Help with youth bow design

[Mo_coon-catcher]

My 5 year old, almost 6, nephew found my stash of bows in my room and showed an interest in wanting to shoot one himself. So I took him out with me to watch me ahoot one of mine for a bit. This really peaked his interest in wanting to shoot. So I think over thanksgiving break I'm going to try to get him one built for his birthday on Christmas. My Grampa had my older brother and I out agooting at this age and it was a blast then as much as it is now. So I think it's time to pass on the archery love.

I've got a few ideas for how to setup the bow around. But I would like some more ideas for something he will be able to shoot now comfortably and can also hold up for him as he gets older. It'll definitelt be hickory with a stiff handles and a shelf, probably using 4" for the handle. For the limbs I'm thinking 3/4" wide parallel to mid limb then taper to 3/8" and 24" long. Then tiller out for 20# at 24". I'm not sure whether to reflex to get reasonable performance for the draw or leave it flat. I'm thinking reflex, he won't care but I would be happier if it performs well for a kids bow. I think this should hold him for a while, once he outgrows it I can make him a new one. Then I'll make up a butt load of 1/4" arrows to go with it.
Then I'll keep te bow with me since his parents aren't big into archery like I am, and we've got a good place for him to shoot. Then he can shoot his bow whenever he's at Grama and grampas. I might end up having to make one for Grampa or Grama so they can shoot with him.

So any modifications to this design I should think about before the whittling begins?

Thanks,
Kyle

[JonW]

Should be something he can grow into Kyle. Might be a tad heavy for him now but work on form not necessarily getting it all the way back. A tiny little bow like this should only take YOU thirty minutes to finish.

[bubby]

Most 5 year olds can only comfortably shoot about a 15# bow without major form problems. I would make one an inch wide with a 3" handle and 54" ttt. Kids bows i almost always use a pyramid limb and they end up about 1/4" thick. You can reflex it or flip or recurve the tips but mind the draw weight. Make it 15#@20"

[Knoll]

Having made a "few" for the grand kids/nephews/nieces, found that the "grow into" approach generally does not work. Bow is overbuilt for now. And kids are itching for something new after a year or two.

For 5-6 yr-olds, I make them 48" ttt, 1 to 1 1/4" wide @ fade, glue on a handle riser,  pyramid taper, 10#@16". Thickness ends up approx 1/4".

Good luck!

[JonW]

Mike makes them that way so he can shoot them also

[RBLusthaus]

I made a bunch for my kids and their friends and used Dean Torges kids bow article as a guide.   He recommended taking a flat swan board of 3/4 (I think - check this measurement) hickory and cutting strips (maybe 1/4 inch thick - check this measurement too).  The strips cut from the center of the board will be flat sawn and the strips cut from the edges will be closer to quarter sawn - nope - got that backwards.  Glue a quarter sawn strip to a flat sawn one, add a handle piece, and tiller the width a little and the belly a little, blend the handle fades and you are in business.  The length was 48 inches.  A typical hickory board, 8 feet in length and 7-8 inches wide made upwards of a dozen bows. I think I still have one of the blanks lying around, if you cant find the Torges Article and need the measurements.  The bows finished out between 15 - 35 pounds, depending on how aggressive you tiller the belly. 

They take a little set, but for little kids that just makes it easier to shoot, IMHO.  Also, not one of these bows has broken.  The kids themselves decorated their own - some very extravagantly and other with just shellac.     You will spend more time waiting for the glue to dry and assembling dowel arrows than you think. 

Good Luck.  Russ

[bubby]

Mike makes them that way so he can shoot them also

Lol 😜

[freke]

I have done some child bows during the years, it is really fun to see how happy kids can be.

This weekend I will deliver a birthday gift to my sister daughter recently become six, added picture. really easy and fun to shoot - but if it is light enough for the girl will future tell.  The girl had visit a medieval festival and was so inspired of the shooting that she want a bow - and her cuisine that allready got a bow last year proudly tell her "Jonas can do bows, call him"

[stuckinthemud]

The thing with kids is they grow really quick.  As they grow, so their draw length increases, and as draw length increases, so does the weight of the bow - a draw length of 15# at 20" might be 20# at 22" draw.  If the bow is designed for a draw-length a couple of inches more than their current draw-length then the weight of the bow will grow with the archer, at least for a year or two. 

As far as learning archery technique, I learned with an over-weight bow and my form was awful as I struggled to draw the thing, a clean release and aiming were very much second to letting go as soon as I could. Personally I would advocate tillering the bow to just the right weight, then when they nail the technique, temper the bow to increase its draw weight and punch, but thats just my opinion, and we've all got one of those

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I can take a little something from everyone's suggestions. But from what I can gather. Shrink the design down a bit, keep it simple, and keep my scraper handy to drop weight a bit until he can shoot it if necessary. I might be able to take a little time  this weekend and get a good start on it around work.

Thanks,
Kyle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I got started on whittling on one this morning. I realized I didn't have any auitable pieces of hickory at the moment. But I found a piece of black licust that's 48" long after clean up that I split and made two stages from. I ended up with only 30 minutes to work on it before I had to go to work after I found the piece. But I got the stave split, a ring chased, and started on the front profile, which the split was narrow enough I won't have to remove much wood. The plan is to paper back and trap it and do a bunch of testing before I hand it over for him to use.

I talked to my brother and found out that my nephew is cross dominant, right hand and left eye. I'm going to make the bow ambidextrous. How do you think I should go about teaching him to shoot. Should I get him just and and let him pick which hand or eye is more comfortable or should I guide him I to one or the other

Thanks,
Kyle

[Chris3kilo]

15-20# for 6 year old? What do you feed your kids overthere 

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Well I got Somethibg roughed out at work. I had a slow spell so why not. I roughed it out to 1" wide at the fades tapering to1/2" tips, and 1/4" thick. I've still gotta clean up the lines when I get home to my vice. But at this point it shouldn't take too muchx longer. So far I've got 30 minutes in it this morning and then an hour at work using my weight to clamp it down to my tool box and having frequent interruptions. I think I'll leav it unheatreated for te time being so I can bump up te weigh easily later if need be. I think I'll start with the tiller 20# at 20" maybe 15 pound, and drop the weight for him from there. I will say,  that BL is stiff, I flexed it a bit and if say it would easily pull 30# if I just evened it out.

I'm already thinking about dolling it up a bit since it's his first bow.

Well here's a couple pics.

Kyle

[George Tsoukalas]

I've always made them kid tall, let them bend in the handle and sometimes backed them. Straight grained boards and inch wide work great. You can always do a leather shelf.
Jawge

[lebhuntfish]

Can't wait to see what you get out of that one kyle.
The last kids bow I made was the one on the auction table at mojam.  I think it was 52 inch bendy handle. 25@24. With the smoothness of the bendy handle draw at only 25lbs I think most kids could shoot it.  I think Bendies are the way to go for kids.  Less stress on the limbs as they grow up and the handles are easier for their small hands.

Patrick