Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Joseph on January 17, 2016, 07:28:01 pm
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Hi All
I'm a teenage australian getting into self wood bow making.
I have done a lot of pvc bows, with recurving, heat treating etc.
Is it too naive to say that I want to start with an osage self recurve bow for my first?
Attached is a bow I kind of want to make
I have made a very similar pvc bow that ended up around 45 pounds, so yeah.
Also I would really appreciate if anyone gave me tips or anything.
Can you use power tools e.g. belt sander, Bandsaw on a bow?
Thanks
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Welcome first. I would go for the middle profile. Go slow. For that reason I would avoid power tools. Have fun, but go slow. Post pics and many will help. Did I mention go slow?
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Thanks man
This forum is great
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Just for the record, nothing you did building pvc bows will transfer to a wood bow, do #2 in the pic if you want a static, get it tillered and bending to around 20" before you recurve the tips so there aren't any suprises, boil/steam the tips with that kind of bend and good luck
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Welcome to PA. Going with hand tools would be a good idea. Tillering with a belt sander can be risky if you aren't familiar with them. A bandsaw can save a lot of time roughing out a bow but one mistake could ruin it. If you are experienced with power tools give it a try but be careful.
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Thanks guys.
Just a question, how much to limbs taper from the handle to the tips?
I'm looking for a up to 50pound draw weight
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Welcome.
Are you on ozbow? There's plenty of locally applicable material, and plenty of people who may be close enough to help you out in person.
I started on red oak and spotted gum boards from Masters, Bunnings etc.
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Hey cadet
Yeah im on ozbow. Does gum work well?
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Hi welcome to PA , I might suggest picking up a copy of Paul Comstocks book the Bent Stick ,I built my first usable bow buy reading that book, its cheap to buy & well worth it, I also agree that working with PVC has little to do with wood bows as far as tools go I am a 30yr experienced Cabinet/furniture maker & have a complete mill shop but when making a bow the band saw is the only power tool I use but even that isn't necessary you can make a wood bow with very few tools what is necessary is persistence & a preparation for failure not saying you will but wood & learning the craft can be finicky I am also a new bow maker & have made 5 bows 2 of them blew up on the tillering stick but learned a lot from failures,your in the right place to start, you have all the help you need at your finger tips Welcome aboard.
Regards Ritchie
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Welcome to the PA.Beware of the bow making disease bud......lol.Sounds like you got it already though.
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The biggest hurdle for most folks is learning how to tiller...you can start with a nice thickness taper,but after that your still going to have to remove wood in isolated stiff areas as wood isnt like the man made materials that are consistent from end to end...you will find stiff stubborn spots along the way....do a lot of reading and research on the ways to tiller,and put most of your focus on that for right now....
The other aspect is design,but thats easy..all ya have to do is ask here and folks can give ya strating rough dimensions for about anything your heart desires....but it all comes down to your hands executing it which will take practice,and quite a bit of trial and error....dont be upset if it doesnt turn out the way ya want it the first 50+ times.
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Check my site for more.
Jawge
http://traditionalarchery101.com/
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Hey Joe, Welcome.
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Welcome, Joe. Most of the best advice has already been given but I have been building bows for two years and I guess the advice I'd want to give you is be patient and take your time. The temptation will be there to compare yourself to the bowyers on this forum but I would advise that you do not, at least not in the beginning. I never made a pvc bow so I don't know how much experience from that would transfer but after 2 years I'm still not ready for recurves. Counting my failures, I have made eight bows, 5 bows that have lasted the construction process but they are ghastly looking things compared to what's put up on this forum. Still I'm proud of them. For books, I would recommend the Traditional Bowyer's Bible series, if you only have money for one, buy the first one. You also mentioned you're from Australia. I don't know if they have Osage orange there and if they do not, I would not recommend that for your first wooden bow attempt. Get something that's easily accessible in your area. For me, red oak is the easiest wood for me to use because I can find it in several hardware stores near my area and I have found more straight grained material in red oak than any other form of lumber and I do not have access to wooded areas to collect tree split staves. Plus, expect mistakes, so if your heart is set on Osage, it might become a real expensive hobby to get a good bow out of it if you break the first couple. I would stay away from power tools when you're still beginning. The only power tool I use is a bandsaw and I only use it to rough out the stave into a bow blank simply because I do not have unlimited time to spend on building bows but for every other part of the bow building process I use hand tools. A farrier's rasp, a Japanese saw rasp, a Nicholson four-in-one rasp, and a sharpened paint scraper for a scraper are the tools I use most. Experiment and use what works best for you. Good Luck.
Aaron
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Hi im a Youngster too cool to see some more young blood here. some of the old fellas can be gruff >:D >:D
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Hey cadet
Yeah im on ozbow. Does gum work well?
I've only made a couple from spotted gum, but they seem ok. As with any board, the grain flow MUST be good - be prepared to go to more than one outlet and reject dozens of boards before you find one worth using. It also has an annoying tendency to interlocked grain, making working with the grain difficult when one layer's going one way, the next the other - sharp tools and light cuts to avoid tearout, unless using rasps.
The willingness and ability to cut and split staves will open up more possibilities. Yew is rare to find here, but elm and a few others grow in the eastern states; osage can be found wild in parts of NSW; not sure about over west though.
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Haha it looks like i just got schooled by some more experienced bowyers
I think ill just make a pyramid bow.
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http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.0.html
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Hey Bubby
Thanks alot
When I'm done i'll probably post some photos
Wood might be a bit difficult to find as masters just crashed
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Has Masters actually closed its doors? Or are they still trading pending sale/restructure?
Never mind: plenty of spotted gum at many of the independent hardware stores.
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welcome. second bow is the one you might want to try in the pic. to use power tools or not ?, thats up to you. i personally feel that if they were around wayyyy back, theyd of been used! however just once you have to try with just all hand tools non power, and once you have the hang of it its fun giving it a try with stone/bone/shell/ect tools. Tony
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Have you got privet growing there, it makes a decent bow
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Nah no privet. All there is is some paperbark trees and pine, so, not really suitable for anything.
Masters has terminated their phone number anyway, so I might go check today :(
Ill try to make one out of either ironbark or gum, whichever has the best grain.
Can You laminate bows with floor laminate?
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welcome. second bow is the one you might want to try in the pic. to use power tools or not ?, thats up to you. i personally feel that if they were around wayyyy back, theyd of been used! however just once you have to try with just all hand tools non power, and once you have the hang of it its fun giving it a try with stone/bone/shell/ect tools. Tony
Hey do you guys actually use stone/bone/shell tools? like legit?
Man, I watched a documentary on commercial bow making and the amount of machining they use, you would assume the bow would be good quality but some bows I've seen on here **AhGordonem** would best them by miles.
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i have. actually i use some in conjunction with steel hand tools, theres just placxes that a round piece of sand stone fits better on a limb with character than any file or knife, or rasp does.and yes occasionally a belt sander. lol most my arrows are made from natural materials with natural materials. a number of years ago there was a fella named Jamie on here who made a elm bow with all stone bone ect tools. it inspired me so i made a ash bow with like tools. as long as you work it green no problem. i still kind of remember his post about how hard working the elm was, hence my thought of using a ash sapling. lol anyways, yea give it a shot. it takes a little bit of time. but its not like work unless you make it that way. i enjoyed making that ash bow little by little. Tony
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Nice bro
Must be difficult
If this wood archery trend stays with me then I might try that
someday
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http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35727.0.html
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Pretty sic bro
It'll be a long time before I start trying that
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I have never tried stone or bone tools but it interests me you can build a bow Joe for about $50 or less worth of tools fairly easy ,rasp,cabinet scraper ,sand paper etc was what I used on my very first bow it turned out nice !
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Thing is, I am planning to make most of my bows at my high school since they already have all expensive tools and such
It's a really wood/metal work centred school, so we have rasps and draw knives.
Again, I might try it someday
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this is the post i was referring too. he used all stone tools on elm.http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,5854.0.html Tony