Bow Stave Prep (pic heavy)

[paleotool]

Hello all,

I've lurked here for a couple years and finally decided to post some stuff. I am always inspired to do new things after checking out all the good stuff here. I mainly work in wood and leather but try some things with bone, antler, textiles, etc. This is some great show-and-tell.

I'm a bow-maker and wilderness fanatic in the western US. I recently prepped a bunch of bow staves for a bow, string, and arrow class I was teaching. This saves a lot of time for people who are not familiar with wood. I also can select out the best stuff to save problems for novice bowmakers.

I use a froe and axe for much of my work. These are "old fashioned" but work faster and respect the grain of the wood in a way not possible on the table saw. It's actually faster as well.

These were split both radially and front-to-back to maximize the large trunk size of this particular tree.

Debarking with a draw knife. A sharp draw knife is a joy to work with.

This is about half the staves I prepped one afternoon for the class.

A participant in the class. There were six and all the bows turned out to be successful in the end.

 

[craeg]

Welcome to the forum and great work with the staves and I would love to see a finished bow. What is the timber that you used?

ATB
Craeg

 

[paleotool]

I stupidly didn't take any photos of the finished class. It got so busy at the end.
Here are a few photos from the last few years. Many others were made and sold without photos but I try to remember more these days.

Osage orange and hickory of various designs.

An Osage "longbow" for my teenage daughter.

A very snaky Osage bow made several years ago. I liked this on a lot.

A juniper kid's bow backed with hickory for safety. You can't start too young.

A pretty typical hickory flatbow hunter. My typical design. This one is sold but I still regularly shoot its twin made from the same tree.

I put some archery and other stuff I make on my blog at http://paleotool.wordpress.com if you are interested.

 

[Cromm]

Great work. Thanks for showing.

 

[luckylee]

is there any chance of a few pics of the wooden caravan/trailer on the back fo you 4x4 please, or i think you would call it a truck.?

 

[paleotool]

There are a slew of pics of mine here:
http://paleotool.wordpress.com/plans-projects-and-patterns/the-vardo/

or click the pic.

and a few others around the rest of the blog. Thanks for asking.

Here it is with the truck for scale:

They're both just over 8' long inside.
The truck carries the tools and heavy gear.

 

[plastic-ninja]

lovely work.Thanks for sharing that with us.
I've always fancied making a bow so I may give it a whirl having been inspired.
Cheers , Simon

 

[luckylee]

ahh thanks for that bud, i would give one of me fingers for one of those.
one day.
take care.
lee.

 

[paleotool]

Thanks! I'll show some more as I get them photographed. I am making a commission for a friend right now and hope to finish it off this weekend. I'm behind on bowstrings so that is holding things up as well. Since this has become a sort of show-and-tell for bows, here are a few others, all sold now, on my barter blanket at a primitive tech gathering in Arizona a few years back.

The second from the front is Osage orange, backed with thin deer rawhide. The other three are shagbark hickory.

 

[treebloke]

What are you making your draw strings from

 

[paleotool]

Most are linen, but I have made a few from some very fine, commercially spun hemp I bought from a weaver. She had it for an historic project and didn't ever plan to use it again. The linen I currently use is Barbours 5 cord left but for a long time I used some heavier waxed lined I bought years ago. I am currently experimenting with some bookbinders linen thread because it comes in interesting colors. I don't know the quality, as far as longevity but, so far, it seems promising although a bit more expensive.

 

[TomBartlett]

Cheers for sharing. These are pretty inspirational pictures. Making a bow is definitely high on my bushcraft to-do list. Just gotta source some decent material first...

 

[treebloke]

Most are linen, but I have made a few from some very fine, commercially spun hemp I bought from a weaver. She had it for an historic project and didn't ever plan to use it again. The linen I currently use is Barbours 5 cord left but for a long time I used some heavier waxed lined I bought years ago. I am currently experimenting with some bookbinders linen thread because it comes in interesting colors. I don't know the quality, as far as longevity but, so far, it seems promising although a bit more expensive.

I will be attempting to make a bow during the summer and I think I have around it but my main concern is the drawstring. Is it possible to simply buy one made to length.

 

[paleotool]

There are plenty of people who will make one for you and fairly inexpensive too. Its worthwhile with a hand made bow to learn to tie one end in a timber hitch and have the other as a closed loop. That way you can adjust it as necessary. Any primitive archer should be able to show you this.

After making a couple hundred bows I can tell you; bow making is easy, strings and great arrows are hard work.

 

[mrcairney]

I've just spent 40 mins going through your blog site. Really interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing the link

 

[paleotool]

Mr Cairney,

Thanks for the comment. The blog has been a good way for me to meet more primitive offbeat people than I ever would normally. We're somewhat of a rare breed it seems.

 

[mrcairney]

Welcome, I'd very like to make my own shoes like you do. The hunt for the 'barefoot' shoe is quite popular with a few member around here. I'll be checking the site often!

 

[paleotool]

There is a lot of interest in the shoes. I didn't post all my failures! Getting the fit just right is much harder than I ever would have thought. Then absolute symmetry. I think I've got it down now and plan to make a few pair in the near future for friends. I'll photograph and post as much as I can.