new to bow making!!! here is what im gonna attempt to do !!!

[Shooter_G22]

ok i am new to this board so... greatings to all... and i am new to bow making... other than when i was a kid and put a mason line on a branch and shot kyte dowels with a dart tip at cardboard or the occasinal tree...lol...

i have tried to make a couple of self bows out of red oak from lowes and then i bought a plain sawn pecan ruff board 2"x6"x9'2"  i cut about 1 3/4 rip down the plank and soo the staff was about 2"x1 3/4"x110    i then cut it down to 2 staves one 58" long and the other 52" long i then carved to self bows and they both snaped during the tillering process while trying to get a full draw... and actually the 58" er    snaped during the tillering and then the 52"er  snaped after i had already finished the thing shot it about a little over 200 times and then i fine sanded and then polycoated it and then it snaped after i tried to get a longer draw.. i was shooting it at about 24 1/2" draw and tehn tried a full draw of 26 1/2" draw and it craked and soo i superglued the crack and now its cracked in several places and i have tried to super glue here and ther and now i give up on it!!!


but today i took the remains of the plank to a hard wood mill and the charged me 24 bucks to cut it up to several rip cuts i now have..    four:  1/2" rips   and    five:  1/8" rips    all quater sawn rips of 2" wide and 110" long...


****  ok here is what im going to try and do... ***

 mind you that the rips are 2" wide and that is about how wide i want the limbs at the widest points


i cut one 1/2" rip to about 58" long

and then 1/8"  rip also 58" long

and then i bought some fiberglass cloth at lowes like for baot repair.. it is 3' x 3'

and i cut 2:   2" x 3' fiberglass cloth strips...

sooo what im going to try and do is glue up the stave with 1/2" piece and the 2 pieces of fibercloth in between the 1/2" piece and the 1/8" piece for a backing...

but *** here is my question****   i didnt know what to use for my glue sooo i used the fiberglass resin epoxy like for boat repair or car bondo type stuff it is a fiberglass resin and then the hardiner is a little tube that you drop in by the drop...  its like 7 drops of hardener to 1 once of resin....   will this epoxy resin work for a glue??    *** a glue from wood to fibercloth to wood???
i have one stave claped up now and im anxios to see if it will work...   also that epxoy or marine test was sooo slopy to work with... lol... and i didnt even get to glue up the extra peice for the handle soo im still even going to be able to work that stave tomorrow but


my question is will that marine text or epoxy work for my glue purpose or did i make a big messy boo-boo..    




 

[Jesse]

You might want to go a little longer for the first few. Also we try not to talk about  fiberglass on this site as this is primitive archery and the line has to be drawn somewhere Dont be offended I did the same thing not knowing when I joined
Welcome aboard there is a lot of experienced bowyers on here that can help you greatly.
Jesse

[Pat B]

Shooter,  Welcome aboard!       First of all, like Jesse said, you need to start out longer...68". The width is fine for now. Learn how to tiller then you can challenge yourself to see how short you can get. Learning to tiller is what will allow you to make bows. You have the best wood bow builders in the world at your fingertips here on PA. Ask questions, take the advice and you will be successfully building bows before you know it.
   For glue, you can use almost any carpenters glue. Most here prefer Tite BondIII. It will work on almost any wood bow application. Probably the best wood on wood glue is Urac185 from the Nelson Co.        Pat

[Badbill]

Like Pat and Jesse said, start out a little longer, go slow.  I've read a lot of stories on here about people either over drawing their own bow or letting someone with a longer draw length draw their bow and breaking it. Don't draw past the draw length that you have originally tillered the bow.

[Kegan]

Make it longer for the draw, wider for the weight, and forget fibergalss. It's a hassle, and one of the first "real" bows I tried to build I backed the same way you did, but it was so short it snapped right through the fiberglass.

If you really wanted such a short bow, then you might consider sinew backing it. Short bows like sinew.

[wally]

Hi shooter
    I've made several bows, but one was from Ipe decking board that people with money use here. It is south american hardwood and I managed to afford just one board. Made the bow as I went along, no real design.
       It is about 3/8 thick 1 1/4 wide at centre and about 5/8 at tips. No handle just a flat bit of wood. A bowyer friend told me when I finished that it would end up round my neck as the grain structure was wrong. I don't know that much about grain structure, but I respect him and so backed it with sinew (and wasn't that a lot of fun!). Afterwards I decided to decorate it with red dyed fish skin on top of that, and I think it looks good. And it shoots good too. It's 50lb at 28" with a hemp string on it.
Got some good photo's of it and if anyone can explain, in primitive language, how to upload them I'll post them up.

[Shooter_G22]

ok  i worked on the stave today of 58" that i glued up yesterday...  and i glued up another 58" stave and is in clamps today...
   i went ahead and glued up the 2nd stave becuase i had already cut it  to the shorty 58" length yesterday befor i had posted the orignal msg...

sooo the only thing i can do now is try and get a functional bow of the two staves that i had already pre cut yesteday...

another thing is i have enough material to make 2 more staves of longer length but i just cant see myself hunting with a long 68" bow... 

and one of the main reasons i'm trying to learn how to make bows well enough to hunt with is soo that me and my younger cousins can start bow hunting...   we rifle hunt every yr togather as much as posible and  we have been wanting to get into bow hunting... but i know my cousins and they wont go out and buy a bow they'ed rather wait for rifle season...   lol..

but i have always wanted to master bow making or maybe not "master it"  but i will not rest until i produce  bows well enough to hunt with...  lol...  might be crazy to some people... and i have already heard all kinds of crap from my girl... like "why dont you just go buy a bow!!!  hell go put one on lay away.. find one in a pawn shop... and everything alse in betwen... she gets real upset when she see's me spending the money on stuff to build em'  and then says stuff like could you have bought one allready made with the amount of cash you put into buying all this stuff...

hmmm... errrrrr...   it dont work that way i reply;...lol...

she just dont understand!!! damn it!!!     i got to make it myself!!! lol...

and then i sure did feel like the a donkey face when it snapped....

but im gonna try and try... until i get some bows made...lol...

anyways now that i started seeing how close i am to making something that might work this time i dont see myself not making bows from now on..

and i know im cheatin a little on these by adding the fiberglass but i have to produce some thing that will work this go around and then i wil go back to trying a more primitive one... maybe a one piece bodark stave... i got my little niephew and the boys on there paintball team that i coach and take out and do woodsman training lookng all around now for horse apple trees in the woods around our area... they have reported of one finding.... soo we will be hittin that tree up later in the future i promisse to post pics up of the stuff were gonna be doing...

and i will have to see if we can even trim a piece off that tree with out hurting it too bad... will need advice on that as well...  i will be pretty active on this msg board if thats ok with all you guys and know i will need a lot of advice and guidance on my way to getting where i want to be...

im just gald to be apart or member of this board and i'm gald to be amongst the best bowers in the world

thanks guys...  and i will be posting up pics ltr...

[Dane]

If your girlfriend doesnt get why we love to build bows instead of just buying a nice new shiny factory bow, have her spend some time here, look at the caliber of the work of people like Pat B, Manny, Orcbow, Gordon, Frank, Bernie, and the rest. She may start to understand the allure of building wooden bows then, and why we love to make things with our hands, the satisfaction of hunting or target shooting with your own gear, etc.

You dont have to spend a lot too. Just a few basic hand tools (farriers rasp, wood rasp, files, hand saw, small hatchet, cabinet scraper can be all you will need), and invest in a red oak board from Lowes or Home Deport, and get to work. Get some advice here about selecting the right kind of board, so the grain configuration is right to get a successful bow, and making a sting is an easy thing. Some scrap leather from a thrift store or leather store for a handle, and you have a one of a kind hunting bow you made yourself.

The best advice is to go slow, take your time, learn from what you do wrong, and enjoy yourself. Nothing better than spending some time in the shop by youself creating a deadly thing of beauty.

Dane

[Pat B]

Nobody on this site wants to see you fail and become discouraged at wood bow making. Our goal is to give you the best chance to succeed!  As of today, I'd be willing to bet(and I'm not a betting person) that you will not be able to make a bow that you will be able to hunt with this year. It would be unethical for you to try for this year. IMO
  If you will listen to the folks here on PA and follow the lessons that most of us have put many years of trial and error and many, many failures and successes you should be able to make a successful hunting weight bow by next years season. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk!
   You can build successful bows with the 58" staves you have now. Take the time to learn proper tillering, the proper use of tools and materials and the proper design for specific woods and bow types with these staves. Take the 58" staves and make a well tillered bows, and forget about what weight you come out with. I'm sure there are plenty of young folks near you that would love to shoot them, no matter what the weight is. Even you can learn proper shooting form and the trajectory of the arrows you shoot between now and next hunting season if you are serious about hunting with the bow you make. Between now and next hunting season you should shoot almost every day to become good enough with a bow to be able to hunt with it ethically. 
   A general rule for building a wood bow for you is to take your draw length, multiply that by 2 and add 10% to 20%. This will give you a good beginning point. From there determine what is the most appropriate design for the wood you are using.
   I have hunted many times with 68" bows...from tree stands primarily.  If you prepare your tree stand properly, you could hunt with a 75", 100# war bow even though that would not be practical. Anything is possible with proper preparation. A longer bow is easier to shoot because it is more stable to shoot. I've been shooting bows for over 30 years and it took me almost a year to learn to shoot a 60" static recurve I built because I had to concentrate on every shot, every aspect of my form and be sure I got a good release.   Just because our type of archery is simple, it doesn't mean it is easy!!!!!
   Please take the time to listen to the folks here on PA and I guarantee you will have a hunt worthy bow by next season.  Pat

[sailordad]

shooterg22

you came to the right place and you are already getting grat advise.
listen to what dane said,ya dont need to spend alot on tools to make a bow heck you can even make scrapers etc instead of buying them.

also great advise from Patb. you have to crawl before you can walk is excellent advise. ive only been doing this for a year now. thanks to all the great people on here ihave attempted to make 7 bows,had 5 turn out to be excellent shooters,would they all make great hunting bows. no way ,some are too light in draw weight.
however thanks to the people here i have learned to tiller properly. i am currently focusing my time on making my first bow that is intended for hunting and i got to
say that with advise i get and lots of PATIENCE  i do believe that in the next couple of weeks i should have it finished and ready to hunt with.
i also agree that you should practice shooting on a regular basis,you know what they say "practice makes perfection"

good luck and ask lots and lots of questions and post lots and lots of pics they help to get the right advise

                                                                                    peace,
                                                                                           tim

[Shooter_G22]

ok i have photo's  how do i add them?

i worked all day on this bow and then i thought i had it all done and then when i was test firing it...   it craked and splintered up...  but whew it was just the backing and i had a full draw out a little past 28  with a 58" bow i thought that was pretty good but then it snaped...

i have pics soo i need to post them to find out what i did wrong and what to do next???

[sailordad]

28" draw from a 58" bow

that may be why it cracked,did it have grain run off on the back?

[Jesse]

I put my pics in photobucket then just click on the last option imgcode and paste it in my post . That way you dont need to worry about resizing or anything.

[Shooter_G22]

no not really i dont think soo i mean im no expert but it had the grains run off on the sides of course becuase of the taper of the limb... but from center nock to center nock it had pretty much the same grain almost i think let me go check...well its not perfecly straight and yea it has a bit grain run off.. but on one side off the nock same grain makes it over to the other side of the bow about an inch away from tip...but i just followed it real quick sooo it looks like some otf the grains might make it all the way accross...
does that make a real big differanc i mean at first look it looks like pretty dame straingt gran all the way down i mean there is two shades of color in the wood that splits the back damn near perfect down the middle...

[Shooter_G22]

what is photobucket    i have them on my mypics folder in my documents... how do i get them on the post???