What do I?

[fred70]

Got a new blank today a friend gave it to me havent got a clue What to make.
Recurve, long bow or where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.



He knew I always wanted to try this!

[smj]

fred70 said:

Got a new blank today a friend gave it to me havent got a clue What to make.
Recurve, long bow or where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

He knew I always wanted to try this!

All right! This is going to be fun, I think... A couple questions first, if you don't mind???

1 - Have you ever made a bow before? I ask just to be sure! Sounds like you have not... ?

1a - Is this blank split from a log, or a blank fasioned out of a board? I can not tell from the picture.

2 - What kind of wood is it? Hickory? Ash? Maple? Other?

3 - What kind of bow do you wish to make, what do you want it to look like once done?

4 - What do you have for tools and woodworking skills? You don't need much, I just need to know where you are at and we can go from there!

5 - Do you want to make your own strings?

If you you have not built a bow before, I suggest making a longbow. I was going to make one more build along to try to get skip to make one, a Howard Hill design longbow using no bamboo. All wood. I would go for a flat bow, at most, a bit of reflex in it. A recurve would take a lot more skill. You would have to heat and steam the curves in to the limb tips, or split them and insert a wedge and then glue them to the shape you want.

It is important to know if this is from a split log, or a board. The process to follow is different for dealing with the back. It is important to know how best to start this bow! For example, if this is a board bow, we will flaten it out and glue a strip of backing to it. If this is a split from a tree, we will have to follow a single growth ring from tip to tip to form the back of the bow.

I ask what type of wood because different woods have different design requirements: Basically bow width, how wide do we need to make the limbs.

I ask about looks simply because I think that you should have an idea of what you hope to end up with when you start. Some times the wood will make you do something a little different, but in general it is good to have a goal and make the bow you want. If it ends up less than what you want, you get to make another! Is this great or what?!!!

I ask about tools and woodworking simply because we will need to work the stave down a bit, get rid of everything that does not look like the bow you want. There are many way to do this, some cost a bit, some are really cheap! Tell me where you are at and I'd be very happy to help get you set up to work this.

At some point you will need a string for this bow. Seems like flyingcedar posted a thread on flemish twist strings, I will have to look it up. ( I have been known to make strings and send them out to first bows for first time bowyers...)

If you are not excited, you should be and will be!

A note of warning: I don't know of anyone who has built just one bow and stopped... This is addictive!

[royden]

You get me excited smj ... but not quite enough yet ... one of these days I'll get a perfectly good board and see if I can keep from ruining it while you teach.

[smj]

Royden - you let me know when that time gets here!

I think some of the troubles with my past and current posting is that making the reflex/deflex design is a bit more taxing to get going on. You have to make a jig of some sort to get started - if you make one like mine there is some time involved in it! But to make a Howard Hill style bow with a little reflex added out of a board... We can do that one without so much setup and fuss... Honest!

[red]

smj said:

fred70 said:

Got a new blank today a friend gave it to me havent got a clue What to make.
Recurve, long bow or where to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

He knew I always wanted to try this!

All right! This is going to be fun, I think... A couple questions first, if you don't mind???

1 - Have you ever made a bow before? I ask just to be sure! Sounds like you have not... ?

1a - Is this blank split from a log, or a blank fasioned out of a board? I can not tell from the picture.

2 - What kind of wood is it? Hickory? Ash? Maple? Other?

3 - What kind of bow do you wish to make, what do you want it to look like once done?

4 - What do you have for tools and woodworking skills? You don't need much, I just need to know where you are at and we can go from there!

5 - Do you want to make your own strings?

If you you have not built a bow before, I suggest making a longbow. I was going to make one more build along to try to get skip to make one, a Howard Hill design longbow using no bamboo. All wood. I would go for a flat bow, at most, a bit of reflex in it. A recurve would take a lot more skill. You would have to heat and steam the curves in to the limb tips, or split them and insert a wedge and then glue them to the shape you want.

It is important to know if this is from a split log, or a board. The process to follow is different for dealing with the back. It is important to know how best to start this bow! For example, if this is a board bow, we will flaten it out and glue a strip of backing to it. If this is a split from a tree, we will have to follow a single growth ring from tip to tip to form the back of the bow.

I ask what type of wood because different woods have different design requirements: Basically bow width, how wide do we need to make the limbs.

I ask about looks simply because I think that you should have an idea of what you hope to end up with when you start. Some times the wood will make you do something a little different, but in general it is good to have a goal and make the bow you want. If it ends up less than what you want, you get to make another! Is this great or what?!!!

I ask about tools and woodworking simply because we will need to work the stave down a bit, get rid of everything that does not look like the bow you want. There are many way to do this, some cost a bit, some are really cheap! Tell me where you are at and I'd be very happy to help get you set up to work this.

At some point you will need a string for this bow. Seems like flyingcedar posted a thread on flemish twist strings, I will have to look it up. ( I have been known to make strings and send them out to first bows for first time bowyers...)

If you are not excited, you should be and will be!

A note of warning: I don't know of anyone who has built just one bow and stopped... This is addictive!

More karma for my bud, stevej, who is never too busy to help someone new to the traditional archery experience. I admire your enthusiasm and willingness to share.

[fred70]

Thanks smj!
I'll do best to answer and follow directions!

1.If a stick and string at age 7 counts yes or other wise no!
1a.its a split log blank
2.My best guess would be ash
3.Dont know what to make is there certain blanks for certain bows? Im guessing long bow and one that will shoot. As far as looks as long as it doesnt look like a 3 year old made it ill be fine
4 I have access to most any wood working tool I'm in Michigan
5.If im makin the bow i might as well go all the way I have access to lots of sinew!

If I get addicted I wont seek help couldnt think of a better addiction!
Thanks for the help!

[BT]

This is cool
Watching so many people picking up the sticks here on this site

Never seen anything like it anywhere....ever

[smj]

So you have a split stave, and are ready to make a bow. Cool!!!

It looks like some work has been done it already.

Where to start - OK. You need to determine the crown of the stave. I would mark it with a marker. Right down the center of it. In otherwords, if you put a drop of water on either side of the line, the drops would roll off opposite sides of the stave. This may move from side to side or up and down as you go from tip to tip. This is how folks end up with a bow that snakes back and forth, called bows of character. Then, you need to pick a growth ring. You will use that growth ring from tip to tip. Waste the wood down on the back side of the bow until you are evenly on a single growth ring tip to tip. Remark the crown. If you have a raised knott, leave the raised wood around it to help with strength. You can take off material with just about anything you like - spokeshave, cabinet scraper, rasp, axe, sandpaper (30 grit), draw knife. Your choice really. Once done, we will mark out the details of your bow. By the way, it kind of looks like some work was done on this stave, check the back and see if maybe the back has been worked down to a single growth ring already - if so - don't work it any more! If not, you will have to work it down. This is a strength issue for the limb. If you cross the growth ring, it could split on you right there. Also, check and see if the sap wood has been removed. Some have left sap wood as a backing, others say to remove it. If you are going to put sinew on, I'd remove it down to a growth ring underneath it.

If you want to recurve the limbs, you will have to bend the limbs and then treat them with steam/heat to retain the effect. I recommend that you just make the bow the stave offers you rather than adding complexity at this point. When you put sinew on for the backing, we can add a little reflex at that point without the need of steam/heat. You are looking at making a longbow.

Before you begin, I will suggest that you pick up or go to the library and find a copy of The Traditional Bowyers Bible, volume 1 would be a good place to start out. There is a lot of information in this book that you really need to read through. Another very good book for this is Hunting the Osage Bow, by Torges.

I can tell you what step to do, guide you along, but it would help you a lot to get some more detailed information in hand priot to making sawdust!

I'll pull some info together for you on how to mark out your bow to cut it out next, and answer questions that you have for me!

[fred70]

When looking for the crown which was really easy to find I notice the bow from end to end has a little twist to it. Does this matter?

sould I pick a thickness to work for when finding a growth ring?
it is on a growth ring now front and back but its about 2in thick.
Which side are you refering to when you say front and back? concave side or convex side since it has a natural curve to it?

Headed to the library Sat. morn to pick up those books. Oh and to see if I can find a few more blanks cause now the kids wanna try with dad.

Thanks again for the help.

[smj]

Front and back... Oops! Should be back and belly. The back of the bow, as you hold the bow, is the surface away from you. The belly of the bow, is the surface towards you. The back is where you will put the sinew, and will have one common growth ring from tip to tip. The belly is where you will remove wood to control draw weight and control the flex of the bow. Once done with the belly you will see the rings cut through and feathered out from the grip to the tip on the belly. I've had three guys over here making bows, they know nothing of making bows and it has been a lot of fun working with them. However, they are developing their own nomenclature for this process and I believe it is getting to me! Sorry about that... Sounds like the back has already been taken down for you by who ever sold the stave. A ready to make bow that should be fun to work with.

As to the twist - does the soon to be limb twist away and then twist back, or is it a twist that will cause the tips of the limbs to be out of alignment with each other if the same growth ring is used at both ends? Is the stave like a propeller for an airplane?

An ash bow will need about a 1 3/4 inch wide limb. (Page 104 of the Bowyers Bible, vol 1) From back to belly you will want to keep enough wood thickness to form the grip from in the middle. You will taper the limbs from grip to tip to get them to flex.

Keep in mind that any wood in this bow that can flex, can store energy to help, or add to, the cast of the bow. You can design your bow to flex through the grip, or for the grip to be stiff and only flex in the limbs. Might sound strange, but I assure you it works both ways. One just has a bigger grip!

I will post a couple of ideas of how you might lay out your soon to be bow. I'll steal from Howard Hill and Dean Torges for layout dimensions, scaled to use ash rather than lemonwood or osage. Of the two, Hill's is the most simple I think.