Tips

[Bushcraftsman]

OK, I've changed my mind...I'm going to go into the woods and make a bow myself

BUT I need the know how. I have a few questions:

A) What would be the best wood to use?
B) What should the diameter of the stick be?
C) Can anyone find me some Bow making threads people have posted on here with pics and instructions please? i know there is a few I remember seeing them in the past, I just cant find them!
D) What should the length of the bow be? I dont want one of the massive long bows, I was thinking something like.... if I was to put it on the ground standing up the tip would reach my hip...something like that? (incase it's relevant I'm about 6ft)

Thanks

 

[squantrill]

A) What would be the best wood to use?
B) What should the diameter of the stick be?
C) Can anyone find me some Bow making threads people have posted on here with pics and instructions please? i know there is a few I remember seeing them in the past, I just cant find them!
D) What should the length of the bow be? I dont want one of the massive long bows, I was thinking something like.... if I was to put it on the ground standing up the tip would reach my hip...something like that? (incase it's relevant I'm about 6ft)

Thanks

A) Most woods are ok but of course usually the more fibres in the wood the stronger they are and then the more poweful they are so for a 40-50lb bow ash,hickory wood be ok for a 10lb kiddies bow pine might be ok but why eye protection
B) Depends if you going to craft a bow.. I start with a log!! about 30-50 cms dia then split it till I have a belly of about 2-3 inches then work it down from that then it depends on if you r going for a flat bow or a longbow..
c) Search feature woks well
d) depends on the design but think man length 6ft bow would be good!! shorter bows are faster but less poweful and I believe a bit more tricky to tiiller longer bows let you get away with mistakes a bit easier!!

Like I said depends on what sort of bow your going to make!!

Get a good book traditonal archery by hilary someone or other is quite good and is not expensive..Else do a search on google..

Simon

 

[Bushcraftsman]

c) Search feature woks well

Can't find one!

But thanks for the advice on everything else

 

[Peter_t]

A) What would be the best wood to use?
Thanks

elm is what most bows from the mesolithic where made from. i have worked with it alot and it is a very springy fiberous wood which makes it perfect for bows. ash is also very good,as is yew but you won't find it without loads of knots.

thats about all i know about bows lol

pete

 

[dwardo]

My 2p worth.

A) Ash is a great bow wood, some guys have made bows over 150lbs with just ash.
Elm, hazel, birch are the woods i have been using recently.

B) The stick can be about forearm thickness and above. It is possible to make bows from 1 and 2 inch saplings but they tend to have a high crown.

C)Besides the search function have a look at Bretts build along on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2N1cT1tKmM cracking fella and knows what he is doing.

D) It is best to start with long bows and not short bows. On short bows the tiller has to be perfect, probably recurved to keep sting angle down, probably backed with sinew/hide and will have an uncomfortable short draw length. The horn bows get around this problem with horn and sinew plus syahs in a huge recurve type setup.

In regards to tools you need an axe, saw, knife, sandpaper and a vice/shave horse. Nice to have tools are a draw knife, cabinet scrapers, rasps, files and a heat gun.

Good luck

 

[Allie]

I personally can't help, but as for C, how about erm.. the thread that you yourself started:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38543&highlight=bow
There are plenty of others that I saw with just a quick search for 'bow' in the DIY section

 

[Bushcraftsman]

ok thanks dwardo, totally new to all this so..

what is a crown?

I cant find anything on the search function...i typed Building a Bow in and no good results came up, thanks for the link though.

and ok, ill make my bow longer.

Tools...yes..that may be a problem...have a lot of them, but the one that would make this job MUCH easier I dont have...the axe...How could I do it without one?

 

[Bushcraftsman]

and allie...Thanks a lot! was trying to find that one!

 

[Bushcraftsman]

ok i feel really stupid right now, but where is the search bar? i tried the one that is in the top right when your on the home page....typed bow...and couldn't find my post am i doing something wrong

 

[Ahjno]

ok i feel really stupid right now, but where is the search bar? i tried the one that is in the top right when your on the home page....typed bow...and couldn't find my post am i doing something wrong

Top right corner
Or use this link (bookmark)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/search.php

Don't forget to make pictures and make notes on what (doesn't) work, so others in future can learn.

Happy bowmaking mate

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

just go for it I just made my first bow on my last outing took me 4 hours to make from elderberry it looks crude but it works and their is always time to make another one next time out its great fun too...

I did cheat a bit for now and bought modern arrows for now will work on making primitive arrows once I get materials together for that project...

 

[Bushcraftsman]

nice one! do you have any pictures?

 

[dwardo]

Best thing to do is get out there and find a bit of wood.

The wood needs to be as straight as possible and about 6ft or more in length even diameter`ish, over about 3 inch diameter is best. Other things to look for are knots, damage and more importantly "grain". If its straight as a pipe and knot free but the grain is twisted all the way up its best avoided.

Once you have the wood down split and a day or so after debark it without damaging the sapwood just underneath the bark. BIG note, while some woods like ash will be happy with "straight from green" to "abuse" a lot of other woods will check (crack) and warp badly without controlled seasoning.
I have had little or problems with ash and elm wasnt too bad, yew also. Woods like hawthorn, holly and a few others have started to check the minute i took them down.
These woods require a more sedate seasoning.

With ash i tend to cut, split, debark the next day or so and store in the garage for a week. After that i rough out the bow shape whilst leaving plenty of room for error then take it in doors for a few days.

I then try to get the bow looking more like a bow over the next few days, whilst again storing indoors. After a few more days in doors i will start to tiller the bow if it feels dry . You can weigh the wood over a certain period to calculate its moisture content drop (have a google )

A few symptoms of wood thats too wet to tiller are excessive set and chrystals (little cracks in the belly of the bow running across the bow)
The bowyers bible series are definately worth a read once you have played around first

This is only my way but its worked over teh past year or two of playing.

 

[Bushcraftsman]

Ok thanks mate dieing to get out and have a go...if the weather ever brightens up!

 

[Bushcraftsman]

Thanks for the information everyone, For everyone else who is still looking take a look at these,

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEdkHmWDMc&feature=channel

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z39mdwqkIA&feature=channel

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49c6narQqc&feature=channel

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieyFAv57-PA&feature=channel


Hope these help, I found them pretty good

Cheers

 

[Bushcraftsman]

Ok I'm making it now....If i support the stick up its not perfectly straight its ever so slightly in a V shape, When I string up do i want it to bend in the way the v is already formed or do I want it do bend out long the obtuse angle?

Hope I make sense

Thanks

 

[dwardo]

Its a bit hard to say without a picture and also what wood it is.

You can straighten the wood with heat. Post a picture and we can give you some pointers

 

[Bushcraftsman]

Sorry haven't replied it wouldn't connect to the website last night....did anyone else have that problem?

anyway...as for which wood it is....I have no idea...which I know doesnt help in the slightest....how could I find out? I'll go collect a leaf off the tree and post a picture of it when I post a picture of the stick aswell. Would you be able to identify it from that?

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

who cares what wood it is I thought by now you should have hacked it into a bow less talk more action!

or we will have to change your name to bushcraftlessman....

yes I am impatient what about it....

 

[dwardo]

who cares what wood it is I thought by now you should have hacked it into a bow less talk more action!

or we will have to change your name to bushcraftlessman....

yes I am impatient what about it....

Nice one hill bill

The type of wood will give us a better idea of how much to push it and what design. You should be cool with most woods but some real horrors are alder and lime, you would be better off with balsa wood

Leaves and pictures of the stick its self would do it