One of my nephews has seen my bows and has developed a keen interest in archery. For Halloween he decided to be a "Fire Archer" and asked if I would make him a bow. How could I resist? I had a scrap of Ash left over from an English longbow I've nearly finished and decided to turn it into his bow. The final bow is 60" nock to nock and draws 25# @ 25 inches. It is a little long and a little heavy for him (@ 10 yrs old), but he'll grow into it.
The bow is backed with glue-saturated craft paper. I then painted it black (the entire bow, not just the paper). Finally, I painted the flames on the back of the bow.
The riser is a little chunky. I would have liked to have it transition into the limbs a little better. It also could use a better final sanding, but I was pressed for time. I made this bow in just a few evenings of hard work. I think an arrow rest is a must-have for a kid's bow. It makes learning to shoot much easier (and less painful).
I also made the string (which I find very enjoyable). The arrow (I made three) is a dowel with duct tape fletching and duct tape blunt head. When he visits my house I'll let him use real arrows that he can shoot into my hay bales.
I tillered the bow to draw 25# @ 25". The arrows are 24" long, so this is about a 23.5" draw.
I'll post an update when his parents send me a photo of him in his "Fire Archer' costume.
And just for the heck of it, here is my daughter in her costume. Her bow is an unfinished Red Oak recurve (glued on siyahs) that needs to be decorated before Halloween arrives. Back to work!
