm with you then it's legal under Qld law , what's your preference , 303 , 30/06 , 45 colt , 6.5x55 or 35/303 ?
Bow fishing is a great way to kill a afternoon , especially on those windy days when the fish in the creeks aren't biting and just seem to congregate in sections of the creek and won't take a bait or lure
I seem to remember about a goat cull on Middle Percy Island last year about this time , heard they intended to kill 90% of them off , I also heard there is some sort of legal challenge going on about the ownership of the island and that also the National Parks and wildlife are waiting in the wings and want to take back the lease and get rid of the goats completely and all the introduced fruit trees and turn the place back to original , but knowing them if they do get their hands on the place the first thing they will do is kill off all the goats and rip out the fruit trees and any coconut palms and tear down the buildings but as far as restoring it to original they seem to be a little slower with that and in the mean time there will be a lot of erosion and loss of top soil
Ron
What model PSE takedown you got ?
Hell this list seems chock full of archers , amazing what falls out when you shake the tree
David