I'm probably gonna end up with a peice of red oak approximatly 1x6x70 from my woods class project and was wondering if I could make a bow out of red oak. I have acces to ban saws, table saws, multiple types of sanders, miter saws, and a lot more so lack of equipment isnt going to be an issue. If red oak will work what kind of material can I use for the tips and also if someone could post a picture of a shape of a bow that will be able to handle the stress. I'm only looking to make approximatly a 30-35 pounder.
also I only have about a week to work on it so I'm not planning on making anything fancy.
First you have to get a straight grained peice of red oak. This is very important, if the grain isn't straight you run the risk of breaking the bow. You can use other woods for your tip overlays, most people use exotic hard woods because it adds a bit of color and uniqueness to the bow. Horn and antler also work as great looking tip over lays (so Im told). There is a great "how to" on building red oak board bows in the bowyers bench, I believe its called "so you want to build a bow". Here is a picture of my first bow (red oak board) when it was finished. (http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/teapot5/l_fcf7851a010e4bf8a860bdcb8e5a780b.jpg)
You should check out the build along that Broke another One mentioned. It was posted By 4est trekker and is a great start.
If you only have a week to make your first bow you are setting yourself up for disappointment. A deadline like that will make you rush through the process and believe me, that isn't the way to build a bow of any style or material.