Bow perches-what to cover with?

[Sighthound]

Managed to pick up a couple of bow perches at a reasonable price.
They were covered with astro-turf, I removed this because it was quite dirty.
Whats the best material to use to cover it again?

Astro-turf?
Rope?
Rubber?
Bike tyre

Any other suggestions and whats the best way to attach ie cable ties etc?

[ColdZero]

cleaning the astro turf is a cheaper option lol. I think rubber is best, its so easy to clean. But astro turf is good and cheap, probably easier to attach if thats an issue.

[Sighthound]

lol....no the astro-turf was VERY dirty.
Quite fancy the rubber (for the perch you understand) does anyone know where it can be bought?

[ColdZero]

not a clue, i'd go for astroturf if i were you then. Much easier to attach etc.

[Claire]

some people use car mats as rubber to cover bow perches different mats have different textures, at the centre i help at we usually use astroturf but do sometimes use rubber

[Goldie]

An old tyre off a bicycle would be ideal. if the tyre is off a big enough wheel you will get 3 or 4 out of it. The bonus is the fact the shape is already made for you.

[Coedhirion]

Rubber is great and easy to clean, but watch out in the sunshine!!! it gets very hot. I wont use my rubber ones in summer without either a leather or astro cover over!!

[Varmint]

I have used rubber ones from Crown for over 10 yrs now and they are great! but i never had the heat problem?

Bike tyres as Goldie says are very good for your purpose! just dont choose the knobbly ones cus the ring will jam when slipping over them!

[Jack Merlin]

Hi Varmint,

I meant to ask you about your bow perches when I got the conducted tour. Isn't the curve a bit steep? I always worry about the ring not sliding from end to end.

Cut myself a nice hazel pole of Loch Ness side yesterday which will be steam bent and made in the traditional maner. I have always done this. Don't use padding. And don't pay money!<vbg>

For gos perches, I find them (2" diameter) very hard to bend even after a couple of hours steaming, so I put a ratchet strap on them before I put on the ring and wire! THAT bends the b*gg*r!!!

(Yes, I also use welders gloves -- scrounged, not bought -- make my own bells and swivels, and use a dead pigeon as a lure!<g> BTW, if you buy welders gloves in Inverness, don't buy from HIS. All the "pairs" are only right handers....<vbg>).

[Sharpster]

i,d like to cover one of the perches in my hawks pen,with astroturf.but where can you get the good/stiffer bristled/stuff from?as opposed tothe soft matting/greengrocer/stuff!
bearing in mind i dont need to buy yards of the stuff!
?????

[OutOnAWing]

try a diy store,look under doormats.there usually about £7

[Will]

I must be far too mean, poundstretcher doormats, £2.99! :oops:

[The Late Lord Lucan]

but where can you get the good/stiffer bristled/stuff from?

See if you can find someone or a company local that does 'sports' surfaces.
I stopped a guy outside a newsagents because his van advertised this sort of stuff.
I got an 'off-cut' for a tenner.
The 'off-cut' was one meter wide and about 25 meters long!
I have been using a piece for about 5 years now. When I jetwash it, it comes up like new.

Regards,
Lucky.

[OutOnAWing]

some people hav all the luck!!!! :D

[Spudy]

with my dad being a metal fabrication engineer i was going to weld up a few perches and cover them with different stuff bound leather,rope,rubber and astro turf then let my male harris choose himself lol.
the rest i was going to put on ebay cheep....
(im a computer engineer he's a metal fabricator i know how just dont do!!!)

[Coedhirion]

See if you can find someone or a company local that does 'sports' surfaces.
That's great, trouble is we don't have anything but grass around here, we dont even get 'sports surfaces', let alone 'local' If you bump in to the guy again I could do with a little off cut too :mrgreen: . Westweald sells it if you want bigger than door mat size, but its more money than Asda or Poundstretcher.

[Varmint]

Jack Merlin, My Bow perches are made by Crown Falconry and as i have said i have used them for over 10 years without a single inccident?

I know that Crown sell around 4-500 a year and many other manufacturers copied their shape and padding idea, cus it works.

The ring pulls over fine, the rubber is very cleanable, i never have to worry that they will still be there when i return to them, i can leave them out in all weathers and as they area stainless steel they wont rust, but they did cost about £60 each at the time?

I dont have the time nor the inclination to cut and make hazel bow's so they suite my life style, and as i am a commercial i can off set the amount paid for them against my tax bill, so everyone is happy!

I have to transfer my Bows to go to shows ect and they are more practical an asthetically pleasing than home made ones and finally having weighted feet they can be positioned on either a flat surface or grass with equal ease.

I used to make everything i used when i first started, i now make very little for the simple reason that i dont have to and there are better products on the market than i could ever make anyway!

Were i in your position? i think i would prob still use what i have. :wink:

[Jack Merlin]

tax

Wazzat???<g>

[Sharpster]

thanx for the astroturf advice guys,cheers

[Varmint]

Well Jack, i hope you are the richest guy in the morgue! :lol: :lol:

When you do manage to breed Gos's, i take it you'll be giving them away FOC because of the overall expense in keeping them?

I'll take one large male Please, but you dont have to deliver if it's inconvenient? :lol: :lol:

[Jack Merlin]

I just enjoy doing my falconry on a shoe string so I don't have to do other things I don't enjoy to make money to pay for it!<g>.

£60 is a lot of money to me, especially when I don't like the shape and I can cut something that is aesthetically better (to me) out of a hedge.

Each to his own. One reason I enjoy falconry is because it isn't a competition and I'm not out to impress anyone.

[Sean]

jack do you sell these bow perches you make?

[Jack Merlin]

Sean, you are kidding, right?

[Sean]

nope, just wondering the price, traditional is best eh :P

[Spudy]

make your own sean thats what i think jm means by your kidding lol

if you dont know how then ask him im sure he would give the sizes and how he does it to you mate...spud

[Sean]

id love to make my own, and be able to turn round and say to myself 'i did that'lol if u know what i mean. theres hazel trees about half a mile form me too lol. but i dont know how to the get shape and how to steam them. steam them with what? only steam i see is out the kettle when im making a cuppa lol

[Spudy]

my last attempt at steaming wood wasent for a perch but what i did was use an old lenth of plastic drain pipe capped the top then just kept boiling one of those old camping kettels over a fire the whistleing type with the pipe connected by a lenth of hose(just keep an eye on the kettel and dont let it boil dry mate just kept doing that over a few days allowing it to cool and bending the wood slightly to soften it up made a lovely double flip kickdeck mate and its still going well now ten years on mate lol...spud
yes im nearly thirty and still skate(can do some nifty little tricks too lol :evil:

[Kevin Massey]

i,d like to cover one of the perches in my hawks pen,with astroturf.but where can you get the good/stiffer bristled/stuff from?as opposed tothe soft matting/greengrocer/stuff!
bearing in mind i dont need to buy yards of the stuff!
?????

i may have a little that you can have there m8y.........as long as it aint too much that is :lol: :wink:

kev

[Jack Merlin]

OK, Sean, I guess I come from a different age! When I was your age we used to scrounge second hand nails, straighten them with a stone, then use a stone to bash them in! To make a catapult, we'd cut a fork out of a hazel bush, buy 1/4 inch catapult rubber from the sports shop, then nick the tongue out of an old shoe to make the pouch. Deadly, too. Ban air rifles? I've taken the head clean off a pigeon with a catapult and David killed Goliath with something not much more powerful.

You don't say what bird you want your perch for but a staff about 1" in diameter is suitable for a sparrowhawk. I use around 2 inches for my gosses. For the last, you need to steam bend it.

Steam as described by Spudy. I haven't got a pipe so I roll a sheet of corrugated iron lengthways and tie it with wire so it is a U shaped channel. Anything will do so long as you can direct the steam to where you want it. Even old sacks will do that.

Suspend your staff in the steam. I use the dog boiler to make steam but any can (5 gallon oil tin?) over a fire will boil water!

To bend a 2 inch thick hazel staff takes some force, even when it has been steamed for a few hours. Use your intelligence to solve this problem. I use a ratchet strap.

Hook the loops on the end of the strap (or tie it) onto each end of the staff, then tighten up. Don't forget to put your ring on first! (Yachting centres sell beautifu stainless steel ones!). Then you need a bow string of strong fencing wire. Put a couple of staples in to keep it from sliding.

Then all you need do is dig the two ends of the "bow" into the ground. As an added precaution, make a couple of large staples out of another piece of fencing wire by bending it double. Knock these into the ground to secure the "bow string".

You should now have a very good perch. The perch should have the same gentle curve of a long bow so the hawk can easily drag the ring across the bow from end to end. This is the only perch I know of that is virtually 100% tangle proof. And it cost you nothing and you made it yourself! You also have the satisfaction of carrying on a tradition that has been alive in this country for nearly 2,000 years.

[Sean]

have you any diagrams or pictures? sorry i still dont totally understand

[Jack Merlin]

OK, let's see if we can simplify this!

Cut a nice straight hazel rod out of the hedge, the correct diameter for your hawk, and (say) six foot long.

Twist a piece of strong wire onto it, about a foot from the end.

Tighten the wire so the rod bends to form a gentle ark (like a bow, as in bow and arrow).

Put a ring on the staff.

Tighten the wire and twist it onto the other end leaving about a foot beyond where it is attached.

You now have a "bow", as in bow and arrow, but with a wire where you would normally have the string.

Stick the two ends into the ground and you have your perch.

Got it? If not, which bit didn't you understand?

[Sean]

ok now i understand that bit thanks lol, and what about teh steam and the pole/corrygated iron?
also does it matter what time of year you take the branch? my dad makes wading sticks for himself and friends and he only cuts branches in winter and dont touch em till theve been in teh roofspace for a year. sorry to pesture you lol , really appreciate tho

[Jack Merlin]

A wise man once said, the best time to cut a good stick is when you see it (because otherwise someone else will beat you to it!).

You COULD dry your hazel staff - but I'll bet you will find it even more difficult to bend! Ask your dad.

The bit about the corrugated iron is how I made a steamer without a steel pipe. I was attempting to explain that you can use anything to make a steamer so long as it allows you to keep the staff in the steam. It is the heat and the dampness that makes the wood pliable so you can bend it. Some make a wooden box and direct steam into that. It really doesn't matter so long as it works.

[Sean]

ok so now i undertsand the steaming bit too. so lets see if i have this..
1.chop a hazel branch roughly 6ft and 2 inches wide
2.wrap some fenching wire a foot from one end
3.add a steel ring from a boat shop
4.bend it and attach the wire a foot from the other end
5.steam it whatever way I can

is that correct? or do i steam before i bend lol?
thanks :)

[Spudy]

sean steam it before you bend it but put the wire on one end a foot in and also the boat ring other wise once bent and stapled you wont get ot on mate but steam first bend second lol the steam makes it bendable lol

[Sean]

ok cheers lol and how long do i steam it for and do i bend it straight after its been steamed or let it cool first

[Varmint]

You could have been and bought one in this time Sean! :wink: :lol:

[Sean]

yeah and paid for it too lol ;)

[Spudy]

lol use your imagination sean lol and vermints right lol but you dont get to stepback and say f*ck i made that cool!!! lol

[Kevin Massey]

so where does the ring go then? :lol:

[Kevin Massey]

Tighten the wire so the rod bends to form a gentle ark (like a bow, as in bow and arrow).



when do you use rhe rachet straps then? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Spudy]

you put it on the branch after stapleing one end of the wire to it then when you bend it and fasten the other end its all ready on the branch ring on sorted bending the branch sorted steaming been covered lol any other bits that need covering now....lol i think thats the lot ..spud

[Kevin Massey]

aaaaaaaaaand do you leave the wire on it after placing in the ground

[Spudy]

lol mass errrr i dont know what would you do jm lol
(i think the answer will be yes leave the wire mass lol)

[Hawkmaster]

Yes, that way it stays bent and the ring does not fall off once you lift it out of the ground to move it.

[Jack Merlin]

I have to make up another bow perch sometime and will try to post some pictures.

Busy making a new trolley for the female today. Had to buy the timber....with money...now that hurts! :(

Regarding the cost of purchased bow perches, for Varmint's £60 I can feed 25 dogs for over two months!!!<vbg>

[Spudy]

good dam jm lol have you ever thought about sewing your pockets shut lol since you dont need them that is lol

[Jack Merlin]

Pointless. There's nothing in 'em.

[Kevin Massey]

i bet you squeek when you walk j/m.... :lol:

[Rob Redtail]

....You'll nooo be havin a sale will yee....lol

[Sean]

fair play to him i say lol

[Coedhirion]

Interesting posts on making bow perches .... have steam bent timber before and would love to make my own, there is only one big problem.... I live on a rocky hill and there is almost no where you can stick even bought ones in. Purchased real posh stainless one last year and never been able to use it. So any ideas, or am I back to welding them up from steel ...I'd much prefer a hazel one ????????????????

[Will]

Well, as I don't have 25 dogs, maybe I'll save myself the aggro and get one of them nice rubbery things! :)

Worth shopping round too, I think Westweald do them slightly cheaper. Call me lazy but if they last as well as I've heard, could be money well spent. Just a thought.

[Sean]

by the way jack, have you anypics of these bows? i seen the bow in teh trolly post but any more pics? with it outa the ground maybe?

p.s sorry i hi-jacked your thread sightsound

[Sighthound]

No problem Sean, interesting stuff.
I needed to bend a piece of wood for something I was doing last year, I used a steam wallpaper stripper, just took of the end bit off and put the pipe bit near the area I wanted to bend, then bound old rags round to keep the heat and steam in.
Sorry Jack I'm afraid this method does involve electricity£££. but is effective!

[Varmint]

Now jack i've had a thought that could be right up your street?

How about getting an old jogging machine and converting it to generate electricity? 25 dogs to excersise daily, strap them on in rota and get FREE hot water, light, heat the possibilities are endless :idea: :?: :lol:

I know that setters and pointers are becoming highly valued as Sled dogs too, so maybe and old tricycle and some harness's could be put to good use too?

Not sure they have mushers spaces in Tesco car park though?

Coheidron, maybe buy your next Steel Bow with weighted feet rather than spikes?, i use this kind and they are great.

[Coedhirion]

Get most from Westweald ...good guy.. but pricey for bows. Bought mine for £32 at a falconry display, its rubber an pretty good stainless. Bit of staining on the feet. It lives out in all weather, could be a bit heavier, but otherwise a real good buy. Sure they will be at Falconers Fair.

[Falconer]

An old tyre off a bicycle would be ideal. if the tyre is off a big enough wheel you will get 3 or 4 out of it. The bonus is the fact the shape is already made for you.

Has anybody made one with a bike Tyre's
How about some pic's would love to see
loads of Tyre's near me lol.

[Falconer]

Sorry to double post but
Was thinking of using pipe lagging and a bike Tyre.