Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Prarie Bowyer on February 12, 2013, 01:14:23 am
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So I have crested the hump of 55# draw. I finaly got one ofmy trilams to become a bow over 55#. Not ceratin I need to do that again.
The other end of the spectrum is super light weight bows. My 5 year old wants a bow. I'm not certain what to make. I've got Hickory and maple and bamboo.
I'm leaning toward a maple belly with a bamboo core and possibly hickory backing. Or a fabric backing. She still has so much growing and it's going to fast i'm hesitant to make her a killer little bow. Pluss I'mmore woried about not making here club.
I'm thinking bendy handle type. What kind of draw weight should one aim for for a bow that small? And draw length?
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Make a little bendy handle bow and paint it pink, she'll love it more than a trilam with exotic woods lol. I have two girlsand they love anything pink lol.
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My daughter was 5 1/2 when I built her first bow. It was a maple pyramid bow that pulled about 8 pounds at 19". I took a design from George's site and scaled it down.
I built her another about 6 months later; roughly 16 pounds at 20". Stamped some flowers into the leather handle wrap and made it shiny. She loved it.
I learned a couple lessons:
1). Add a shelf. The satisfaction of building a bow for my little girl and how much fun she was having was kinda dimmed when I had to pull pieces of fetching out of her hand.
2). She is a girl (and a 5 yr old girl at that); like Bowman said, make it pretty. Doesn't have to have a flawless finish or fancy exotic woods, but girls like pretty colors, ribbons, maybe beads and feathers and such. She would probably like to see her name on it. Check out the stuff Pat B has done with patterned tissue paper backings; that is perfect for a little girl. Order some pink barred turkey feather feather fletchings, too.
3). She is growing like a weed (I'm sure you realize this every time you buy new shoes and pants!). Design for more draw weight at a longer draw than she is at; she'll pull what she can and keep getting stronger. The alternative is to plan to replace her bow at least once a year (which she'll like, too).
4). She will love it even if it doesn't have a perfectly elliptical profile at full draw. Just make sure it's safe.
Hope it helps.
John
Boise
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John D pretty much summed up what I was going to say. I started all four of mine with that draw weight and length on there fourth b-day. They didn't outgrow them until they were about six and a half. I then made them 12#@19" bows. You can count on a new bow every year after that as they really start to get stronger and more coordinated from then on. Don't be surprised if she just wants to see how far the arrows go for the first year or so. None of my kids cared about hitting anything until they were around six. That's alright though, the main thing is that they be safe and have fun. If you start pushing accuracy right off, then its no fun. When you get within five pounds or within 3 or 4 inches of max draw, don't use anything more aggressive than sandpaper to tiller. Those little bows are touchy to tiller. For arrows, I get some really straight grained 1/4" oak dowels and fletch them up. They are pretty tough and you will be amazed at how far an 8# bow can fling them. Josh
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(http://)Red oak 10#@17" 5/16" poplar dowel arrows.
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Don't be surprised if she just wants to see how far the arrows go for the first year or so. None of my kids cared about hitting anything until they were around six. That's alright though, the main thing is that they be safe and have fun.
LOL! One day I caught her at the top of the slide, preparing to release a volley into the neighbors yard! Make sure you can focus your attention on her while she's practicing :)
Also keep in mind that even though the bow is little, the arrows are little too! I was surprised by Hannah's second bow how zippy it was with her little arrows. I usually make kids fletchings a little large so that if she does a flight test, it won't go too far ;)
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Hey Prairie Bowyer. I've been wanting to ask the same question, only I'm not ready to start them yet. My girls are 5 and 7 and both want Dad to help them make a bow. They are even more impatient then I am. Anybody have any good "projects" to get them a little more involved in the bow building at this age?
My girls are at such a close age they might as well be twins. Only difference, one has everything in pink and the other in purple. So when I get a little experience behind me I was thinking of putting some horsehair tufts on top of their bows with each of them dyed their favorite color. And make them easy to tell apart.
I hope you get alot of input on this thread, and I wish there was an option to save it so I can find it easier. Good luck on their bows and I can't wait to see some pics.
Bird
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I just learned this from Sal over on paleoplanet. Lowe's carries red oak slats 1 1/2"wide x 1/4" thick x 48" long. Go through the stack and select the straight grain ones. Put a small handle in the middle and taper the ends. Add side nocks. It's now a bow. You can modify
by tying on another shorter slat to increase weight. Putting a rest on it will help kids a lot.
You can glue or just tie on a stiff handle. I made one for a friends grand kid who is 9.
He loves it. cheers fiddler49
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I have done that a couple of times. You can also increase the weight by selecting a wider plank to start with. Our Lowes has some 2.5" and 3.5" wide which gives more options on style as well.
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Just did a 48" ocean spray for my 5 year old bow it is tillered to about 17". The diameter of the limb was only about 3/4". I thought a "stick" bow would be great for him to beat around for a while until he gets the hang of not dragging it around on the ground. CMB hooked me up with some tapered shafts and feathers. They come off of that 15lb bow like a missile, my boy really likes that part. If I could figure out how to post pics I would.
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At 5 years old I would make simple slat bow. They outgrow them so fast to spend all the time on a glued riser and overlays is tough. I suggest a 48" long x 1/4" thick slat of hickory that is 1" wide at the handle area narrowing to the tips. Put a nice paint job and grip on it and let her learn archery as she outgrows it.
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I 3rd the slat bow glue on a handle and pyramid taper, made a bunch and they shoot fine
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Get some full quartersawn hickory and make a pyramid design around 48"-52" she will be able to shoot it a long time.
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BigBird, if you want to save a page for future reference, just save that page in your favorite list on your computer's internet control bar at the top of your page. Then you can go to "favorites" and click on that page anytime you want to read it. I have about 50 favorite pages in my "bow" folder in my "favorites" list.
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Thanks guys.
How do you think soft maple would be for a belly?
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I think somebody may have touched on it, but I remember reading somewhere that for a kids bow, you want to overbuild the crap out of it for two reasons.
(1) They are going to beat the bow up, and it needs to be durable to be able to withstand a child's wrath.
(2) If very overbuilt in length and width, then they will be able to grow through the bow slightly slower than if you made it like we make bows for ourselves. As their draw length increases with how tall and strong they are, the bow will compensate easily over time. It's a simple matter to make a few bows, built this way, and have them last from 5-6 all the way until they want to start making their own bows to their liking. With this sort of construction, a bow might last longer than their clothes. :laugh:
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Thanks Hedgeapple. I don't know why I haven't tried that before. Ha, and I thought this old laptop was slow before.
Very helpful posts everyone. I think I'm going to get going on some slat bows this week. My makeshift stave holder thingy broke again so I'm on hold till I get something figured out. My girls have been bugging me daily and I have to keep telling them it will be awhile till I get some practice to make theirs. I want to get them going while they are into it and not get them bored waiting. What is the most durable fletching for kids? Thanks all.
Bird