Making Bows

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airborne09

Forager
Dec 9, 2016
129
31
North East
Hello All ,
I don't know if I am in the right section to ask this question . Does any member know of a good British site or youtube site that gives you a step by step instruction on How to make a recurve style of Bow , using the right type of wood backed with Bamboo ?
With thanks
Mike
 
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GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
I made one recently just messing about with scrap wood, there is a thread on it on here somewhere, thought i was making a kids toy and ended up making a 20lb draw weight at 19 inches, i recommend just getting some wood and having a go, you'll be amazed at what is waiting for you in your human genetic memory laying dormant unused in modern life, the skills are there expecting to be used and as soon as you start your brain gives you what you need, well that is how it was with me, nothing but string and scrap wood and made a lethal weapon first go, my next bow will be truly deadly
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
Primitive archer and paleoplanet are good sites with a great community like here. I don't get much time to make bows any more but happy to help.

I would suggest trying a couple of self bows before getting into the recurves as they are more difficult. I have made various recurve self bows and they perform great. Both static and working. Also the bowyers bibles books are a wonderful rescource. Search on here for some of the threads i put up but i fear there are no pictures left after photobucket ejits put a stop to it.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
Yeah man it was a recurve, i used my eye and hands and a black and decker work mate and just got stuck in to curve the ends of my limbs, made my limbs from bamboo and my stock from a piece of old pine i had kicking about, had some black string and that worked great for my string, i just broke it down in my mind to it's simplest form, it is stick with a string strung end to end on it creating tension that is used to fire other sticks and worked from there, i am no expert at anything especially bow making or working wood, i'm just keen and get stuck in and have a go ignoring naysayers and elitists all the way

here is my thread i made about it
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
The mechanical properties of woods indicate that grain and growth ring orientation are bound to have effects on the power
and stability of the bow.
In western Canada, the (paleo) bows were made mostly of ash (Fraxinus sp). The wood is "ring-porous"
with each growth increment showing an early wood layer of vessels followed by a late wood layer of fiber.

On the ground, each bow stave is split from the log as an elongate wedge.
In bow-making, the growth ring stack is oriented perpendicular to the the direction of arrow flight.
As such, the stack functions like a stacked leaf spring.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,353
2,363
Bedfordshire
Have you read The Traditional Bowyers Bible series? Volume 2 talks about all wood recurves and offers a number of methods for making them. The volume and quality of information in those books is incredible. Vol 1 gives you info on design, tillering and I would recommend Vol1 & 2 as the minimum out of the four.
 

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