bow and arrow making

[jon r]

when making a bow and arrow, how do you get the ends of the limbs bent slightly away from you? like this: (just a pic of google images to help explain)

http://www.madehow.com/images/hpm_0000_0005_0_img0022.jpg

Also, what advantage does this give you?

 

[leon-b]

steam bending ??? just a guess
leon

 

[Robbo]

Get a form (this could easily just be your knee protected with a towel) ready, put a pot of water on the cooker, arrange the bow so that the portion you want to bend is suspended over the pot, cover the pot and limb with tinfoil, leave it for around an hour (helps if you do this when your wife/parents are out) then quickly remove it from the steamer and carefully put the limb in the form and bend it.

Use a smooth but firm pressure when bending the wood, dont rush it (too much).

Also bend it further than what you want (it usually springs back a little on cooling) and hold it there until cool (sometimes you have to leave it overnight).

Also if you dont fancy steam you can use a dry heat from a heat gun/open fire BUT YOU MUST PROTECT the wood, usually with a coat of grease, oil, etc to avoid scortching.

An alternative to bending the bow tips into recurves is to carve some NON- BENDING Recurves and glue them on, this is more complex as the glue joint has to be perfect and preperation is everything here or the recurves will tear off when the bow is drawn.

If your really serious about bowmaking I'd advise you to gte the Bowyers Bibles series of books all this and a LOT more is covered in depth.

Andy

 

[bent-stick]

The bow you have a picture of is almost certainly laminated.

The laminations are glied up in a mold and they sort of hold one another into the recurve. Individually they can bend easily bout not when they are all joined up. Difficult to explain but if you try it you'll see what I mean. Bringham projects:

http://www.binghamprojects.com/

Specialise in that sort of stuff. Not cheap.

Steam or heat bending also works on most woods - but not all. I've had the best result on Osage Orange (expensive) boil for 90 mins and clamp round a former.

There is also a thing called kerf bending where you split the end of the bow limb bend it and then glue the layers back together.

 

[jon r]

will all this trouble make the bow fire better? What advantage does it give me instead of just leaving it?

 

[Robbo]

A recurve bow will usually shoot faster than a straight limbed bow, but at the expense of some accuracy due to the harsher send off the arrow gets compared to say for example a long bow

Andy

 

[C_Claycomb]

Recurves are also better on shorter bows. They don't do a lot on 68-74 inch long bows. By providing a means of mechanical advantage on the shorter bow, they let the bow store more energy without you feeling it on your fingers.