Questions from making my first bow

[bent-stick]

Hi ive been looking through some touritals of bow making and is it possible to make them from flat boards used by builders

I've heard of scaffold planks being used also old pine floorboards but I haven't tried it myself. I suspect that they would take a big set (that is not straighten up) because the fibres in the wood are not tightly knitted together and can slip against one another..

Rather than trying to use softwoods I'd try to find a bit of hard maple or straight grained ash - some local woodyards stock it, And go for a wide (at least 2" at the base of the limbs) and long (70" for a 28" draw) design. That way even less that optimal wood can work.

My current favourite source for wood is Morgan's in Rochester. Very helpful and happy to let you sort through the stacks to find what you want. They have huge stocks of rock maple and some fruit woods. (no relation etc, just a satisfied customer)

I've used elm, ash, lemonwood, rosewood, hickory, purpleheart, yew, maple, cherry, castello box and bamboo as self bows and in various combinations. I'm just starting to experiment with ipe, balau and massaranduba, all decking woods. And I have some osage orange, sweet chestnut, and hornbeam and hazel (I'm sure hazel will set too but I'm going to have a go when it's seasoned) that I haven't taken a knife to yet.

I've tried and failed with kiln dried white oak and poplar boards. Perhaps I should have another go one day with a wider limb design.

Ive seen some nice bows made of hawthorn, plum and other native woods but finding a good bit is a problem and working around the imperfections is a time consuming job and not something you want to do for your first bow..

Me and some bowmaking buddies have get-togethers, usually in Kent, (unfortunately you've just missed one.) We are thinking of doing another one in November. We do a bit of idea swapping, wood swapping and trying out new tools around the camp fire. Watch the announcements here or send me an email (see my profile) if you want to be included in the mails. Between us we've got hundreds of bows and arrows under our belts and are happy to share our experiences.

Oh dear that turned into a bit of a ramble...

David.

 

[stovie]

Bcraft. Firstly, thanks for the compliment, but I am not that good. There are far better bowyers on this site than i can ever compete with.

Secondly in answer to your question, I made the bundle bows first as there was no real tillering involved, and yet it produced a working bow at the end.

As for board bows take a look at this article on Paleoplanet. Probably the easiest place to start.

And if you are really serious get a copy of the Traditional Bowyers Bible Vol I...It has all you need to know to get started...and more.

 

[bcraft]

Thx for the invite bent stick but i live all the way in cornwall and im only 13 soooo.
thx anyway

 

[Cawolf]

What kind of varnish would be sutible for bows, I've never managed to varnish one before!

 

[bent-stick]

What kind of varnish would be sutible for bows, I've never managed to varnish one before!

I mainly use five coats of danish oil and five coats of liberon black bison.

If you really want to put some varnish on any exterior grade polyurethane or yacht varnish will do the job. I get cheap stuff from Wilkinsons (my aladin's cave )

I also like button polish as a finish. I use it on arrows but haven't tried it on bows yet but it should work. Watch this space...i'll give it a try sometime.

 

[Cawolf]

thank you!