i have a red oak board that has good grain aside from a large knot about a foot from the end, and was going to cut just past it and make a short bend through handle bow out of it, probably short draw. i was wondering if i could narrow the handle area to allow better grip, or if i should narrow the whole thing down .it will be 61 overall after the knot is removed, im hoping to get it to draw roughly 25-26 inches. any suggestions?
with ideal wood, you double the draw and add 8 to get the length for a stiff handled bow. Since you want to bend through the handle, you don't need to add the 8. so, theoretically 56" will get you 28" draw. But we know that's not going to happen. Red oak makes bows, but it's not the top choice. I do think you can succeed: you could even recurve it! But the draw weight will be low-ish, and the handle should NOT be cut into for an arrow rest. If you narrow the handle (keeping limbs wide to handle the bend), then you must also thicken the handle. It wont bend as much. Maybe just flex under the hand.
im lookin for maybe 40-45# @25-26", figured the bend through handle would allow the limbs to distribute more stress and make it more stable. it would be backed of course, probably with some burlap i have left over from the last bow i built. i was wondering about the handle so i could use heavier spine arrows without worrying about excess archers paradox
if you narrow the handle too much, it will break at the handle. If you do back it with burlap, maybe take it around the entire grip, as insurance?
i was thinking if i did narrow the handle it would only be by maybe 1/4 inch or so just to round it a little, i dont know if i could narrow the whole bow to accommodate a better grip or not
you know what? i'm more used to building yew longbows and round-bellied recurves. generally when i make a wide-limbed board bow, though, i make the handle non-bending. Maybe just limit your draw length. Do the math in reverse. 61-8=53. 53/2=26. then lighten the bow to make up for the fact that it's not a first choice wood.
I usually don't narrow the handles. I leave the handle full width and the stave full width to just past mid limb and narrow to 1/2 inch nocks. Generally 1.5 in width gets me 50-55#. 1 3/8 in gets me 45-50#. Jawge
More on my site. Jawge
thanks george, i was just reading the board bow section on your site as you posted. im gonna try to coax this piece into a bow, it may just take some time,lol. i have some low spine arrows in the making too which will help with the thicker handle. thanks for the input guys :thumbsup:
im used to building with the 1 1/2 inch red oak boards, havent yet tried a pyramid design from a 1x4, though if this short bow works out i might build one.
If the wood is right you should be able to get a 45#@26" bendy handle red oak bow that is 61" long. Leave the handle area a little thicker and you should be able to reduce the width a bit too.
yea, im shooting for a 4 inch stiffer section of handle, wood is pretty good thick ring red oak, really heavy and dense, which is why i snagged it even with the knot. the local lowes doesnt get very many good pieces in so i grab em when i can.lol. the knot i removed was pretty substantial, and was on both sides of the board. the grain actually ran in between the knots on the oppisite sides then came back toward the opposite side. might make a nice accent piece or riser for another bow in the future.
walkabout, what matters is the how straight the grain is. Jawge
yep, this one is straight grain aside from right around where that knot was only has 2 runoffs total. ive been using the thick ringed stuff because all the wood with more thin rings the grain ends up twisting from one end to another.
shooting for a bend in the handle thinner limbed red oak board bow, cool. i faced the "wanting to shoot heavier arrows thing" myself out of bend in the handle designs, make the bow as you normally would, arrows spined correctly, left longer for extra weight, and try soaking the raw shafts in watco danish oil before completing them. the soaking can really add some weight to lighter weight/spined shafts. good luck
ill have to try that to see if it helps. i can get my arrows' spine down pretty good now, but with my longbow i gotta tune arrows for the thick handle, as i will for this one. currently my"prototypes" are wood 35-40# shafts footed with some 2216 aluminum via epoxy. seems to add some weight up front, and so far they shoot well out of my thick handle longbow.
just an update, i got this bow started the other day, its been on the tillering tree, going by slowly as im contending with school and work, but lookin good so far. shes pulling right around my target weight at 8 inches long string, no ticks or splinters so far so i think itll be a shooter. thanks for all the input guys.
I don't use knotted boards as stave. Sorry I missed that. Jawge
yea the reason it was only 61" is because i cut the knot off, it was about a foot down the length but the board was the only other good one they had so i snagged it to give me another project. next im gonna have to try a pyramid bow, although i have to say i like the challenge of tillering the thinner limbed board bows. its good practice for better staves.
That's good, walkabout. Have fun. Jawge
haha thanks i definitely will. after having alot of staves turn into scrap i told myself id go as slow as needed to get the bows right, and so far its worked. just alot of looking for details and then fixing anything inconsistent.
You may want to slap on some burlap, silk or linen as insurance. I usually back, if I back which is almost never, after long string tillering and before stringing with the short string. I advise beginners to back their first few. You havin' fun yet? :) Jawge
yea i put burlap on it right after i got the limbs shaped before tillering. every bow ive made has been greta, i learn new stuff with every one which is exactly what id hoped. i build seats for cars for a living so days building bows good or bad are always fun. showed my grandpa one of my bows when i went back home for easter and his face lit up like a kid at xmas,lol. reactions like that are exactly why i do this. well that and the great feeling that i get when i see one of my bows shoots like a dream :bigsmyl: kudos to all you guys here though, if it werent for all the great minds here doing what they do many of us would have never even imagined we could build bows. :notworthy:
"showed my grandpa one of my bows when i went back home for easter and his face lit up like a kid at xmas,lol. "
That is special. Makes me feel good hearing that. Goodnight. :) Jawge
did me too, hes the one who introduced me to archery, grew up shooting an old ben pearson recurve he had, took us kids out into the yard and let us have at it.gave me great incentive toward the tradition. his dad and grandpa grew up on a reservation, and he hunted and trapped from the time he was 10 or so to make ends meet during the depression, doing his share for the family. He raised me like a son because he never had one, and im quite proud to pass on the know how he has and the love for all the things outdoors.
George you mention on your site about marking in 6 inch intervals down the limbs then measuring distance to the string, i was wondering, does a shorter distance to string from one side to the other mean that the short side is bending less? this seems like a good method to check while bows are on the tree at a given draw length, and as always im interested in learning:D
walk, I check those measurements at brace height. The shortest distance means that area is stiffer. If it's within a 1/4 inch I'm ok with it. I don't use tiller sticks. I wouldn't leave a stave drawn long enough to check that measurement.BTW you can also check both sides of the limb to see if there is a twist. Jawge
ah ok, makes sense. i use a tillering tree to do all my bows, because of the safety issue and its easier to have it upright when checking the tiller over. this bows coming along good although slowly, im being conservative to try to reach my draw weight without it getting too much set or blowing, although its a pretty sound piece. thanks for all the help
just an update, been slow going with work but got it to brace height and its pulling 45#@23", developed a crack but i saturated it with superglue and wrapped about 1/2" around it and its holding great so far, all is left is bringing the weight to 45#@ 25-26 then put a finish on it. after this bow im not going to use burlap as backing for awhile by the way, ive had it mask problems a bit too much for my liking.
wanted to post a few pics of the progress, im just about done with it (http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o406/p0go333/100_0444.jpg) full draw on the tillering tree picture of the belly (http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o406/p0go333/100_0450.jpg) pic of the string alignment (http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o406/p0go333/100_0447.jpg) lower limb is a little stiff out of the fade looking at the pic, im gfoint to adress this before i put the final touches on it.
Looking pretty good walkabout!
Lookin good!! Can't wait to see the finished bow pics
this one was tough,lol. trying not to come up eak and to get even tiler at such a short length. im glad i tried it though, im doing a few new things and learning along the way.
i have a good bit of snakeskin scraps so i think im going to do a diy micarta/phenolic snakeskin overlay on the tips. handle is gonna be layers of leather superglued together and sanded down to contour, then glued on and wrapped over.