Red oak bows

[James Cargile]

Hello everyone I'm learning to make bows and about all I can find to work with around the area I live and an afford is red oak. Any tips or ideas would be helpfull. So far I have made 5 that are decent bows but the draw weights are kinda low. The best one so far is 40#@29 inches. I would like to get a little higher draw weight out of the wood I'm useing .

[loon]

rawhide backing? wider limbs? longer bow? maybe a cable backing, I wish I saw more successful cable backed bows here...
Maybe longish paddle bows ie 68" long

[Hrothgar]

Some big city lumber yards carry ash, maple and hickory boards. If you visited one of these and the attendant is patient enough to let you inspect several boards, this is an option. You might end up having to add a backing strip though.

[James Cargile]

Thanks guys.

[mikebarg]

You can get higher draw weights from red oak. My last red oak bow pulled 43# @ 27". It was pulling around 50# but, I thinned it down more after I got it tillered because I like my bows to be in the mid 40s in draw weight. Sometimes I would come in below my target weight after I get the tiller correct. SO, I started doing the ruff cut limbs thicker. It takes longer to thin them down when tillering but it is less likely that you will come in under weight. 

[bubby]

before we jump the ship what layout have you been using

[Green Mountain Man]

Im working on a Red Oak pyramid bow now,70" 1 3/4" and 5/8" thick at the fades and backed it with fiber glass tape and have it at 44#/28"

[George Tsoukalas]

You can get higher weights. I assume you are using a board?
Choose straight grained stock.
More  on m site.
Jawge
http://traditionalarchery101.com/

[DavidV]

You can make higher weights with red oak you just have to add more width. The standard 1x2 boards kind of limit you though.

These were the dimensions for the last bow I made. I'd go 1 3/4" wide for 50-55#, and the handle could be shortened.

[James Cargile]

The one at 40 was a pyramid style.I have been doing different shapes and I like the pyr the best I think and want to do another one between 45 and 50# now that I'm getting better at tillering or may try a molly. I started out at 3/4 and took it down to 1/2 on the rough and ended up with 5/8 or so and 3/8 at the tips.Lost some draw weight tillering that one and it weighed 40# at 29 inches. Sure has been a learning process and I realy enjoy building bows now that I have had some success at it.I got a new table saw and I made a nig to cut the rough outs on and get straighter lines not having to hand plane everything, but I still like doing it all by hand and staying grounded if you will. Thanks for your feed back. Happy holidays to all.

[James Cargile]

Tried to post a pic but tbis stupid smart phone dont wanna cooperate.

[Jim Davis]

Red oak is good bow wood. It needs to be wide. 1-3/4 would be the minimum I would use at the fades.

Also you guys are missing the biggest advantage ( in fact one of the defining factors) of pyramid bows: They do not taper in thickness. If your limbs taper in thickness, you can probably end up with a good or great bow, but it's a different design, not a pyramid. And, if the sides have a straight taper and the belly tapers, you won't have circular tiller--another defining point of a pyramid design.

I have never liked the term "pyramid" for the design that is called that. The limbs are much closer to an obelisk than a pyramid. I think it would be more useful to call it a straight side taper bow (STB?)

[bubby]

Actually pyramids do have a slight taper when tillered you start with an even tiller but ocer the course of getting it bending it will have a slight taper