Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PAHunter on February 14, 2014, 12:59:21 pm
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I recently completed this red oak bow from a board at Lowes for $5.50 cents. Two guys at my sportsman club are interested in making bows and I did it as an example for them. The bow is 44 @ 28; 68'' tip to tip. Extra cost may include the boards for the handle and the cotton backing, both of which are optional. I think this is a great way for a beginner to start!
Note the handle pic is deceiving as the ruler is lower than the bow. Actual measurements are 2'' for fades and 4'' for handle. handle is 1 1/4 in middle and 1 1/8 on sides.
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The handle wood was glued on with TB II or III and clamped overnight.
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I'm home alone and can't take a draw selfie, so the last braced picture is my DL. Note one limb twists a bit as you draw. Let me know if you have suggestions for fixing that problem. The limb thickness left to right look even. Thanks!
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Nice build along. I'm sure your friends will enjoy it.
If the limb twists as you draw the bow one side of that limb is thicker(stiffer) than the other. Place the edge of the limb between your thumb and fingers and move along the limb. You can feel the thickness change. Now work your hand across the limb and you should feel the difference in thickness from one side to the other. Reduce the thickness from the stiff(thick) side and the twist should disappear.
If you have a tiller gizmo you can run the gizmo down each side of the limb and it will leave a pencil mark where you should remove wood to straighten out the limb twist.
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Cant beat that with an oak board!
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Good looking g bow there rob
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Nice work man. That one looks like an accurate shooter. Great job :)
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Looks good there Rob.... where'd ya find the snakeskin print fabric at?
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Nicely done Sir! I was wondering how those backers looked in that pattern. I believe I'll have to get a few of those. Josh
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thanks guys, I appreciate it! Those are the 3 rivers archery cotton snakeskin backing. They look great but are overpriced at 30 something for one bow. I found this Safari Snakeskin pattern cloth you can buy online. I ordered 2 yards of it for $20 or something; should do a bunch of bows. I'm waiting for it to show up in the mail. I will say the 3 rivers ones do look very nice. after some tru-oil they look real. Guys at my club couldn't tell the difference unless they looked close at the edges.
I built this bow for something lighter to work on my shooting. I kill about 4 deer a year with modern equipment now but I'm putting that on hold to focus all my energy on my first selfbow deer or elk kill. Wish me luck!
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Wow, the things you can do with a simple board of red oak. I want to get started in making bows, and I have a few questions. First thing, what are the dimensions of the board? I want to do something similar and want a board the same size. And second, what are the two woods you used for the handle?
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Start here:
http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm
And here:
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/archer.html
Good luck!
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That worked out pretty nice, I dig it. Well done sir
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Very nice looking! Just made some Red Oak HDepot bows myself (my first) and couldn't be happier. I would echo that this is a great wood for a beginner. On the down side, one of mine twisted badly and I had to trash it - is Red Oak unusually susceptible to this? The other three shoot fine tho. Mine are ELB's backed with Hickory or Maple (25, 35, 50 pds). I find that red oak is almot too easy to work, you can cut through it so fast with a rasp that it is easy to make mistakes.
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Nice bow! My last board bow was red oak and done very simply. Pick a good board and they work great.
George
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That bow is sweet!
The price is right too.
Patrick
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Nicely done, PA Hunter. Jawge
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............."home alone and can't take a draw selfie" Oh No......... ::) Nice build looks great. Never know it was a board.
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I like it you gave me a good idea to make some bows for my 2 nephews.
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Nice job. Its good when you can make a usable bow for $5.50
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That is definitely good use of a red oak board, :). Very nice. One thing though, is you do wanna find better grain than that in red oak. It ain't the toughest in the world in tension. I know it's hard to find even one in a huge stack with good straight tight grain, but the straighter you can find, the better. The bow looks great though.
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Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments! The handle is paduk and another darker red oak board. And no I have not had trouble with red oak twisting other than this one a bit. I'm sure taking some wood off the thicker side would eaven it out nicely. But now I need to focus on a 60+# osage for elk hunting this year! Man I can't wait!!
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Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments! The handle is paduk and another darker red oak board. And no I have not had trouble with red oak twisting other than this one a bit. I'm sure taking some wood off the thicker side would eaven it out nicely. But now I need to focus on a 60+# osage for elk hunting this year! Man I can't wait!!
I hear that. I had about 400 elk run by my house this morning at dawn. That just added fuel to the fire so to speak.
Patrick
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Is that padauk in the handle? It looks really good. I just did one very similar to yours, except mine doesn't have the arrow rest cut into it like yours does.
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Excellent work! My first bow was red oak from Lowes (it took three boards exploding to get one right). I love working with it, think it's a good wood, if done right. Esp for my kids (they grow too fast to be making them anything expensive yet!).
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Thanks much guys! yes Falcon that is paduk and I like the look as well.