New to bow building - need advice

[tomwatson]

Hello everyone, I am thinking about finally building my first bow. I had posted here about two years ago and since that time I have a acquired about six staves from friends, Osage, Hickory, Sassafras, Ash, Red Elm and Black Locust. I also have a nice piece of Red Oak lumber to learn on. What are some required tools to start with (I have a set of cabinet scrapers)? Should I buy a deluxe starter kit from Rudder Bows with an already roughed out bow, Tiller Stick and string to start with? I have also purchased copies of 'The Bent Stick," Bowyers Bible, one and two and Jim Hamm's "Bows and arrows of the native americans."  As far a tackling the staves, should I wait to find someone for instruction?


Tom

[osage outlaw]

You might want to do some research on this site regarding rudderbows.

I think you should grab that hickory or osage stave and start making shavings.  Take pictures and ask questions if you run into problems.  There are a lot of great bowyers on here that can help you along the way.

[Ifrit617]

Sounds like you have a good stash of wood... As far as board bows go, all I use is a rough and fine rasp, scrapers and sandpaper. It's easy to make a tillerin stick out of a old 2x4 in only 1/2 hour or so... There are many people on this site thAt are much more experienced than I am but my best advice is jut go for it and learn as you go... Oh yeah... I wouldnt bother getting the kit from rudderbows.. It's not worth it.

[gstoneberg]

My favorite bow building tool is the draw knife.  I have 2, both from flea markets.  I could do almost everything I do to build a bow with a hatchet, draw knife, round file and hunting knife to use as a scraper.  However, you might want to post your general location.  If somebody is close to you the best way by far to learn is to go visit a bowyer.  There are some big shoots coming up that would be great places to learn.

Good luck,
George

[osage outlaw]

Are you Tom Watson the PGA golfer?

[George Tsoukalas]

Tom, there are buildalongs on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Cameroo]

I wouldn't recommend buying a string and building a bow to fit it.  I would recommend getting some B50 or other string material, and making your own.  If you're going to build bow, you might as well learn to make strings!  There's lots of info on P.A. regarding making a flemish twist string (or whatever type you chose to make).  It's not hard, and a roll of B50 will make you a lot of strings for 10 or 15 bucks!

[JW_Halverson]

And once you master making your own custom bow strings you will have mastered every unprintable word in at least seven languages.  But at least you can count on replacing a string whenever you need to instead of waiting half of deer season for one to come from a retailer!!!

[Auggie]

Don't spend money on stuff you really dont need. Scrapers are every where,old scissors,big kitchen knives,sawzall blades,and a rasp(I love the farriers) can be bought reasonable. Other tools can be found cheap at rummage sales,flea markets ect.Check your local listings for tree trimmers,and arborists,you just might find a good free supply of staves! So with the books you have and everyone on here,whatcha waiting for?

[Badger]

       I use several tecniques depending on the stave. Mostly I use a bandsaw to reduce a stave to rough demensions. I like to use a draw knife to clean up the sides and the back of the bow so I can examine better what I am working with. If the draw knife isn't working well on a piece of wood I go to a rasp and scraper. I like to chase it down to a growth ring on the back and belly just for the sake of getting my wood oriented better and then continue to remove growth rings one at a time until I can floor tiller the stave.
     Another tecnique I saw Tim Baker use and have tried it a couple of times is surprisingly easy. Say osage for instance, clean up the sides of the stave so growth rings are plainly visible then use a series of very small wedges similar to screw drivers in size to "pop" off the back of the stave at a desired growth ring. It never ceases to amaze me how cleanly they pop off if the wedges are accurately placed in an early wood ring and then just tapped in on both sides of the stave a few inches apart. The same tecnique can be used on the belly if you cut in on each side of the handle before splitting off. And then used again by folllowing the radial grain on the sides of the stave. Not as time consuming as one might think and greatly reduces the "physical effort" relies more on patience and finesse.

[George Tsoukalas]

Steve, Tim is amazing! Jawge

[tomwatson]

Thanks everyone, It has taken me  awhile to get things going because my wife and I have finally moved into our own home after many years of apartment living. I want to set my work area up in the basement. I am very lucky to have a wife who shoots archery and hunts with me. I am sure she will want to make her own bow at some time as well. To answer a couple of questions, I always say that my name is Tom Watson, but my golf game is not as good as the original. Yes, I already make my own B50 Flemish strings. I live in Michigan, and I talked to Gary Davis today to see if he still offers classes. He told me that he stopped those a few years ago and said that his video has some good information on it. I will be purchasing that soon. Also, I forgot to mention that I picked up and old draw knife at a antique store about a year ago as well.

Tom

[osage outlaw]

Gary's video should be very helpfull.  I've watched it 3 or 4 times already.

[Buckeye Guy]

Welcome Tom
I will be in Mich. Memorial weekend for the Marshall primitive shoot !
If thats a possibility for you I would be glad to talk to you !
Bring the family 'pitch a tent or come for the day sat. you will enjoy it !!
 (no fg bows allowed )

[tomwatson]

Buckeye guy, I would like to make the shoot in marshall in May. I just need to see if I can get at least one of the days off for it. I am currently scheduled to work the whole weekend as usual. I heard that there is a lot of bow building going on that weekend. Per Gary Davis, I just contacted Marty Tarrett concerning his bow building classes. He told me that he could rough out a bow for my father in-law and me and get the class done in two weekends. He has a weekly class that goes through everything, but It would be hard for me to make the drive out there weekly. I paid a visit to my friend Dick Carrigan this past week. Dick is 85 years young and has been building bows since the 80's. He gave me his 58lb at 26in Ironwood bow that he can no longer shoot. I had always thought about building a bow with him, but I am not sure how much building he does anymore. I know he still makes a lot of arrows.

Tom