hand made bow

[arkansashippy]

im think ing about makeing a bow and im really excited to start andy pointers or suggestions?

[klickitat]

Lots of videos on youtube

[scoutrifleshooter]

Find some copies of Traditional Bowyers Bibles Vol 1-4.. Shows which woods.. How to cut an season.. Strings.. Lots of good info! Lots of info about making board bows (lumberyard wood) on the internet.. Made my first out of a red oak board I found at Lowes for 6 bucks.. 68' ntn 45lbd draw at 29" draw length.. Still a good shooter.. I even made a couple PCV bows.. Everybody who post theirs say they are getting a 60lbs draw weight.. Mine never got that high! Mine ave. bout 45lbs. Still great fun and you can be shooting in an hour!

[dragon6banger]

learn the in's and out's of Tillering

[nick_the_tinkerer]

ok you are in Arkansas - go to www.primitivearcher.com and go to their forum and see if anyone is near by and go watch them...some things are so simple to show but a pain in the rear to explain...

another site is www.tradgang.com

[CrypticCRICKET]

I made this one: http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

It takes patience. It turned out great!

That build along tutorial if from this site: http://poorfolkbows.com/

[Hungry]

Originally Posted by CrypticCRICKET

I made this one: http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

It takes patience. It turned out great!

That build along tutorial if from this site: http://poorfolkbows.com/

Thanks for the link. How did it turn out? I'm off this week and might give this a shot.

[CrypticCRICKET]

Originally Posted by Hungry

Thanks for the link. How did it turn out? I'm off this week and might give this a shot.

It's a pleasure to shoot and it's very quiet.

It's one of the bows in this video:

PVC Pipe Bow - 40 lb draw weight. - YouTube

I was working towards a 45- 50 lb draw weight bow and I stopped working the stave when I got to 50 lbs of draw weight. When I finished tillering, I backed the bow with 1 layer of fiberglass cloth (saturated with 1 hour epoxy). I then surface saturated the entire bow with epoxy and then I sanded it down, painted it, and then clear coated it.

I built a tillering tree so I could monitor my progress as I tillered and the tillering tree is IMO why the bow came out as good as it did and why the bow has lasted as long as it has without breaking or losing performance.

Cool project but his is a project that you should walk away from for a few hours or a day if you become frustrated while tillering. If you work too fast you might miss the clues that the wood is giving you about where to remove material next. That's why I say patience is important here.

[Blackbeard]

My personal favorite and it's by joergsprave. A sling-bow with collapsible arrows!

Slingbow with collapsible arrows! - YouTube

[sortofready]

I like to make self backed sapling bows .
Start with a sapling about four to six inches thick .
Cut it about six or eight inches longer than you are tall.
Cut a string as long as the bow then fold in half . Use this to mark dead center of the bow . Mark out an area below the centre for your handle , then an equal distance above .
pick one side to be the outside of the bow . this side should either be straight or curved away from you . It should also have the least amount of nots .
mark the inside of the bow by cutting away the bark on that side , keep in mind the area for handle , and above .
Rough carve the limbs of the bow by only removing material from the inside area .
DO NOT CARVE , CUT , OR NICK THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOW . Compromising the oustide face in any way will result in catastrophic failure during draw .
Test the strength of the bow as you are carving it .Once the bow begins to flex under your strength ( but nowere near full draw) , stop carving with edge tools .
Switch to low grit sand paper and slowly continue removing material from the inside .
Bark should still be on the outside of the bow .
String the bow with a loose fitting string and begin drawing the bow either in front of a friend or a mirror . Pay close attention to what sections of the bow are not flexing as well as the rest . Mark these non flexing area and focus on sanding these out .
Remove material in this manner until the bow draws in a smooth even arc , and you achieve your desired draw weight ( most areas require a minimum of 30# to hunt deer ).
Areas that do not flex evenly will develop small cracks called crysals and will eventually weaken or compromise your bow .
Next , sand away the remaining bark making sure not to sand to deep into the first growth ring on the outside of the bow . It is ok to leave remenants of inner bark on the bow .
Removing the bark on the outside of the bow will remove a bit of draw weight from the bow and may result in the top or bottom limb bending more than the other , so keep this in mind during the last stages of shaping , it is better to leave a little excess poundage , then remove it after the bark is gone in the final adjustments .
Go back to the spot you marked as centre and carve an arrow shelf into the top of the handle . Be careful not to carve the shelf to deep as this can weaken the bow .
smooth out the material making the bows handle and area obove the arrow shelf so that they taper into the limbs ( esthetic ) .
Carve a groove in the tips of the top and bottom limbs , only carve the sides inside of the bow NOT THE FACE OR OUTSIDE AS THIS CAN LEAD TO BREAKING.
Treat with a wood sealant like wax , oil or poly urethane , buy or make some string and arrows , and go kill some dinner .
If any ones interested I can write a tutorial on how I make socket broad heads , or making and fletching split shaft arrows .

[S.Neill]

Originally Posted by CrypticCRICKET

I made this one: http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

It takes patience. It turned out great!

That build along tutorial if from this site: http://poorfolkbows.com/

Awesome article. I'm studying it and I think I might try it.

[talon115]

This man is a master.

Bow Making with Ed Scott - YouTube