Hey Guys, without getting into a bunch of personal stuff, I have some physical problems that more than likely will eventually not allow me to hunt. One of my goals has been to harvest an animal using a bow I built.
I want to start the bowyer process but have no idea how to begin. Do you all have any resources you recommend I get that will point me in a good direction. I'm not trying to make a fancy bow, just something I can hunt with. (I already have my nice custom long bow)
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!!
God Bless
It'll help if you line out what kind of bow you want to make...
Self bow?
Laminated wood bow?
Fiberglass laminated bow?
Longbow?
Recurve?
Guy
Sorry Self Bow or a longbow....
What is the simplest?
I would recommend getting a complete kit from Bingham's projects. Everything to get started to build will be there, plus all their designs are already proven. No r&d on your part....just build.
Dave
What kind of budget are you on? If you want a glass bow I would go with a Hill style longbow, best chance to get a shooter on the first try. You can build this bow with minimal power tools and 3 rivers sells risers already cut for this style. Kenny M can grind your lams and provide glass and glue. And JSweka did a real good build along to show you the path.
Best of luck and I hope you personal stuff takes a turn for the better.
Cory
Jeremy, there has been several backed bow,builds,recently with lots of info.
For a,self bow to me it would be hard to do with out a mentor.
The buying a,bow blank as mentioned is how I did my first one.
OK, what do you all think of buying the blanks from 3rivers, etc.? Are they decent or a waste of money.
I have an osage bow blank available right now. It is designed for a bend in the handle plains style selfbow. Price is $130 shipped. Here is my tute on how to finish one: http://hedgerowselfbows.webs.com/fromblanktobow.htm
Let me know if you are interested. Thanks.
I've heard of some failures with the hickory.
3 rivers is a,sponsor but their shipping on long stuff is high.
John's will be worth looking at.
Thanks for the info and ideas. I really don't know where to start. haha. John I sent you a message with some questions about your blank.
Are there any good books or video's about how to turn a blank into a bow?
I would recommend the traditional Bowyers bibles, they are packed with great info
Also check out Sam Harper's site poorfolkbows.com, that is where I started, using his red oak board bow build along, very thorough and informative.
Personally, for a first self-bow, I don't think you can go wrong making a red oak board bow.
The boards are about $7 at Home Depot so if you screw it up or come in under weight (common for a first bow), big deal. Make another one.
This is also a good way to learn the all important tillering process. Skills you gain making a board bow will be used later if/when you make a stave bow.
The Traditional Bowyer's Bible books are excellent references for bow making. Poor Folk Bows is great, and George Tsoukalis (sorry if I spelled that wrong) here on TG has a great little web site that will help you.
And yes, a red oak board bow can be hunted with.
Guy
Here is George's site:
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html
Guy
I buy my bamboo from pine hollow longbows, a sponsor of this site. Love Mikes products and such a nice guy to deal with. Kenny m is the man I turn to for all my osage and lams. If you go with a bbo do a search on what thickness you need for the draw weight you want. He will make the lams taper to the specs and then when you glue em up they are close to floor tiller and its an equal bend on both limbs. I got my first shooting bow following the ol Roy bbo method and there are a ton of those kind of builds here.
Beat of luck and you will do fine with the boys advice from this site...
Justin
You might also consider finshing a hill style bow blank. You do all the finishing, they do all the glue-up.
You can get some decent blanks for not alot of money.
A red oak board bow from Lowe's is the place you want to start. Goof up and you are only out $7 and some time. In the meantime, you learn your tools, basic bow building and most importantly, what not to do the next time.
I'm with Cory. I'd go with a Hill style glass LB. Easy to build. If you have access to a tablesaw you can cut out the form in 5 minutes and finish it in a few hours. You can build the form so you glue up the lams without a handle and then glue on a handle later just using some clamps. This will save you from trying to cut curves into a form and then fitting a handle to the curves with no gaps ( one of the toughest part of glass bow building). Glass is way easier than wood for tillering and it is certainly more forgiving of errors. Even if its not cut out straight it will hold a string and shoot just fine. You could build one without very many power tools and it would be much more durable than any all wood bow. There is lots of info here on lam stack and handle length for a Hill style too so you wouldn't be shooting in the dark. For a beginner your first bow will almost certainly have better cast with glass than a wood bow and it shouldn't cost more than $100 to build.
Bonner
Forgot to add, all you need for a hot box is August weather and a hot attic or a car parked in the sunshine. I have used both to cure smooth-on glue.
Bonner
Alright, I purchased the Bowyers Bible vol. 1 and I'm talking to John about an Osage Blank. I think I will research and figure the basics out. Thanks for all the info!
Alright guys, I am getting a Osage Blank from John. It will come roughly shaped and slightly tillered. Does anyone have any advice on tillering and finishing an Osage Bow
I've only made a handful of bows, but one thing that's made tillering much easier is Eric's Gizmo. Here's a link on how to make one and one that shows his updated design:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000075
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=010329
I would recommend watching Clay Hayes @ twistedstave.com he has a very good osage flat bow build along video. Not only does it cover all the basics and some of the not so basic step, His videos look like they are done by a film crew, with good sound, camera angles and editing. worth the 30 minutes for sure.