There is a video of testing primitive points on a deer. The so called bird points were by far the best deer slayers. Went through easiest and didn't break on ribs or hit ribs as often, and takes less poundage to penetrate etc. If this is true about what we call bird points, it might also be fair to think that a lot of what people consider large arrowheads are knives, spear or atl-atl points etc. Thanks for the priceless knowledge and great videos. All the best, Mike.
I’m sure I’ve watched this vid on ether primitive pathways channel or Hunt Primitives channel & as you’ve said bird points prove to be much more lethal
Love your videos with Mr. Shannon. Just recently found your TH-cam channel. I'm nearly 70 years old, and it's been 40 years since the last time that I regularly pulled the string on a fiberglass Fred Bear recurve bow. I am in the process of shedding a significant percentage of my current body's weight through eating the Carnivore way, and one of my hopes is to relearn how to shoot a low draw weight traditional hardwood stick bow as instinctively as I was able to do with a modern fiberglass bow all those many years ago. *Anyhow, don't let the perennial naysayers get you down. Some of the greatest innovations and rediscoveries occur when a human being just attempts what he/she thinks might work without any knowledge of whether what they are attempting has any chance for success.*
I've done sugar maple with awesome success. Fire harden sugar maple makes really light and fast shooting bow!! White wood bows are anything but 2nd rate wood. Love the vids!!!
I can't wait to watch more videos from you Mr. Beckum. I have a lot of admiration for you and Mr. Shannon regarding your skills making primitive bows and arrows.
Look forward to more, Thad! Love persimmons, seen a nice bow made from it at Cloverdale, in the early 90s. Used a piece of dead limb from our tree in the yard for a bowdrill. Produced an ember, too. Thanks, Steve
Congratulations on your retirement. Love your primative stuff. Hopefully more primative hunts with your bows and flintlock in the future. Looking forward to your videos. Learning a lot from them. Thanks for sharing.
from a hornbeam branch that I wanted to throw away I created a 65 to 26 pound bow by cooking it for about an hour and a half on coals. now shoots 57 gram arrows at almost 42 ms with a power of over 48 joules not bad for a waste branch. I have to say that this system works. Thanks for sharing your experiences
I want to try this with live oak. I live in north Florida and we have a good bit of live oak. Hard to find information on the quality of it as a bow wood. I read where the Thompson brothers thought highly of it. This video inspires you to not believe everything you hear. Very impressive. Thanks Thad!
Love the video wish we had a place where new bow builder could go to buy hand me downs I started my bow adventure about two months ago I now have three bows all made from dog wood
Interesting Thad. I've done similar things with ash and elm....but I know for sure if I tried it with yew there would be checks. I also make glass bows and use a lot of fancy tropicals - a lot of these dense woods would also check if you got them above warm ;) I think this technique is a totally valid option for the 'whitewoods' but not for every wood. Looking forward to your upcoming videos :)
Fire hardening is my choice to. I did not buy the dvd. I will some day. Fire hardening is the way i like. Thank you soooooo much Ted. The good spirits are with you.
@@BeckumOutdoors amazing! Most guys will tell you to paint the ends and wait over a year... But I don't think the natives did any of that.. Do you think they seasoned their bow staves? And what did they coat the ends with, deer tallow fat??
Not sure how hi the temps get on a Chinese even diesel heater, but they work great and could be used for drying for sure, maybe even for hardening in the heat chamber was sealed good.
Great video. I've watched a couple others in which you and Keith force dry and fire harden Hickory. And I've seen Clay Hayes do it with Elm and now you with Persimmon. I would love to use Persimmon, but we only have a few of them on our farm and they're too valuable for mast production. I heard you mention Sweet Gum. We have an abundance of Black Gum. I know they're not the same tree. But I would think that Black Gum would work if Persimmon and Sweet Gum work. Do you agree? Would I have to chase a ring with it or treat it as you did the Hickory? Thanks.
I live in San diego. My tribe here used mainly elderberry an willow, I haven't had much luck. Have you ever tried using elderberry? The only other wood here that might be worth using is pacific dogwood. Or maybe a oak. If you have any suggestions it would be very helpful. Thank you
Sorry man, I really don't know about your local wood, but I have heard west coast tribal people using oak. Give it a try, nothing to lose only knowledge to gain.
I'm in England but have made a few bows from elder - sambucus nigra. It does make a good bow but try to find a clean piece with none of the knots clusters.
Elderberry and willow are good bow woods for certain designs. They're light and weak, and no good at all for modern western designs, but the natives made wide and low-stress bows. Lighter woods means that wide limbs and tips won't create hand shock or lower arrow speeds. Pacific dogwood is a great bow wood. If Elm is a little brother to hickory, then Dogwood is its little sister. Oak is also an excellent bow wood, I'm also out of California. Try for white oak, but red oaks do fine too. Both are exceptional candidates for fire hardening, white oak is likely better than hickory. For tension strong and compression weak woods like elm, dogwood, hickory, and oak, try to use saplings with a small diameter. The high crown will decrease compression strain and increase tension strain, matching the quality of the wood. 1.5in thick, tapering to 3/8in nocks
I’m pretty new here, I just wanted to ask, do you think you can fire harden a mulberry bow? I know mulberry is pretty similar to Osage and some say it’s very close to yew…you think it could be fire hardened?
How do these fire hardened white wood bows hold up Over years/decades? I rarely see any bows 20-30-40+ years old still being shot with no string follow that aren’t Osage.
My bows have not changed any for years now. I hunt alot with long string times. But tiller skill still plays a big part with any wood bow. I take good care of my bows and do not over draw past my draw length or hold a bow at full draw too long. Just treat them well and they will treat you well.
That's probably some form of survivorship bias: 20-30-40+ years ago, few people used anything but Osage and Yew, so there are just fewer older whitewood bows to go around. Anyone who did make them was usually an amateur, so they were probably of less consistent quality.
Of course. But if you were to take all the wooden bows in a 100 mile radius, and sort them by age, most of the older ones would be Osage or yew. I don't mean to say that whitewoods are a new phenomenon, I just mean that most commercially sold wooden bows before maybe 2000 weren't whitewoods.
@@wingit4316 there’s no such thing as commercially sold self bows. They’re not made from square cut boards that you buy from Home Depot and so they’ll never be commercially sold.
I would watch your channel that seems to have good and interesting information, but your voice is too quiet, and the Drone background music is very irritating - just saying!
Love all the results of your experiments you're showing to all of us. Helps widen the knowledge base to all us bow makers!! Thank you Thad!
Thanks Billy. You are welcome.
There is a video of testing primitive points on a deer. The so called bird points were by far the best deer slayers. Went through easiest and didn't break on ribs or hit ribs as often, and takes less poundage to penetrate etc. If this is true about what we call bird points, it might also be fair to think that a lot of what people consider large arrowheads are knives, spear or atl-atl points etc. Thanks for the priceless knowledge and great videos. All the best, Mike.
I’m sure I’ve watched this vid on ether primitive pathways channel or Hunt Primitives channel & as you’ve said bird points prove to be much more lethal
Absolutely love your videos, I have learned so much over the years from your videos starting with The video Full circle
Thank you
Man with the knowledge you guys have spread I made a bow that will put a field tip arrow into a refrigerator door thank you
That's wild
Love your videos with Mr. Shannon. Just recently found your TH-cam channel. I'm nearly 70 years old, and it's been 40 years since the last time that I regularly pulled the string on a fiberglass Fred Bear recurve bow. I am in the process of shedding a significant percentage of my current body's weight through eating the Carnivore way, and one of my hopes is to relearn how to shoot a low draw weight traditional hardwood stick bow as instinctively as I was able to do with a modern fiberglass bow all those many years ago.
*Anyhow, don't let the perennial naysayers get you down. Some of the greatest innovations and rediscoveries occur when a human being just attempts what he/she thinks might work without any knowledge of whether what they are attempting has any chance for success.*
Thanks man. I am 67 and Keith is 70. But he is really fit for 70. Keep on keeping on.
I've done sugar maple with awesome success. Fire harden sugar maple makes really light and fast shooting bow!! White wood bows are anything but 2nd rate wood. Love the vids!!!
I agree. Thanks for watching
I can't wait to watch more videos from you Mr. Beckum. I have a lot of admiration for you and Mr. Shannon regarding your skills making primitive bows and arrows.
Thank you very much
Look forward to more, Thad!
Love persimmons, seen a nice bow made from it at Cloverdale, in the early 90s.
Used a piece of dead limb from our tree in the yard for a bowdrill. Produced an ember, too.
Thanks,
Steve
Thank you.
I’m so happy I’ve watched this video , now I can make my bow in maybe a month rather than after 2 years of drying
Congratulations on your retirement. Love your primative stuff.
Hopefully more primative hunts with your bows and flintlock in the future.
Looking forward to your videos.
Learning a lot from them.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
Heck Yeah Thad! Your videos and style is still the best in Primitive Archery.
Thank you Dewey.
from a hornbeam branch that I wanted to throw away I created a 65 to 26 pound bow by cooking it for about an hour and a half on coals.
now shoots 57 gram arrows at almost 42 ms
with a power of over 48 joules
not bad for a waste branch.
I have to say that this system works.
Thanks for sharing your experiences
Thank you.
Great video Thad- I always look forward to seeing what you will share- thank you
You are welcome.
Absolutely awesome,I say make new forum call it Full Circle! Your digging in the roots of our ancestors,keep digging my friend sacred knowledge!
I will, thanks for watching
Really like what you guys have done here
I appreciate that, thanks.
Just learned a ton, thank ya sir
I want to try this with live oak. I live in north Florida and we have a good bit of live oak. Hard to find information on the quality of it as a bow wood. I read where the Thompson brothers thought highly of it. This video inspires you to not believe everything you hear. Very impressive. Thanks Thad!
and how did it go?
Love the video wish we had a place where new bow builder could go to buy hand me downs I started my bow adventure about two months ago I now have three bows all made from dog wood
Passion,I enjoyed watching you love what you are doing.
Thanks
Interesting Thad. I've done similar things with ash and elm....but I know for sure if I tried it with yew there would be checks. I also make glass bows and use a lot of fancy tropicals - a lot of these dense woods would also check if you got them above warm ;) I think this technique is a totally valid option for the 'whitewoods' but not for every wood.
Looking forward to your upcoming videos :)
Thanks Thad for taking the time to share your knowledge, look forward to more
Thanks again Rd.
Keep sharing the passion, very skilled!
Fire hardening is my choice to. I did not buy the dvd. I will some day. Fire hardening is the way i like. Thank you soooooo much Ted. The good spirits are with you.
Thank you Briand.
Always enjoy your videos Thad. I have learned tons from them. I would be interested in a video on tillering . I struggle at it.
May have to do that.
Great stuff, Thad. Thank you so much. Please keep this up! God Bless!
Thanks man.
@@BeckumOutdoors amazing!
Most guys will tell you to paint the ends and wait over a year... But I don't think the natives did any of that.. Do you think they seasoned their bow staves? And what did they coat the ends with, deer tallow fat??
Great video guy I'm learning so much thanks for making them
Thank you for watching
Cool, good to know! Thanks!
Thanks
Great video,that saves some time for sure
Thanks
Not sure how hi the temps get on a Chinese even diesel heater, but they work great and could be used for drying for sure, maybe even for hardening in the heat chamber was sealed good.
I got my wood meter in today, woo-hoo
Great video. I've watched a couple others in which you and Keith force dry and fire harden Hickory. And I've seen Clay Hayes do it with Elm and now you with Persimmon. I would love to use Persimmon, but we only have a few of them on our farm and they're too valuable for mast production. I heard you mention Sweet Gum. We have an abundance of Black Gum. I know they're not the same tree. But I would think that Black Gum would work if Persimmon and Sweet Gum work. Do you agree? Would I have to chase a ring with it or treat it as you did the Hickory? Thanks.
Let's make that bow
Coming soon
Looks like its hot . So i take it this can ben anytime of year . Even cutting the hickory tree.
Yes that's right. Deep South summer time. Humid and yes any time of the year.
I live in San diego. My tribe here used mainly elderberry an willow, I haven't had much luck. Have you ever tried using elderberry? The only other wood here that might be worth using is pacific dogwood. Or maybe a oak. If you have any suggestions it would be very helpful. Thank you
Sorry man, I really don't know about your local wood, but I have heard west coast tribal people using oak. Give it a try, nothing to lose only knowledge to gain.
@@BeckumOutdoors I appreciate it will definitely give it a try
I'm in England but have made a few bows from elder - sambucus nigra. It does make a good bow but try to find a clean piece with none of the knots clusters.
Elderberry and willow are good bow woods for certain designs. They're light and weak, and no good at all for modern western designs, but the natives made wide and low-stress bows. Lighter woods means that wide limbs and tips won't create hand shock or lower arrow speeds.
Pacific dogwood is a great bow wood. If Elm is a little brother to hickory, then Dogwood is its little sister. Oak is also an excellent bow wood, I'm also out of California. Try for white oak, but red oaks do fine too. Both are exceptional candidates for fire hardening, white oak is likely better than hickory.
For tension strong and compression weak woods like elm, dogwood, hickory, and oak, try to use saplings with a small diameter. The high crown will decrease compression strain and increase tension strain, matching the quality of the wood. 1.5in thick, tapering to 3/8in nocks
I’m pretty new here, I just wanted to ask, do you think you can fire harden a mulberry bow?
I know mulberry is pretty similar to Osage and some say it’s very close to yew…you think it could be fire hardened?
Yes, the time spent over the coals varies from species to species. Some testing on your end can tell this in short order. Thanks for watching.
@@BeckumOutdoors thank you very much for your reply, the second I can get a good stave of mulberry where I am I will begin the project.
Wont a dried Bow still revert back to the ambient Humidity of the Area ?
Thanks
Not if you fire harden the wood. Watch some of our other videos on the Fire Hardening process.
Have you ever tried this technique on black locus?
No, we don't have black locust here.
Wonder how this would work with pacific yew? Guess I’ll have to try it
I don't think it will be good with the conifers.
Yá'átééh....from the southwest united states...what species of wood 🪵 is that?
It is persimmon.
@@BeckumOutdoors oh ok... I've never heard of that kinda wood, but it looks like good quality 👌 thank u, áhéhéé
How do these fire hardened white wood bows hold up Over years/decades? I rarely see any bows 20-30-40+ years old still being shot with no string follow that aren’t Osage.
My bows have not changed any for years now. I hunt alot with long string times. But tiller skill still plays a big part with any wood bow. I take good care of my bows and do not over draw past my draw length or hold a bow at full draw too long. Just treat them well and they will treat you well.
That's probably some form of survivorship bias: 20-30-40+ years ago, few people used anything but Osage and Yew, so there are just fewer older whitewood bows to go around. Anyone who did make them was usually an amateur, so they were probably of less consistent quality.
@@wingit4316 huh? People have been using white woods for thousands of years.
Of course. But if you were to take all the wooden bows in a 100 mile radius, and sort them by age, most of the older ones would be Osage or yew. I don't mean to say that whitewoods are a new phenomenon, I just mean that most commercially sold wooden bows before maybe 2000 weren't whitewoods.
@@wingit4316 there’s no such thing as commercially sold self bows. They’re not made from square cut boards that you buy from Home Depot and so they’ll never be commercially sold.
I have the Elm I'm hoping it will work on the elm
It will work very well with elm.
Where can I get a copy of that DVD?
Shannon outdoors website
What happened to Your brother I don’t see videos from him
He is still kicking, just a little slower.
Do u sell any flakes of flint?
No buster, go to primitive pathways and get some flakes. Your moisture meter was a good buy.
@@BeckumOutdoors ok thanks
I would watch your channel that seems to have good and interesting information, but your voice is too quiet, and the Drone background music is very irritating - just saying!