Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: Craig on March 13, 2011, 07:03:00 PM
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A co-worker has a bow that his Uncle gave him. His uncle told him that he got it from a guy out in the state of Washington. Which that guy bought it from a guy in Alaska. The bow was supposed to be made from a whales jawbone. Has anyone heard of this being done. The bow is suppose to be really old. He is going to show me the bow on Thurs. If I can I will take some photo's and I will post them.
Craig
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Interesting...will enjoy the pics for sure.
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My family history comes from New Bedford, Ma. They were all in the whaling industry, we have tons of stuff made from whalebone and teeth from spears, arrowheads, forks and knives to a full umbrella dressed with whale skin leather.
Love to see the bow, whale bone definitely yellows with age.
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Google "baleen bow" and you will be on track.
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I will keep everyone posted
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I know that in the days of commercial whaling, baleen was referred to as "whalebone". could be what your talking about.
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I was thinking baleen as well !My cousin lives in AK and has a large "piece" of baleen hanging on the wall. It is supposed to be very valuble and used in many differant ways . as a sovineer hunter you can find little baskets 4" wide 3" deep woven from baleen and they are very expensive 300.00 and up if I remember correctly. It would not surprise me to see a bow made from it.
Dean
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here are some photo's. The bow is made out of one piece, no lamminations.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/006-1-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/005-1-2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/010-3.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/007-1-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/003-3-1.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/004-2.jpg
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v462/Cbireley/001-5-1.jpg)
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Well,that does not look like baleen to me,baleen is dark. Is the entire bow made from the jawbone? I don't know what it is but it is pretty sweet looking.
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It's made from one piece. It looks like it could of been made from bone, but I'm not an expert on old bows. The guy that has it said his uncle gave it to him 50 years ago. He doesn't know how long his uncle had it and also his uncle bought it used from another guy.
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That looks pretty cool. I was doing a search to see if anyone has ever used whale bone for limb tips, this gives me hope! Thanks for sharing
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that bow is build out of a type of plastic not baleen.Baleen has lots of different colors to it mostly darker gray black-ish to an almost soft white in some spots.However the real good baleen for bow building is the darker color thicker stuff bd
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really cool!!can't see that being made with any Baleen :dunno: all one piece of bone ?
How does it flex ? definately a conversation piece .
Dean
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What ever it's made from it's all one piece. Doesn't look like plastic. It does look like bone. I told the guy don't string it.
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It is fiberglass from the late 40's to the very early 50's. It may be from Indain Archery , I had one at one time and traded it of.If you do string it give it over night before you pull it back. Make some short draws first and check the glass for spliters, and any noises. Then if it looks ok you might try it.
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I don't beleave 100% bone would flex enough.But trust me guys that bow is made of an early plastic resin.I have one in my shop almost like it mine is a bit greener tone.Check the auction sight they come up for sale about once a week.I just came across this resin bow.They came in all shapes sizes and colors 150581595129 bd
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I've been looking at bows a long time and I don't recognize that as wood, fiberglass, baleen, or anything. To me, it looks like it could be bone. But, I would believe that bone would not be likely to bend reliably and repeatably-as required to make a bow, and old bone would fracture when it dried and then flexed. Mysterious, and pretty neat. I hope you follow up and tell us what you learn.
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It's difficult to determine the material from photos, but I'd think it'd take only a second to do so hands on. Baleen it's not. Bone is porous and poorly adapted for a selfbow [of one material].
The bow looks production plastic/fiberglass to me as well. The brush guards suggest a midwestern influence and probably late 50s/60s. The tennis wrap handle was common on wooden production lemonwood and hickory bows [York, Indian, Pearson, etc.] of that era as well as the stripped trim on the handle wrap. The shape appears molded not whittled out.
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When you look at the bow it doesn't look like it was molded. On the nock ends and rest you can see cut marks from being shaped. I need to see if the guy would let me show it to someone that knows a lot about old bows. Maybe I can get it up to ETAR this July.
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Molded....."to form into a particular shape; give shape to"....like from a 3"X3"X60" block of plastic resin, fiberglass, lemonwood or hickory. Thousands of early wooden and plastic bows were "molded" under this definition.
Look closely at an early hickory Pearson flat bow and the first thing you notice is the violation of grow rings on the back. No attempt to follow a growth ring, just sawn into a rough form and finished up.
The billet was sawn into a rough form of the bow design; cleaned up with files, sanding, etc., and final finishing. The plastic/fiberglass bows weren't highly finished.
A couple of things noted. First, you have apparently made up your mind this bow is whale bone. It might very well be and you could easily have determined that with a little effort, but choose to post it here using only "hear say" to valid your position.
The easiest method to valid or prove existence or authenticity is attempt to dis-prove it. That's the best method in dealing with history IMO. The reason is certain things cannot be easily validated or proven. If you cannot "dis-credit" the item or issue, it lends weight to it being authentic, even when it cannot be validated. Kinda' like that old "shell game." If you raise two of the shells and the pea is absent...the pea must be under the remaining shell. :)
If the bow turns out to be from whale bone, its pretty rare, if not.......you should have been able to figure that on your own.
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Thanks for all the info.
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The guy wants to sell this bow.Any one know what it could be worth. I told him I don't know what it's worth. He said he would take $100.00 What do you guys think?
Thanks, Craig
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Pretty sure its fiberglass.
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The paul Bunyon bows are also fiber glass-Looks a lot like the one you have pictured here.
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I agree Paul Bunyan bow from the 50's
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1956 Indian Archery, Hunting Bow #26B. (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/archery453.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/archery454.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/archery456.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/archery455.jpg)
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Nice work Larry, looks pretty close!
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oh yeah Larry your johnny on the spot today nice work bd