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John J Riggs Archery
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2012
I have in the past practiced and even taught a multitude of what could be considered survival skills, including but not limited to; fire starting with hand drills and bow drills, shelter building, medicinal plants, wild edibles, etc. However, my videos are concentrated around primitive bows and arrows. In my experience as a professional bow maker, I have constructed literally hundreds of bows ranging from simple D bows to Cupid shaped sinew horse bows. I've also worked in a large number of bow woods, so I bring that experience to my messages.
Enjoying My Little Wonder Bow
My Horse Bow blank is available for $60 + shipping
Bending Form $32
5 Tendons $15
Hide Glue $5
(Typical shipping cost for complete Bow Kit this side of the Rocky Mountains $23)
Bending Form $32
5 Tendons $15
Hide Glue $5
(Typical shipping cost for complete Bow Kit this side of the Rocky Mountains $23)
มุมมอง: 683
วีดีโอ
Sinew Curing Time and Titebond/Hide Glue
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Sinew Curing Time and Titebond/Hide Glue
The Conclusion of the Horse Bow
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Paddle Bow Blanks with extra preshaping $100 "Machine made" String $5 Hand twisted string w plaited loop $20 10" radiused sanding block $32 Shipping will depend upon zip code Contact me @ johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com
Horse Bow Building 7) Adding Sinew Wraps
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Horse Bow Building 7) Adding Sinew Wraps
Horse Bow Building 6) Wrapping the Sinew
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Horse Bow Building 6) Wrapping the Sinew
Horse Bow Building 4) Preparing to Sinew Back
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To see my product line and pricing, go to this video: th-cam.com/video/lAwL1CgWDSs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=C73dPOpkH9yj125a fire hardened the belly, prepared my bundle of sinew, mixed my hide glue, and sized the back.
Horse Bow Building: 3) Fine tuning woodwork
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My Horse Bow Blanks are available for $60 shipping. Contact me at johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com To see my product line and pricing go to this video: th-cam.com/video/lAwL1CgWDSs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=C73dPOpkH9yj125a
Horse Bow Building 2) Pounding and Preparing Sinew
มุมมอง 9714 วันที่ผ่านมา
Do a TH-cam search for: John riggs the glamorous world of pounding sinew My Horse Bow Blanks are available for $60 shipping. Contact me at johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com To see my product line and pricing go to this video: th-cam.com/video/lAwL1CgWDSs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=C73dPOpkH9yj125a
Horse Bow Building: 1) Rounding and Steam Bending a Gullwing
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My tillered Horse Bow Blanks are available for $60 shipping. Contact me at johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com
Bow Blanks For SALE!!!
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Contact me at johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com Horse Bow blank: $60 shipping D Bow Blank: $60 shipping Renn Bow Blank: $80 shipping Paddle Bow Blank: $95 shipping Snake Bow Blank: $110 shipping Talisman Blank: $115 shipping Holmgaard Blank: $95 shipping Reflex Bend Form: $32 shipping 10" D Sanding Block: $32 shipping 5 Tendons: $15, shipped with Bow Hide Glue: $5, shipped with Bow Dog Bone: $ 15 mai...
Final Preparation for My Soft Opening
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Final Preparation for My Soft Opening
Selling Begins Saturday, August 3rd!!!!
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Selling Begins Saturday, August 3rd!!!!
The Holmgaard; A 10,000 Year Old Story
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The Holmgaard; A 10,000 Year Old Story
White spots are from drying too quick initially, putting too thick of a last layer won't help either.
I've recently seen a Sinew job and he had gathered a large group of separated sinew, soaked it, and then combed it unto the bow with hide glue. I believe his approach realize less on the thicker glue method (individual fibers), but I am unsure if you have tried that method, and I was wondering what our thoughts on it were. which is better. I can send the link if you want.
@@jkhippie5929 I've sinew backed a lot of different ways, and it's easy to over think it. Everything boils down to, get glue on the bow, get glue on sinew, put the two together and let the glue and the sinew do their work. Horn bow makers need to follow strict rules because their bows are so stressed. Us mere mortals can do it whichever way we choose to do it.
Nice bow.
@@user-mb4se6km5p Thank you, J
Good times
Have you ever thought of making a English longbow? No handle victorian style, just a plain d shaped stick and rope. Apparently historical texts depict some native Americans using long, heavy bows nearly identical to the medieval English longbow
@@calinesanu9995 I have, and I have one in my workshop made out of white ash.
@@calinesanu9995 Ah Ha! It's funny you asked that at this time. I took the sinew string off my very English looking longbow and lost it. I just found it. It fell behind a workbench. Anyway, I went through a phase of making round belly longbows out of white ash. I made decent ones but white ash just doesn't like round bellies. I've seen drawings of Native bows from our south that looked every bit like ELBs and the Cherokees had war bows that were really long and heavy. Their hunting bows were supposedly shorter and lighter. A common theory is war bows that were used in similar ways evolved into similar weapons; the English, the Cherokee, the Basa in Africa all had fortifications and would use long heavy bows for artillery fire and long range shooting. On the flip side, horse bows tend to be compact. These are some huge generalities but sometimes there's a little truth hidden in generalities.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 yeah, white ash isn't the best in compression. But from what I've seen even the Mary rose bows don't have that sharp D belly like some victorian bows have. I generally keep the belly on the ones I make in a squashed rectangle shape and just scrape off a bit more off the corners when I'm nearly finished tillering.
Hello John how do I find your email address? Great video
@@danielspain7231 johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com Thank you
That is a neat little bow. I keep saying I am going to get back to building. Between Grandkids, Being a gigging musician and work. I just haven't got around to it. Currently I am shooting a little 45 lbs 50" soft recurve. I love it. It is a Bearpaw/Bodnik Mingo. Made as a youth bow but it extremely efficient at draws in 26-27" range.
@@UncleDanBand64 a 45 pound recurve is a pretty decent weapon. My old 40 pound Bear Archery recurve has less oomph than yours and it still stopped a couple of deer along with a hog. That pesky work sure can get in the way, but you'll get back into it. Great hearing from you. It's been a while.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 yes sir
I remember you going down by the water where you had lived doing distance shooting. So many other structures you had there. Other than the working with the public must have been nice. Don’t mean to take us back but it’s where we first met you might say 😁 good to see you having the time to do yer bow building. Get better soon John, thanks as always
Just an update, the reason it is shooting down I believe is the arrow weight and the balance of the arrows. I'm only doing 125fps because I need those arrows to make the bow less harsh on my elbow and shoulder with its vibrations. However, I did lighten the tips, and it has become a more enjoyable shooter for sure. I checked the tiller and it was correct; the upper limb was of a lighter strength compared to the bottom limb. Also I took your advice and I put in an order for the 10 pack of Sinew :)
@@jkhippie5929 Good deal. As your Bow ages and you get a little string follow it should have even less hand shock.
Just broke my favorite bow and I’m heart broken 💔 I heard a crack when I released the arrow then the poundage dropped I knew something was wrong, so I stopped and found the crack I’m really attached to this bow I need some questions answered
@@Silentbet1of If it's a self bow and it's still in one piece with a crack on it's back, how about sinew backing it? I've taken bows that cracked on the back and 100% brought them back with a layer of sinew.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 yes sir it’s a crack on the back it’s not very deep either but as I am new to making bows I’m afraid to do the work my self and getting real sinew seem to be very hard for me right now, I will be trying to back this bow as soon as I can thanks for the advice
Hand shock on my self bows seems to be almost always outter limb mass unless it's a lam bow with tropical belly lams and those just have some hand shock period
@@christophertracey7201 Interesting. I would have never thought about tropical belly woods and handshock. Could it be because they're high density and or really hard? I'm not familiar with laminating or using woods like that though I wouldn't mind giving it a go.
I like your style !
Thank you. I wonder where that bow wound up.
Hello John, I find that a thin heavy soft spined arrow is good for bendy handle bows with full width handle, has a lot of wood to go round so better have good flexible arrows, I’ve been making thinnest possible shafts from hawthorn, experiment..
@@danielspain7231 HI Daniel, it's all an experiment.
Hope you feel better soon. I had a shooting question. So I have a simple takedown recurve just to get into entry level traditional archery. I think the string that came with the bow was made out of dryer lint (just kidding, sort of), anyways it disintegrated quickly. I took the bow into the archery shop to get it restrung and while he restrung it he also changed the shooting rest. I am a string walking in terms of shooting style, but ever since I got the bow rest changed I cannot for the life of me get the arrow to the middle or right of the target. Everything is left, far left, or way far left. I am sighting down the arrow shaft and was shooting quite well before. I noticed that I was getting so frustrated that I really stopped shooting.
Of the shelf doesn't make much difference in materials but if it's a stick on rest brands can make a huge difference
@@andyrunkel8296 Luckily the only real symptom of this cooflu is fatigue. I don't have any respiratory problems or fever anymore, just really tired. There aren't any real rules for arrow rests on these modern trad bows. Some people have some kind of rubbery arrow rest and a lot of us just glue leather or fleece to the shelf that goes up along the arrow pass (side of the shelf). I'd say just pull off the rest he put on it and glue a strip of leather on it and see how it works. You'll have to adjust the nocks on the string too.
@@christophertracey7201 I bet.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 Great tip....That's exactly what I will do. I think the fleece he put on there is just way to wide and is pushing the angle of my arrow way out of normal. Thanks so much! I will let you know how it goes.
With you on using the hide glue and letting the bow dry for a loooong time. I do use tite bond three as a cover over the sinew once it's dried enough. It dries clear so you can see the sinew work, and since it's water proof great for damp, or wetish, weather; and due to its slight slippage it has enough flex to allow the bow to bend with little fear of damage on the back that you might otherwise get with another sealer.
@@estelpereira5011 Wow, I never thought of using TB 3 as a finish! Tremendous idea. Thank you!
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 it works well. You're welcome. I use it only on the sinew not the wood. But, you probably figured it out, LOL.
@@estelpereira6663 Yep, I figured but it helps to mention it.
First, hope you get better quickly. No fun being sick. Arrow going down ,...best guess, knocking point needs adjusting ( so right there with you ), or elbow too high on draw, or arrow itself is too heavy ( not spine, actual wood weight ), fletching too large, tip too heavy, might be peeking to see where the arrow goes, or letting down too soon. I wouldn't muck around with the actual bow until all other options can be ruled out. If the gentleman asking this question has already checked all of this, or none of it applies, I apologize for sounding know-it-allish.
@@estelpereira5011 All good advice, on every count. It's a tricky thing to try to picture different speeds of the limbs causing a sideways motion on the string because I keep coming back to, at some point along the string, the motion of the string snapping back will be in a straight line, so just make that the nocking point.
I'm not a doctor, but I do a saline spray in my nose every morning to help reduce the chances of getting sick since germs and bacteria can't thrive in a salty environment. Also, I might add that drinking a small amount of vinegar in a shot glass and sort of breathing in the vapors as you swallow can in my case help loosen the mucus, but it is acidic so maybe doing this during a meal or perhaps brushing after would be good. I really enjoy your videos they get into the secrets of bow building and the Comedy if intentional or not is excellent stuff. Get well soon Mr. Riggs :)
@@jkhippie5929 I appreciate the solid advice. One thing I try to do is never take myself too seriously, so if I also give people a chuckle, I did my job.
Thank you John; I will try out those options you mentioned after I get off from work tomorrow. I appreciate that you made it a point to help me out even with your sickness. I will be seriously considering buying from you soon as well.
@@jkhippie5929 You're welcome, and I appreciate that you take time out of your day to watch my videos.
Ok, step back titebond for applying sinew, where have I been, I’ll need to explore this deeper, and from your other video I hope yer feeling better John
If my arrows shoot down, does that mean I need to keep thinning out the upper limb..... and when I get to the final step of my long bow will this get rid of the harshness "hand shock" or do I need to make the tips thinner to make it a "nicer shooter"
@@jkhippie5929 A couple of really good questions deserving of a video response, which I did.
Wait wait wait John. You are putting water and Dawn soap before you size the bow? Wow, wouldn’t have guessed, Another question, could you just use the sinew in the baggy without re-dipping in the warm sinew from the double boiler? Thanks John
My horse is way too lazy to use that thing.
@@davidbell4986 That reminds me of Cat Ballou. Lee Marvin is sitting on his horse, and both of them are drunk, leaning against a wall. Great movie.
Thank you for the lessons.
@@estelpereira5011 Happy to yap.
What type of Sinew and from what animal is ideal for bow making? Where should I get premade sinew and if I wanted to beat my own into usable fibers where would I go to get those. Is the rear leg tendon a good choise.
@@jkhippie5929 I personally like white tail leg tendon sinew. Elk is good; it's longer but I rarely use it for any other reason than habit. I've tried cow but it's greasy and kind of horrible. I usually buy mine from Pine Hollow Longbows in the 10 packs because of Mike's consistent quality though you can find it on ebay. If you can find it on ebay with free shipping it would be worth a try.
John...love your discussions on your channel. "You do you" is a great mantra. I've been doing the primitive/wood bow thing now for around 45 years, and watched how everything has evolved, from the limited books on the subject to the virtual plethora of info online these days - what I would have loved to have (current info treasure) in my earlier stages of evolution as a bowyer. Having done both the hide glue and titebond 3 on many backed bows, the differences are so small it's not worth the arguing about the two glues, except for the fact that titebond is so much easier to work with and I have to believe it has some advantages in changing climates. I learned the whole titebond thing from the late Ed Scott twenty-plus years ago when eveyone thought it was total taboo. I still teach a lot of youngsters and oldsters "how" to build bows and the journey -wherever it takes you - is always fun and exciting. There are no right or wrong ways to tackle the process if in the end it gets you to your goals as a bowyer and we all re-discover something about our human pasts and present in doing so.
@@classicbows I really appreciate your message. It also brings me back to what it was Luke to try to make working self bows before the internet and all the information out there now. Different times, my friend. Good times for primitive archery.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 Yes...remember no mentors, just a few "so-so" books, and it took us - at least me - years to learn what now can be learned in such a short time! Good job on the channel...we are of the same age, and like a lot of the same stuff and I enjoy the banter. - Mark Baker
Hello John; I left you a message the horse bow build #7 sinew wrap video. I am an old low tec Ex 1st Cav trooper from 70 & 71 . Now that'll age me, Got to thinking ( as I also do sometimes do ). That if I want you to find it I better message you on the newest video. I tried to email from my phone & Windstream told me your email was not valid. so, that door got closed. I need to find out how to. buy on of your horse bow kits & a paddle bow for me to finish & try painting like you do.
@@joygrubb7463 I betcha ya forgot the j in my middle name. johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com. I finally as of this morning have Wi-Fi in the house. Having an actual website will make things so much better.
I want one of you horse bow kits & one of your favs the paddle bow. I think I left you a message a couple days ago BUT I can't find where I left it. New computer, OLD Fart. I want to thank you for what you ae doing right now for us DIYers. Everyone else wants to drive us to their PATRION site. I'm happy to see you on here far more often I've watched you for years now & have 2b of your bows that I love.
@@joygrubb7463 Hey there, Sometimes people leave the middle initial j out of my email address. johnjriggsarchery@gmail.com. There's a j lurking there in the center.
Love that youre doing another bow series. I need to catch up on all these vids. Busy season at work
@@jg0943 life would be so much more enjoyable without that work thing getting in the way.
But aren’t you one of those guys that lets his sinew cure for several weeks? If that’s the case, then doesn’t matter if you get the boat wet it will be plenty dry by the time the sinew cures but native people didn’t wait for their sinew to cure. When the glue is dry they went hunting. I didn’t have time to wait that’s a big misconception. The only reason I know that works is because I’ve done it just to see with hideglue and didn’t have any issues until a couple months later thesinew started de laminating. That’s when I started using tape bond, and haven’t had anything happen since the reason that native people use that stuff is because that’s what they had if you gave them a jug of tight bond they would use it I promise you anyway have a good day. Thanks for Sharon.
@@user-zg1zl9xx4t Nope, I'm one of those guys that waits months. OK, sure, you don't have to wait a long time, a lot of people don't, and that works for them especially if it's a protective layer not a power layer; two different things. I've experimented over and over taking two exact bows and sinew backing them. Putting one up to cure for 6 months and shooting the other one after a couple of weeks. Done this so often and I've probably sinew backed over 200 bows easy. The one that waits will always be a better bow and the one that didn't risks that dramatic sudden drop in draw weight that some sinew backed bows suffer. I may want to recreate Native bows but that doesn't preclude me from following the ways of the masters of sinew backing; horn bow makers that wait a loooooong time.
A sinew bowstring that I had made ended up breaking during the release of my arrow. I was shooting a Assyrian shaped fiberglass/ wood. It broke somewhere between the knock and the tip; so this leads me to believe that the twist on the string was not holding itself ( unraveling during drying). Can you give me some advice on the drying process... or do you add any glue to the string? Thank you John
@@jkhippie5929 Ah Ha! You nailed it. After I finish a sinew bow string and I twist them from dry fibers, I give them a quick hide glue bath and hang them from each end gently stretching them. Gently. I've never had one break on me.
Very nicely done!!!!!
@@joedaniels4646 Thank you. Now on to other bows.
Lovely paddle bow blanks, but damn you have to be accurate and careful with that faceting for rounding…
@@danielspain7231 Thank you. Taking the edges down like that sets it up for a reasonable effort using the radiused sanding block to finish rounding.
I always go for 2 loops if I’ve really gone to the length of decently finishing a bow (not often these days) but I like the idea of the loop/knot variable setup it’s more convenient
@@danielspain7231 I admit that a nice two loop string looks spiffy.
I hate it when the string slips off, I once injured my arm and thumb from that happening, so now I make tiny loops fractionally bigger than the tip, on my Flemish strings and I crank the hell out of natural cordage just because..
@@danielspain7231 Good insurance. Good advice.
Just a thought John, maybe bows with high oil content like mulberry and my nemesis, blackthorn, are not supposed to be sinew backed?… the wood is whispering to you through its oily pores, don’t back me….dont back me…I don’t like it…
@@danielspain7231 A Warrior was captured by the calvary and when he was in confinement one of the guards asked him what the best wood for making bows was. He laughed and said osage. The guard thought, that's strange. The Warrior laughed because if the guard tried to make a bow out of osage, he'd fail.
When you have a flat bow with a square profile and its whitewood that is not so compressionstrong (as the most white woods would be, i heard). Is it better to make the back round? That would mean you have to scrape down the edges and the first yearring would get smaller, to make the back and the belly evenly strong? When yes, that would mean a younger tree would be better because it would have automaticly a round back?
@@christophkainz8047 There will always be vast discussions regarding this, but in my view, a crowned back makes for a better bow provided the back is strong enough for concentrated tension at your draw weight and draw length. The closer you get to maximizing forces without over stressing the bow, the better. Figure two scenarios. One, it's a smaller diameter tree and already has a rounded back. In a tree that grows fast and big, a small diameter isn't necessarily great because of really thick growth rings and not so dense wood. Branches on the other hand can be small in diameter, grew slower than that little sapling, and have really tough reaction wood. Some small trees are better than other, young small trees, too. The other scenario is decrowning and creating a bias ring bow. That's OK because the fibers are unbroken if your careful. Look closely at the bows in the Encyclopedia of NA Bows, Arrows, and Quivers, and you will see a lot of actual bows drawn with what we'd consider to be hugely violated rings. I guess I'll add one more thing; sinew or rawhide backing. I've taken bows that literally cracked a little on the back and turned them into great, 100% working bows with a layer of sinew.
I largely find it’s not so much species specific, or white wood specific but the condition, grain, density, sap content, season harvested, and how you look after the stave during the whole process that largely determines if I make or break a bow.
The wood i use at the moment for my bows is ash. And it seems like the back is never the problem. Its the belly that gets little, little cracks. The bows are still working fine and dont brake. But it feels like the belly cant take that much as the back.
I love paddle bows 😊
@@danielspain7231 Me too.
Hello John any chance of turning the radio down on the videos as I can’t concentrate on the gems of information through the insane tones of Muzak dj’s and deathly advertisers..🙏
@@danielspain7231 Definitely.
Do you sell any of your sinew backed bows ? I have email you with the particulars. Just curious. Thank you John
@@jkhippie5929 HI, I absolutely do. Shoot me an email and we'll sort it out.
Interesting idea. Mushroom jerky is pretty good too.
@@paganpride464 I never thought of that. Wow, there's a ton of ways to season it, too.
John the inside curve you referenced here did you say you wrap that area to keep the ends from popping up? Or you were referring wrapping that area while it sets?
@@timdefelice2570 PIcture laying a string in a bowl from one side to the other. It goes into the bowl and up the other side. Now say you put some glue on the string so it sticks to the bowl as it climbs down the side and back up. The bowl is like the reflexed handle. When the sinew on the bow dries it's like you pulling on the string from both sides of the bowl; it wants to straighten out and pull away from the bowl's bottom.
@johnjriggsarchery2457 that makes so much sense. Thank you. I have never sinew wrapped only rawhide so this is a bit of a learning curve for me.
...and some people watch you because you are an old friend and they just enjoy watching you do your thing.
@@andyrunkel8296 I appreciate that!
Dang $60 for a blank is an awesome deal! When I first started sinew backing I watched your videos over and over. They helped me tremendously.
@@Tradbow85 I appreciate that. I really had a hard time pricing everything and wound up leaning toward going lower to inspire more first timers to jump into bow making. Funny thing is though, even though one can make any bow out of any wood type, these are still fun as heck to take and finish off. Have a great day, my bow making friend.
I’m interested in your blanks. What woods were used
@@MrPatski1 HI, I typically us red oak but I may make some out of hard maple.
could you do a video about tillering a horse bow?
@@randalboatman5996 Absolutely yes. I have two osage/sinew backed bows to do and I'll show that part. Great request.
And more often than not primitive methods are very surprisingly effective
@@danielspain7231 Efficient and effective with minimal materials.
Hey John, yep I always go for that glassy sizing even if it takes 20 layers for the back to finally soak it up, it makes for a very strong surface for adhesion, and more often than not I don’t even need to bind it in, in fact I can’t remember the last time I used a binding..
@@danielspain7231 I totally get it. I basically bind mine because I do a lot of painting. Otherwise I do like the look of a natural unbound sinew back.
I heard pound for pound, sinew with hoof glue is stronger than steel. I made hoof glue a year and a half ago, roughly, and it is INSANELY strong. Definitely want to try sinew backing bows one day, but we have osage orange from a neighbour here in New Zealand. NZ Native wood is quite trash for bows, but good old olsage is amazing. A neighbour had 30 year old logs cut off of a tree that was like 80-100 years old.
@@jkcbrah4708 OH man, you found a prize in a bow wood desert. I've had Australians ask me what kind of native bow wood they could use which I'm no expert on Australian or NZ forestry. Is there some form of walnut down there? I believe that about the sinew and hoof glue. It's amazing stuff.
How much does sinew stretch ? In a percentage
@@jkhippie5929 Howdy. That's one of those things, it depends upon your source. I could throw out the number 3% before it gives, which I've heard but I gotta say that it may be somewhat variable. Long answer short, it's a big guess.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 Thanks John, it's so refreshing to see the handmade bows; rather than the store-bought goodies.
@@jkhippie5929I appreciate that. Thank you
John what was the advantage of a gull wing design and why was it used versus having a short straight stave bend through the handle?
@@gustohislop128 I believe they originally came from people that had short straight self bows and when they gained too much string follow, they fixed them by bending the handles back, and it caught on. There's other stuff at play though. The Lakota for example believed that bows were a gift from the Thunder Beings and arrows from another powerful entity. The different shapes of bows held certain significance; straight bows, gullwings, and the rarer 5 bend bows (Cupid's shaped bows). Then we can get into Medicine Bows which held certain powers and meant different things to different tribes, one being they were made from a certain tree that was used as an actual cure for something. Is there an actual advantage mechanically? I believe so; they seem to be more stable to a small degree in having limbs that stay balanced in tiller. I also find, and wow, I've made so many gullwings I can't remember a fraction of them, they're also waaaay more forgiving than straight bows in tillering. Speed wise, I don't see any difference.