Are Huntsman Bows still making them?

[Ben Kleinig]

G'day,

Does anybody know if Mark Kimber (I think that's the name) is still making his famous take-down Huntsman recurves?

Cheers,

Ben

[Luke]

I have heard that he is no longer taking new orders.

I've not been told 'from the horses' mouth however.

:confused:

[Kimall]

No mate I dont think so.
Cheers KIM

[Jeffro]

I am next on the list and have been waiting 18 months now.The original waiting time was 12 months,I spoke to him a few days ago but the production was slowed right down by Mark cause he had more pressing issues.
There is a possibility he will be able to speed up the production of them by a little but its not happening at this point.

Ben I think if you manage to get him to take an order for one your wait will be very long.

Jeff

[Poppy]

Hi Ben, What Jeffro said about sums it up. I waited for over a year then Mark offered me a deposit refund or another possiable wait of the same time.
Pity, he lives not to far from me ( could of seen it in the making).
BTW I'm enjoying the DVDs, thanks again.
Paul

[Ben Kleinig]

Thanks All!

It was really good to see an Aussie-made take-down recurve to rival the various Yank breeds. Oh, well...

I have a Schafer Silvertip take-down recurve on order with Dave Windauer (he and his wife are excellent people to deal with), and the wait is reasonablly long for that, but it should be here next April.

I'm glad you're liking those films, Paul, they're inspiring!

Ben

[Jeffro]

What specs and timbers are you getting on the schafer Ben?
I would have chosen one of those aswell if I was to buy another US bow,they look great and seem very popular.
Apparently you cant have a FF compatible bow unless its got a dymonwood riser.You would think that a good solid hardwood riser would be sufficient .


Jeff

[Glenn]

I have never been able to come to terms with some of the claims about bows shooting FF strings using phenolic limb tip overlays and whatever, you can easily shoot ff strings on selfbows with no tip overlays or anything else as long as the string loops are padded or built up with extra strands. A ff string will never break a bow but a badly made string of any material will break a bow.
In the 90's I use to import bows from the USA and the first thing I use to do when a shipment arrived was to throw the dacron strings away and make new ff flight strings with padded loops. The bowyer nearly had a fit when I told him what I had been doing as he claimed his bows were not made for fast flite, but he was very happy when he realised that none of his hows had ever failed...Glenn...

[Jeffro]

Glenn ,i've used it on several bows with wooden tip overlays and no phenolic etc and also had no problem.
The schafer bows though are only sold as a FF bow if they have the dymondwood riser and I believe antler tips.
What is the difference between dymondwood and actionwood does anyone know?
My bob lee handle is called durawood and its an actual piece of timber(ash) with resin impregnated in it.Its fairly heavy stuff .

[outback preditor]

glad i got my huntsman when i did. ill be keeping it close.:)

[Glenn]

I am not sure what the difference is but I have always thought that durawood and dymondwood are names for the same process made by different companies, but I might be wrong, actiowood is timber laminated together...Glenn...

[Jeffro]

Pedro ill be keeping mine close too mate.It shouldn,t be too much longer now I hope


Hey how come you never use it

[Ben Kleinig]

Yeah, I went with the FF option; walnut dymondwood riser, Russion Olive limb veneers (over the actionwood), and 80@28, give or take a couple. I can't wait to put it to good use!

[Glenn]

I am sure you will like your Shafer recurve Ben, Paul Shafer was an outstanding bowhunter and shot with a recurve, and a standout bowyer, it was a pity he died so young but I am sure the tradition lives on in his bows...Glenn...

[Paul R]

The schafer bows though are only sold as a FF bow if they have the dymondwood riser and I believe antler tips.


It sounds like a convenient way of making more money by telling customers that they must have Dymondwood in the riser and antler overlays on the tips if they want to use FF. I agree Glenn, it's a load of rubbish, but most customers are going to trust the bowyer and because few would buy a custom made bow that couldn't use FF these days, most will spend the extra money and get the Dymondwood riser and antler tip overlays.

What is the difference between dymondwood and actionwood does anyone know?

As Glenn said Jeff, Actionwood is laminations of Rock Maple.
Dymondwood is actionwood which has been impregnated with resin(phenolic) and coloured. This makes it stronger, heavier and more durable. It isn't affected by temperature changes and if the finish is compromised it's not affected by moisture. There are several names for the same product, I've got some in the riser of my Border longbow and Sid calls it Heritage Cocobolo.

[Jeffro]

Paul actionwood is different mate because my riser is not laminated but its called durawood .which according to Glenn is the same as dymondwood.
Also its not rock maple its Ash.
Phenolic - I was told by another prominent longbow maker is made from newspaper compressed and impregnated with resin but having just googled it it seems its a general term for a procedure using phenolic resins and could contain a range of things inside it
Micarta and tuffnel also used for tip overlays are insulating materials for electrical purposes and have different materials inside such as canvas,carbon fibres and glass fibres,and can be made with phenolic resin amongst other things

[Ben Kleinig]

That bit about antler tips being compulsory for fastflite is totally wrong. Antler tips are simply an option for any bow they make. My bow isn't having antler tips.

Anyway, there're so many marvellous bowyers out there, I'm sure that each traditional bowhunter could find at least several that suit his requirements. Dave Windauer's various Schafer Silvertip options suit me just fine.

[Paul R]

It definately sounds like a beautiful bow you've ordered Ben.

Jeff I don't know what Durawood is, I did find this though:

An advanced composite of wood fiber and recycled plastic (65% wood/natural fiber and 35% recycled polyethylene), Durawood Composite products, like those of Durawood HDPE, are more durable than wood. Composite requires less regular maintenance than traditional wood decking systems, is moisture-proof, and will not rot or splinter.

I'm not sure if that is the same durawood that your riser is made out of.
Dymondwood is definately laminated, resin impregnated hardwood.
This is from a woodworking website:
"Dymondwood," ® is a state of the art composite wood product that is created from an impregnation and laminating process. One-sixteenth inch thick selected hardwood veneers are vacuum impregnated with special dyes and engineering grade phenolic resins. These veneer sheets are then layered and pressed under tremendous heat and pressure. the resulting product is a totally homogenous material with appealing visual properties. Only the finest hardwoods are used in making "Dymondwood," and the impregnation and lamination process give "Dymondwood" products a durable, furniture-grade finish.

I thought that this sounded like an interesting product:

AcryliWood™ is resin stabilized wood made from burl and spalted woods. We stock primarily North American species. AcryliWood stabilized wood is made with our proprietary stabilization process. The resin stabilizes the wood, adds contrast to the the grain, and improves turning properties of burls and spalted woods.


There are a lot of interesting products out there to use for making bows.:)