"molly" bow dimensions

[mnviking]

can anyone send me the dimensions used to make a molly bow??  would you also please comment on best wood other than yew..such as hickory  .  black walnut??

[BOWMAN53]

Boarriorbow on youtube has a great molle build a long. "Long bow under ten dollars" is the title I believe

[blackhawk]

Need a lot more information than that please. Such as intended draw length and draw weight,the exact wood species you intend to use( osage is best IMHO),bendy handle or stiff handle,etc...the more you tell us exactly what you want to make the better we can help you(there's lots of different "Molly" styles and ratios),and a lil more about your bowmaking experience n be honest.

Oh and welcome to PA!!!

[Weylin]

Blackhawk'll set you straight. Halfeye is a molly veteran, he made a good diagram showing some potential dimensions for a molly. If you search for that on the site I'm sure you'll find it.

[soy]

Welcome! If you are in minisota a and you have some available I'd give it a whirl in the Ironwood... cant help you with dimensions maybe blackhawk has an  idea

[mnviking]

I am thinking about building a bow in the 40-45 ob range at a draw length of 28 inches.  I have a source for hickory and black walnut.   I would also like to build my grandsons a bow and they are 8 and 11 years old.  probably 24-26 inch draw length.  as to my prior experience I have built two takedown recurve bows using the bingham patterns and ea 40 to build the wood/epoxy limbs.  they both turned out to be about 60 pound pull at my draw length of 29 inches.  I have built all the solid cherry cabinets in our recent kitchen remodel.  hope that helps.
thanks
mnviking

[blackhawk]

Your experience with wood working tools will help in shaping the wood,but not in tillering. Tillering is number one when it comes to making selfbows IMHO. And it can take several tries or times to get the basics of it down. Its better to try simple designs first like a straight bend in the handle bow or straight stiff handled bow second. A Molly for your first is a little ambitious,but if you take things slow and take your time tillering it can be done,just not as easily as the ones I previously mentioned. Maybe try the simpler designs first for the bows you wanna make for your grandsons,and do the Molly last so you have s better understanding of how to make a wood bows limbs bend properly. Do as much research on tillering as you can,I can't emphasize that enough. Proper design is prob tied with proper tillering as the two most important factors in selfbow building and volumnes can be and has been written on each. Ok..enough of the fair warnings...

Is your source of wood split staves from trees or kiln dried lumber? Let me know cus that will dictate the dimensions some. Either way if hickory and walnut is all you have available I wood definitely go with the hickory fir the Molly and the bows you wanna make for your grandsons. You will have to keep the hickory dry otherwise it'll take lots if cast robbing set.

[Scaramouche]

Sorry for the ignorance, but what is a molly? Aside from an Irish waitress, that is.

[Mike_H]

Scaramouche, it's short for Mollegabet.  It's among the oldest known bows.

[mnviking]

thanks blackhawk i appreciate your comments and will do some review on tillering.  I had to make some adjustments on the laminated limbs I built for the takedown recurves I built.

I am still interested in determining what the dimensions should be for a 45 pound pull molly

thanks

[blackhawk]

Are you using split staves,or kiln dried quarter sawn lumber? Pics of the wood?

[RyanY]

I'd like to put more emphasis on what blackhawk said concerning tillering. I hate to make assumptions about what you're thinking making a selfbow will be like, but knowing that your previous experience lies in modern laminated bows and your concern for dimensions makes me feel like I should emphasize that there is no cookie cutter formula for making a selfbow. Any dimensions given will simply be a starting point for you to work towards the final product. Any given piece of wood can present certain challenges and through trial and error you will learn to work through these. There can't be enough emphasis on tillering and design for any bow. Even if tiller is perfect, poor design can make a bow fail and vice versa. Take your time and learn to understand how to both of these affect the bow. Many of us will be glad to help you along the way and it sounds like you're quite the craftsman so I'm sure you'll get there. Just some things to keep in mind.

[kevinsmith5]

The Molly I made from quarter sawn red oak was outlined with a 1 1/2" wide 5" long handle, 2" fade to a 3" wide 14" long working limb, a 2" fade, then a 3/4" wide by 12" lever. This was a very dense red oak board I bought from a company that makes custom trim and it started at 7/8" thick. From those dimensions you have to thin and tiller as your wood dictates. I ended up somewhere north of 55 lbs (my scale maxes out at 55, the bow hits there at 23", I draw to 30").