Just a little tid-bit from the Hall of Fame archer Frank Eicholtz.

Father of the Laminated Bow.

I forgot......

January 1956

I was two years and two months old.

I've been told that Chastain 'Wapiti' recurve limbs use an 'Eicholtz' curve design. Not sure how to verify that.

I was just born, on Jan. 4th that year. Im as old as the laminated bow. Lol!

I was ten, that is when I started shooting....Ha!Ha!

I was born that year and month too. TLM

My Eicholtz.

Neat looking bow Shawn! Is that one of his offerings from the early 70's maybe, with the incredible square hooks at the tips when it's unstrung?

Kerry, yes it is. There's little square patches on the back of the limbs near the bend of curves, for stringing is what I've Been Told. Bow has the weirdest draw cycle I have ever felt. Almost feels like it has a let off. it's a shooter

"Bow has the weirdest draw cycle I have ever felt. Almost feels like it has a let off."

Shawn, have you shot a newer Border? Or any of the other 'super recurve' designs?

Dana, no I have not. I'm actually not much of a recurve Guy. This is the only recurve I have except a Martin Rebel

The first super recurve!

Didnt Eicholtz produce the "Bow Lock"? I read for a smaller man he was able to pull some heavy bows.

What happened to Mr. Eicholtz's business?

From Fred Anderson's "The Traditional Way". Both photos.

i had a number of letter exchanges and a few phone conversations with Frank. I built a longbow with his glass with the peel strip. i cannot believe that I never ordered a bow from him. It just never came up in the conversation, he did send me a brochure once.

Jim, hope you don't mind me adding to your post. SM

Frank Eicholtz is generally credited as the first person to apply fiberglass to a bow (yes,it has been thoroughly documented) and thereby making him the originator of the modern composite bow. I knew him and made bows for him and shot with him; and boy, he was a great shooter, too!

How is he holding the string in these pics?

MP

He's using his Bow-Loc release it appears to me.

Scott,

I would be offended if you didn't. That's how I discover mew info!

Frank IS using a Bowlock in that picture.

this history of archery's past pioneers interests me very much, cant get enough!

Shawn, thanks for sharing the picture of the stringer hook. I have two of your model made as a folding bow. One has wooden squares in these locations, but they have deteriorated so that I couldn't tell what purpose they served. Now I do!

The first picture is one of the two that has the wood squares. The second one shows the other in its folded state.

I've never seen an Eicholtz folding bow before. That's pretty dang cool. I wonder if he designed his before the Sabo?

Just for comparison, here's the Sabo Pac King. As you can see, it can be folded up with the string on. I don't know if you could do that with the Eicholtz bow. As far as I can determine it came out in 1969.

Here's the Bow-Lock. It was a manual release and was approved in tournaments where mechanical releases were not allowed. It was made of injection molded plastic and hollow. The string went in the groove and you used your thumb to hold the string.

Ira, what periodical is the ad from?

Frank,

Eicholtz's came out after the Pac- King (I'm not 100% certain). I haven't found an ad for one prior to 1974.

I've always been intrigued by bows of that design. If you haven't found an ad prior to 1974 that sounds pretty definitive.

Jim, the ad is from Archery magazine, but I don't recall the issue. The patent on the Bow-Lock was filed in 1944 and not granted until 1949. I believe he was selling them prior to the patent being granted.

So using the bow lock,did you just twist your hand to release the string?

Thanks for showing a picture Shawn, Damn if that thing does not look like a Border!

You have any stats on the bow?

1Longbow, if you read the text of the ad you will see that relaxing your hand releases the string.

And bloodied your nose the first couple of times!

Great vintage ads. Thanks for sharing.

Todd: yes I do. It is 66" ling and 42#@28" I prefer lower poundage bows. So This one was perfect. From what I have been told, this is a kinda rare bow, so I'm very fortunate to have found one in my specs, and in almost perfect condition.

Not trying to detract from the original thread, but what exactly is a "super recurve"? Being a longbow guy, I never looked into it much. I will say this. The tips are static i think, on this bow. I have never seen anyone shoot my bow. I feel stupid to say I don't know what the limb tips are doing when I'm shooting it, never played attention

On another note, I would love to find one of those bow locks. I have problems with my fingers from time to time from breaking them so many times. I'm the most used up 37 year old, ever. Lol

I don't know what the limb tips are doing when I'm shooting it, never played attention

Probably something like this.

Here's a good view of that "Turkish Hook" as Frank called it.

I vaguely remember seeing an old magazine article on carving your own bow lock from wood. Late 80's I think.

Dana, C.R. Learn had an article in Bow and Arrow Magazine on how to make your own Bowloc. I'm thinking that was 1970's but I don't have the magazine anymore. C.R. used one for his own shooting.

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