Tips for beginner bow making.

[Brent.Mac.]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on the site and I have some questions regarding bow making. 
So I recently cut my first stave, It's either some sort of elm, or hop-hornbeam, the bark is loose and is in narrow strips.  It's rings seem really small.  I split it and started chasing a ring, which I was told after, was a bad idea for such a wood.  I chased a ring along the entire half stave, so should I see how it ends up, or what?

So my first question is, for HHB or elm do I chase a ring?
I am around 5'11 maybe 6ft so how long should my bow end up being? The stave is around the 7ft mark.
If needed how do I "back a bow" and what materials should I use?

Thanks to who ever has answers, bow making is a really interesting hobby for me, I'm 16 and want to start my hobby off right!
If anyone has anything else to recommend I'm happy to take any sort of advice!

Thanks again, Brent.

 

[Buckeye Guy]

Brent
Welcome to PA !!
You came to the right place !
No you don't usually need to chase a ring on hhb or elm !
Finish what you started then post some pictures .
Pick the best end and cut that stave to 68 " to start we may go shorter as we learn more about it & you .
Mane thing is keep talking to us we will help!
if you can let someone know what are you live in maybe we can get you some personal time with someone with experience
Keep it simple keep it fun !
Guy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Elm will have a dark brown heartwood and HHB will have scaley bark, almost like hickory on a much smaller scale. Their leaves are very similar from a few feet away. There is nothing wrong with chasing a ring on any wood as long as you stay on one ring without slipping down to the next one. Some woods are just easier to chase and some require you chase a ring. If you harvest your white wood when the sap is up you can peel the bark and cambium right off on the spot and thats your back. I sometimes go down a ring or two just to get to a thicker ring or maybe a better ratio, thats a preferance only.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Get Paul Comstocks "flyer". It will be worth the few bucks it costs and he will explain all you need to know to harvest and build sturdy whitewood bows. I think its about $10?

[George Tsoukalas]

This may help. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[osage outlaw]

Welcome to PA.  You got some good advice from these folks already.  Check out George's site.  It has a lot of great info.  As far as "backing" a bow, that means that something else is glued to the back of the bow for protection or performance.  Bows can be backed with a lot of stuff like strips of wood, sinew(deer leg tendons), rawhide, burlap, silk, brown paper shopping bags, or the dreaded _fiberglass , just to name a few.  As far as advice for a beginner, browse through the hundreds of pages of bow talk on this site.  You might also want to get a couple of books on bow making.  The Traditional Bowyers Bibles 1-4, Dean Torges Hunting the osage bow, and Paul Comstock The Bent Stick are all great books.  Good luck and keep us posted on your first bow.

[JW_Halverson]

First, figger out how to put all that wood back on the bow.  Then document your procedure and post your technique here on Primitive Archery's Forum.  All of us have been guilty at one time or the other of taking the wrong wood off the bow!

When you first start many of your "mistakes" may end up unfixable.  But as you get more experience, you will go slower and the mistakes you make will all be fixable.  Remember, it's just wood.  Welcome to PA!

[nyarrow]

Brent,

  I'm pretty new to the bow building process myself. I started just last fall but have found it to be a very fun and consuming hobby. My advice from a rookies viewpoint would be...rough things out with a bandsaw, fine tune with a scaper and when tillering don't rush the bow. This is certainly not rocket science. In fact "So easy a caveman can do it". Contrarily, keep in mind our natives did so through thousands of years of experience. So expect the wood to break even when you think it shouldn't. My ultimate advice would be to know you will fail. Regardless of how technical and critical you are along the way, wood is somewhat unpredictable (especially at our skill level). So when you pour your heart and soul and 40+ mans hours into a piece of wood that explodes in your face, pick your self up, learn from it and start again!

[johnston]

Brent if you "recently" cut your stave it ain't ready to be a bow yet. Nothing wrong with working it to shape but don't put much bending pressure on it. It has to cure.

Welcome to PA.

Lane

[Keenan]

 Brent welcome to PA, As stated there are many top notch bowyers on here that will help your journey to becoming a bowyer. Some great advice already given. As Lane just said, your wood needs to be "Cured" So if it's not dry you will need to wait a while. Don't hesitate to ask all the questions you can. Read the bowyers Bibles. 1-4 but at a minimun read number 1.

[Blacktail]

i am just here to say hi...i will let the pros help...john

[Brent.Mac.]

Wow I was not expecting all this feedback! and so soon.  So thanks everyone for their help, I'll try and get some pictures up showing my work so far.  It's been a week, or 2 since I cut the stave and it's been inside the whole time. 
I live in Canada, and work on it at my cottage in Apsley, Ontario.
Where could I buy some sinew, it seems the most authentic.  If I back a bow, do I still need to chase a ring? Or is the sapwood (right under the bark) fine.

Another question, should I just buy a regular bow string?  Or what could I make one out of?

Thanks again for all the help, I'll look around town for Bowyer's Encyclopaedic! 

[TurtleCreek]

Hello Brent...  if you wanted Paul Comstock's "The Bent Stick", PM me your address and it will be on it's way to ya.  I have read it so many times that I almost have it memorized.

[osage outlaw]

Check out the Trading Post section on here.  There is usually someone with sinew up for trade.  If you are going to make bows, you should learn how to make the strings.  For about the price of one string, you can buy a spool of B-50 string material and make dozens of strings.  Check out 3rivers.com, they have just about anything you will ever need and they are great people to deal with.  Plus, I think they are a sponser of this site.

[Brent.Mac.]

So I worked on my bow again on Sunday, I forgot a camera so no photos...
however I've learned quite a bit, but I think I rushed it. So I had to fix some problems with my handle placement, so now the bow is only 58"
So hopefully it comes out somewhat able to shoot!  I'm glad it actually looks like a bow!
I still have to tiller and slim it down but it bends a bit with no cracks!
For my next one I'm going to draw out all the lines first, and only have 2" or less on either side of centre for the handle, instead of 3.5
Maybe even back it with something!

Brent M.