My wife and I are expecting our first child next week (due on opening day of deer season, no less) and I wanted to make something for him. Here’s Baby Charlie’s bow. The bow is red oak finished with 4 coats of Tru-Oil followed by shellac. It is 20 ¼ inches nock to nock. It pulls a massive 6 pounds at 7 inches. Everything is scaled down to average baby sizes (I’ve calculated that a typical baby’s draw length is around 7 inches. If that ever comes up on Jeopardy!, now you know. ).
The point is novaculite wrapped on with artificial sinew. I would have liked to have gotten it a little smaller to keep with the scale, but this is the best I can do with my knapping skills. I had a very difficult time getting such a thin arrow to accept the point as the wood kept splitting. I tried using a sharp knife to create a small notch in the shaft using very light pressure. A trip to our friendly neighborhood emergency room and three stitches later, I have determined that this is not necessarily the best approach. What ended up working pretty well was using a thin X-acto saw blade to create a kerf then putting the end of the arrow in boiling water for a couple minutes to soften the wood. Fletching is from a turkey I shot a couple seasons ago.
This bow will help decorate his room, but I’m looking forward to the time that I can make him a larger, more normal sized bow and enjoy shooting and hunting with him. Thanks for looking.
