Trad Gang

OK guys....getcher minds outta the gutter!   :biglaugh:  

I've had this happen once to often:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/ouch.jpg)

You can see how the web of my hand is about even, even sticking a little above, the shelf. Make me a little gun shy so to speak. I had to consciously rearrange my grip every shot or it's band-aid time again. That little sucker really bleeds too don't it? The palm swell just wasn't workin' for me right.

So I whipped out the Dremel and sandpaper and had at the grip. I'll post pics and my reasons for doing so later on if you'd like to see the end results. Still have to poly it then wrap the grip.

I wasn't worried about the warranty-I wouldn't expect Bill to be responsible for my decision. I'm OK with that. And I've done nothing to jeopardize the integrity of the structure, so I don't expect it to blow up on me.
I don't intend to sell this bow in the future, it is MY bow, as such I want it to fit ME.
I am happy with the results, and that's all that matters to me.

Just wanted to see how many out there, and I'm talkin' to the guys who don't build their own, would do/has done the same to their custom bows.

i've lowered the shelf on my bob lee. i'm convinced it is easier to point now.

I haven't had that exact problem with my hand but I have taken a rasp to quite a few handles to fine tune them to my hand,assuming there was enough wood there.I don't mess with the thinner throat area though.

The grip is where you join the bow and the bow joins you.I feel that a grip that fits me well is truly what makes it my bow.

Here's the original contour:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/griporiginal.jpg)

And how it fit my hand:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/opengrip2.jpg)
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/grip2.jpg)
You can see the web of my hand peeking up over the shelf in the second pic. The swell of the grip hit right under the ball of my thumb, pushing my hand up higher on the grip. I could not get a satisfactory repeatable grip, always had to realign everything, or else OUCH!

After the Dremel and sandpaper:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/end.jpg)

I took off the upper part of the swell where it would be under my thumb, now the swell sits in my palm. Like this:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/opengripend.jpg)
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/gripend.jpg)
My hand is still a little open in this picture, but that's from trying to twist my hand around so I could take this picture with my other hand.

(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/reargrip.jpg)
Notice how the web of my hand now sits a little lower, my hand is not being forced up by the swell now.
It fits my hand now like it was made for it.
Hey....waitaminnit.....it was!   :D  

Now to poly it up and find a nice piece of leather to wrap the grip with.

With wood that nice looking why would you want to cover it for?

Sal,
depends of what leather I can find, gotta make a trip to Tandy's. I thought of not covering it for the very reason you state, but the leather should offer a little insulation from that bare wood and maybe a little less slippery grip.

Sal,
depends of what leather I can find, gotta make a trip to Tandy's. I thought of not covering it for the very reason you state, but the leather should offer a little insulation from that bare wood and maybe a little less slippery grip. Besides, I think the right leather and lacing can add to the looks.

~Dang!~ Excuse the double post.
Mentioning wrapping and lacing-I saw a video a while back on that. Before I ever expected to do this.
Think I can find it now? HAH!   :help:  
It's not in the How-to's on here, don't remember where it was I saw it. Ticks me off 'cause I usually download things like that. If I did, and I bet I did, I can't find where I hid it.   :banghead:      :banghead:    :banghead:

Wouldn't it have been easier to use a thicker rug rest or to put a matchstick or  small wooden ridge on the shelf under your rug rest?

Or you could have wrapped some serving string around the riser just below the shelf -- just enough to make a positive upwards stop to lower your hand just that little bit needed to give fletching clearance.

I have a Mikuta longbow that the grip just wasn't to my likeing. Totally changed it and now its much better. I have small hands and many grips just don't work for me. It's your bow it should fit you!

Have done it on a few occasions after buying used bows that don't fit my fairly small hands. If the grip does not fit well, I will not shoot it well, consistently.

You did a good job working the wood. Blend back to perfection w/no harm of the grip by any means if you like it.

Well, if the grip bothered you from a comfort standpoint, then you did right to alter it.

Honestly, I try to get my hand up where you show yours in the first pictures on purpose.  Just helps me feel the shot or point the bow better being closer to the arrow.

If the grip was comfortable but it was just that you were getting cut by your feathers, then I'd have looked to the arrows not the bow.  You might have been able to just clean up the leading edge of your fletch and fixed the problem.  

I use a sharp knife to skive a bevel on the front of the quill then put a drop of duco cement on it and let it dry.  You can slide your fingers down the shaft and they just glide up over the front edge of the fletch.  You should be able to shoot a smoothly tapered fletch off your knuckle and not get cut.

The exception is maybe wild turkey fletch as it is stiffer than domestic and the feather itself can (over time and multiple shots) cause the same problem.

By the way, beautiful bow.  I love that bacote.  Any idea on what finish you are going to use to touch it back up?

It works, I have used hockey tape for a grip and with my oldest son I wrapped a thin strip multiple times below the shelf so he wouldn't high grip the bow it did work for him.

Nice job customizing your riser!  Me? I'm not that brave.  I'll sell it and but another.

I had the same problem. Now I shoot cock feather in, no more cut hand.

Duane

When I had a similar problem (the scars are fading now) I just built up the shelf a little bit, just enough to keep the fletching from touching. My Torges bow is like that too, but I won't alter it! It will stay the way Dean made it. I shoot it like Duane, cock feather in.

Hell, thats the only way my bows can draw blood!

Dave makes a good point about smoothing the leading edge of your fletchings...there's no scenario where that sharp edge helps you out.

Yes, I've reworked the grip on a longbow and two recurves.  I radiused and narrowed the shelf on my Bear recurve, radiused and narrowed the shelf on a Brownign Wasp and completely rebuilt the grip on my Seven Lakes longbow.

It's my bow!  I don't buy 'em for resale value...

Yes I've done it.

had the same prob with mt G.P did the same as you ."if it dont fit fix it"

Couple of ya mentioned building up a stop to keep my hand from rising up. Thought of that too, but the way the swell was hitting right under the ball of my thumb (as ya can see in the pics) it was also rotating the bow in the vertical and preventing me from a good grip-spread my hand open more than I liked. I'm not gorilla gripping the bow, I hold it fairly relaxed, and with the swell sitting where it was I could never get a repeatable grip-even if there was a stop installed I woulda hadda reposition my hand each shot.

Thanks for all the feedback, didn't want to think I was some kinda maniac for doing surgery on a custom bow. The original grip may have been fantastic for another owner, just didn't fit my hand. And I have a tendency to monkey with stuff if I feel it will perform nicer/faster/better/.....ya get the idea.   :D  

I feel like some others have stated - It's MY bow, I love it, but.....it can be "better" to MY point of view. At least "better" to ME.   :archer:

Hey,Its your bow ,make it work the way you want it to.....I have no qualms about taking power tools to my bows if they need it .....

Mike,
LW. But I am planning on refletching all my arrows once I get stuff together. Rebuilding my "stuff" after a loooooonnngg time off. I always see the fletching glued on with this big quill material sticking up. I used to, back in the day, sand that down to almost nothing prior to gluing them on. Sat flat on the arrow and wasn't stickin' up in the breeze ready to slash yer hand. Not to mention they weren't as prone to be ripped off hitting a twig or something, and I thought they flew a tad quieter too. Getting things together as I can. Feathers don't grow on trees ya know!    :biglaugh:

I've got a BBO from a Dryad Hunter and I had the same problem of cutting my hand with the fletching.  Like was mentioned above, turned the cock feather and no more problems. Arrows still fly great.

I had that problem when I shot R wing feathers..PR

***UPDATE***

Found a local ARCHERY shop this weekend...FINALLY!
Of course mainly wheelies, but Jeff (the owner) said how he was trying to get together a group of trad shooters.
Told him about all the great guys in here, and how there may be someone in this area that is a member in here who would like to know.
So Howdy Jeff if yer visiting.

That isn't the update though. But it is part of it.

Here's what I'm gonna wrap the grip with:
(http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/alligator.jpg)
It's alligator skin, I'm going to lace it with some ivory lacing.   :thumbsup:    

Right now the grip is sprayed with some satin poly and is hanging up to dry.

The part of the update concerning the shop was Jeff let me use his indoor range and I got to shoot a couple dozen shots before my hand started sweating up. Hadn't poly'ed it yet so quit shooting. But I was putting 5 out of 6 center of the target from 15 yds. consistently. The 6th may have been just outside the ring, but it was still out.
No...I ain't Robin Hood, but that change I made to the grip has made a WORLD of difference. My grip is more natural to me now, and I don't have to shift my hand around to get the right grip. It has really tightened up my grouping, and the bow just feels more a part of my hand now.  :archer:

Can't wait to see that alligator on there.   :D

If anyone is interested in Jeff's trad club pm me and I'll give ya contact info.
I invited him to become a sponsor....so who knows.

That leather is actually ostrich.Those are quill bumps that alligators don't have.It is good stuff though and tough.

I should have said,also,that 3 Rivers has a short video on doing the leather wrap.Look where they sell the leather for that purpose.It's a good little video.

The bow in the middle has a grip that I modified to be more like the longbow on the bottom.
In the meantime I modified the top bow too.
(http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q291/bjornweb/DSCN0887.jpg)

Jim...
now ya got me wondering. I coulda sworn that I cut that piece off a larger scrap that had scales. It was a tangled mess so maybe it was ostrich after all. Box was marked "alligator", just went along with what it told me. Either way it was what I was looking for.
Yeah...right after I posted last night I thought about 3Rivers. That was the one I was trying to find again. Thanks for reminding me. There are a lot of good videos on their site

Take a look in the 'how to' section right here on this site for instructions on leather grips.

Yes I have done the same thing.  I have also found that nock height, feather type (left or right wing), and spine effects arrow to hand contact. I always take sandpaper to my feathers, on the leading edge, when they are in the jig. Then I put a drop of glue. No more digging quills outa my hand.  If the grip fits and you don't cut your hand anymore then you did the right thing.

Well, got it on. Would have liked to have gotten it a little tighter, it wouldn't stretch much. (JimB I'm pretty sure this IS alligator after all. Either that or the ostrich it came from had a TERRIBLE skin condition!    :scared:    ) But it's snug enough and feels pretty good when I grip it, which is all I'm asking. Had to use a black lacing instead of the ivory tone I was planning-it was too thick.
 (http://www.pcpics.net/pictures/laced1.jpg)
May re-do it later on now that I've had a first shot at it.

I gave the grip two coats of satin poly, giving it a day between coats to dry. I never even had to steel wool it to blend the finishes, they blended perfectly on their own.

This was a pretty good learning experience for me. Making the change to the grip has made an automatic improvement in my grouping. I tried a set of three snap shots-starting with my bow pointing down come up to draw and fire all in one movement-no holding-and was able to put all three inside a small pie plate from 15 yds.
It is NOT that I'm a dead shot-some days I hit pretty much everywhere EXCEPT where I'm aiming-but it was quite a noticeably different shooting experience with the new grip. But then that was also because I was shooting with the OLD grip.
~*Hmmmm....maybe I AM a dead shot after all!*~   :eek:      :thumbsup:    
Like I said, while for someone else the original grip might have been perfect, one size doesn't really fit all.
So for anyone else thinking of trying this, but are fearful of harming their bows-it's not brain surgery, ya can do it. Just take a little off at a time, you can always take more off, just don't try taking a lot off all at once. Ya can't put it back on if ya went too far-tiny bites.

Not because of hand placement, but due to practicing in the Ghillie suit, and the bow string catching on part of the suit.   :D  

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/BOFF/web/100_5425.jpg)


God Bless,
David B.

OOoooowwwwwww!

OK BOFF...getcher butt over here and pry my toes apart. They're curled so tightly now I could crack walnuts with 'em!

BTW...whutduya use to haul those big brass ones through the woods?

Leaving that in while ya get the camera out!

I have stuck feathers in my hand too! Reshaping the grip was a good thing to do. I personally would have sent it back to the bowyer for the modifications, but you seem to have done a nice job yourself.

Allan

I wear a glove on my bow hand.

So much for wise a$$ comments. I got a new bow today in the mail; and first shot- got my hand.
I did it about 5 times more; and noticed the arrows were porpoising a little; so I raised the string nock and - no more hitting the hand; and excellent arrow flight.
  no. I was not wearing a glove.    :mad:    :rolleyes:    

I reshaped the grip on a Moosejaw Elite that had way too much palm swell for me - fits much better now. On the leather wrap redo, depending on how stiff the leather is, it might help to soak in water and pre-stretch and let dry before gluing and stitching.