Not staked through the heart or anything

[andygates]

Finally got around  to stringing and test-drawing the recurve bow I got on ebay a while back.  It's mid-1970s (a Marksman TS4, apparently designed for the UK Olympic squad and everything) and a wood-and-fibreglass laminate so there's plenty of layers to fail and stuff to crack, go brittle with age or delaminate.  It's only a couple of years younger than I am.

The man in Quick's would only sell me a string and stringer.  Said it wasn't fair, selling me arrows when it was going to explode. I ought to wear a t-shirt that says "safety warnings only encourage me" really...

Stringing was exciting, in a "mild peril" sort of way: goggles, gloves, heavy clothing, ninja face scarf, and silence.  Will it creak?  Crack?  Kerblooey?  Amazingly not, so on to stage two: leave it for an hour and see if it just erupts.   After a couple of rounds of this it had failed to kill the cat or break the TV, so it was time to see if it will draw.   First to a couple of inches... yay.  Quarter-draw?  Yay.  Half?  More yay.  Time to inspect the limbs and check for delamination or cracking again.  All sleek and smooth... so three-quarter and full-draw.

By crikey, it works.  In fact it felt good, solid and not overpowered (about 40lbs at 25"). 

Time to buy some arrows, I suppose.  Any recommendations?

Comments

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

The Marksman is a good bow. They were well made.

Get some cheap arrows. You'll bend loads while you're learning. Make sure you get the bow weighed for your draw length and buy the right arrows to suit. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. At least if you want to hit anything consistently.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Yup, will do. I've measured the draw-length at 25", so I'll get 'em to weigh it at that.

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

My god, but it's a beautiful bow!

Aww, you're going to BUY arrows? I had it in my head that you'd do your own fletching... :(

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Been there, done that... for LRP I was the arrowmeister. In about '93 there was a flurry of parallel arrow evolution as many groups all tried to do archery safely. We all ended up with the same design, a POC shaft (as used by re-enactors), a head with a 2" flat soft foam face and tapering firm-foam cone body in which the blunt shaft-end was stopped by a disc of leather or denim, lightly latexed over, and fletchings to suit your character. Many hours have I spent cutting feathers to length and getting stoned around a fletching jig.

While great fun, they're slow, expensive and unreliable. This time around I'm gonna buy some!

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Pretty bow. Made me ponder how long it's been since I've shot mine -- and it's been at least 16 years. Last time was in the archery club in my college, in a building that was torn down before I graduated. Gah.

[ehutch.livejournal.com]

Lazy draw... get your elbow back. bow cute tho'

[andygates.livejournal.com]

You know, on bike forums when someone posts a pic of a fixie, someone is obliged to say "the chain looks slack" no matter what it actually is. I think "bad draw" might be the archery equivalent. :)

You're not wrong though. Been a while. Better get that right before I declare my draw length, eh?