Very new to bow making need help please

[Nagantman]

Hey i'm new to the forum and new to bow making and to put it bluntly i don't know much. I did watch Bill Bergers videos on how to make a bow but i'm still a bit lost i had cut down an oak tree the other day that is about 5 inches in diameter and after i chopped it down i cut it at about 7ft it is a straight log and i split it the old fashioned way with wedges etc and my stave isnt completely straight, also i don't see any growth rings on it i don't know why but i haven't seen any on both ends. So i would greatly appreciate if some of you guys would be able to enlighten me some and also i live in CT

[tattoo dave]

Welcome to PA! All my bows are board bows, wish I could help ya, sorry. But don't worry, somebody will jump in with some input. Again, welcome to PA, and lookin forward to seeing your first bow.

Tattoo Dave 

[Nagantman]

Okay thanks i appreciate it   

[Weylin]

luckily you have lots of time to read, research and connect with local bowyers before your stave will be ready to work. It needs to dry out to the point that it is equalized with the surrounding humidity which will take months. (Not sure exactly how long oak takes to dry out...) The Traditional Bowyers Bibles are a great place to start reading but nothing beats hanging out with some friendly people that have a lot of experience. My advice is to be patient and ask lots of questions. Welcome to PA and have fun!

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

Welcome to PA, you have come to the right place for bow making. The rule of thumb that I follow is to let the stave dry for 1 year per inch of thickness to stay on the safe side, so to cut that time down you can cut the rough shape of the bow until it is ready to floor tiller and than clamp/tape/lash the bow to a form so that it does not look like a pretzel when it is done drying. The form can be a long plank or a lolycolumn or whatever, once it is dry you cab fix minor deviations with heat bending

[Nagantman]

Okay thanks and do u think i should could and split a few more staves in the meantime since im 90% sure my first bow is not gonna be good and i will need more staves  also oak is a fine bow wood right, i dont need the best just something acceptable and also what tools should i get right know i pretty much just have a hatchet  so i know i need a draw knife which i have to order soon since the only place i can buy one in CT is around 40 minutes away

[Weylin]

I'd say there's no harm in splitting some more staves so they can start drying. As for tools, a hatchets a great place to start for roughing out the bow. My advice would be to wait on the draw knife, i wouldn't call then essential on a whitewood bow where the back will the first growth ring under the bark. Most people use them for chasing growth rings to find a back but that won't be neccessary for you. There are better tools for a beginner to use for removing wood from the belly than a draw knife. In inexperienced hands (like mine) draw knives can be both dangerous to the bow and dangerous to you. I would get a coarse rasp for taking wood off and a card scraper for fine tuning the tiller. It's slower going but much less likely that you'll ruin your bow in a stroke or two. Other than that you'll need some kind of rattail file to cut the nocks (assuming you're doing self nocks). And some sand paper to take out all the tool marks. That's my two cents. I'm a relative beginner with only a few bows under my belt but I have made them with those simple hand tools that I listed. I'm sure more experienced people will chime in as well.

[Slackbunny]

Oak is just fine, my first and third bows were made from oak, and the only problems with them are ones that I caused. If you get impatient waiting for those staves to dry, go to your local lumber supply and pick up an oak board, they're nice and cheap, and any place that carries any kind of hardwood will have them. Board bows are a bit easier to learn the basics on in my opinion.

[Postman]

welcome! Yep - slackbunny is right - go to Jawge's site on the "How to's and buildalongs" BEFORE you buy a board -  and make a few board bows till your stave (or staves - cutting them is addictive... )dries. You have a lot of effort in that stave, and you'll be glad you did a few boards first

[Lone500]

Ya what postman said. Ive got a few staves cut but its gonna take a while for them to dry. so im getting some strings/arrows going as well and im probably going to pick up a board to make a board bow with soon.

[George Tsoukalas]

See if this helps. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Nagantman]

Okay Weylin, ill check it out George, and gotcha lone and postman haha, Thanks a lot guys i really appreciate the help its nice to know i found a legitimate website for discussing this type of thing

[JW_Halverson]

Actually, you hit on a sore spot.  You are not allowed to post here until you have made more bows than all of us combined.  And even then, we are still the only repositories of the one true faith in bowmaking.
 

I get the biggest kick in here when someone tries something different or out of their comfort zone.  First thing they do is post the results, if they don't post a build-along as they go!  The willingness to share often expensive and hard won knowledge is amazing.  There is not much of the "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you" attitude in here. 

All we ask of you Nagantman is that you pass it along to someone else.  Whether it's loaning tools, offering staves, or your time and experience...just share the passion.
 

[Nagantman]

Haha well yeah i wanted to ask before i tried having no idea and posting a picture of scratched and cracked limbs xD and i love that there isn't that much of the tell and kill attitude lol and yes I most certainly will, i'm only 15 so it would be nice to convince my friends to stray from the beaten path and try something unique or a bit different.

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

It is nice to see some other young archers carrying this tradition on, I am thirteen and working on 2 bows but I have the opportunity to make some small wedges for splitting logs over this weekend or the next and if you need a few just pm me your info and we can get you started in a week or 2.
P.S.if you happen to stumble across an extra draw knife on your search throw it in the trading post and I'll try 2 snag it. So good luck and don't be discouraged if you break this first bow. I've been helping my uncle build bows for 4 years now and he had a pile of shame in his shop from all the mistakes but it may soon become a lumberyard of shame at the rate that he (an experienced bowyer)   Breakes bows