*UPDATE* 48" Red Oak Board bow Completed!!

[skarhand]

Greetings! I am new to the Primitive Archer boards, but I am really excited about trying out bow building. I have been looking for a new hobby that is not too expensive, but still has that cool factor that stamp collecting just doesn't have, lol. For a long time I did chain mail weaving, and while I enjoyed it, the repetitive motion of bending rings with the pliers really started to bother my hands. (10,000 14 gauge stainless steel rings one at a time counts as repetitive right? LOL)

Anyway, I started looking into bow-making a few weeks ago after a friend told me he was making a PVC one for his son. I had recently made a bow for my son who is 7 by cutting a small thumb thick sapling and tying a string to it. After looking at all of your guys beautiful bows and just the sheer wow factor of being able to hand craft something so neat AND useful, I have started my own bow.

I just got a 3/4" x 1.5" x 48" piece of red oak from Lowe's and have been going to town the last few evenings. I got it roughed out last night and glued the riser on. Tonight I'm going to rough out the grip and glue on my backing (fiberglass mesh Sheetrock tape I had left over, unless I can find something cooler around the house this evening).

My hope is to begin my tillering by the weekend. I have a couple starter pics, but I hope to take some more as I go along. I'd love to see any advice that you all might want to throw my way. My biggest question at this point is, are there any "Make sure you do this" before you do that type things I should know? Thanks in advance, and I can't wait to see how my first bow turns out!

[bow101]

Welcome to the Craze.........   I would start out with a longer piece say around 70"

[skarhand]

Thanks! I plan to do a larger one next, my only reason for starting with the 48" is my son's birthday is in 2 weeks and I wanted to see if I could make it for him in time.

[Blaflair2]

Good luck and welcome. 48" would be ok for a lighter poundage for a child I'm sure

[Onebowonder]

You are wise to back it, ...especially since it will be for your kid, but there are lot's of cooler things to use instead of Fglass tape.  Raw hide would be awesome, ...and comes pretty cheap if there is a pet store nearby!  Just soak and unroll a large chew toy!

OneBow

[skarhand]

How do you glue the rawhide to it? I was just planning on gluing a couple strips of the fiberglass mesh with some of the Tight-bond II I used on the riser.

Can rawhide be glued on the same way?

[turtle]

Yes. Any of the tite bonds works well with rawhid. The raw hide should be soaked in water to be plyable before gluing down. Linen or silk would work as a backing also.

[Ifrit617]

If your gonna glue on a riser I would keep draw length around 20" with red oak.

Jon

[bubby]

it's only got to be about 1/4" thick for a kids bow, unless he's 10 & up, if you don't have rawhide I've backed little kids bows with cammo material, works great and they like the cammo

[Blaflair2]

Camp duct tape works 

[Traxx]

From what i can see,i dont think a backing in needed,if you dont want one.

Have a look at this thread by Rich.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,37748.0.html

[hedgeapple]

From what i can see,i dont think a backing in needed,if you dont want one.

Have a look at this thread by Rich.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,37748.0.html

First Rich is a very experienced bowyer. Second, he's using an ironwood stave not a red oak board. Third he's not building it for a kid who might abuse the bow or let some "big kid" draw it passed it's limits. Fourth, Rich is building a bend through the handle bow not a stiff handled bow with a glued on riser. I don't see how your link has anything to do with what Skarhand is trying to build.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but we are talking about a child's safe here.

[skarhand]

So I stopped a couple places on my way home from work last night but didn't find anything to use as backer for the $3 in my pocket, LOL. So I just decided to use the tape I already had. I got the riser roughed in and the backing glued on. Hopefully, the 24 hours I am leaving it will be enough to get me to where I can start tillering this evening.

Here is where I left it last night:




And my inspiration (one of them, lol):

[Traxx]

Somehow I missed the part about the glued on riser,the first time i read it.
As to the rest of it,sometimes,people make wway to big a deal about buildin bows on these sites.This aint rocket science guys.I think we often dont give new people near enough credit and confidence to be able to figure things out.Rich's tutorial,is pretty explanatory i thought.

[bushboy]

This is how I would lay it out if this helps.make sure your riser transition is smooth into the fade like I drew it or it may pop off,maybe not with a kids bow but it's a good habit to get into.good luck!