Best Board Bow Designs

[Travis]

What are your recommendations for the best designs for a board bow? While I'm trying to find good trees to start seasoning I broke down and bought some boards at Mendards the other day. I found a 1" x 6" maple, 1" x 4" red oak and 1" x 2" hickory. All of the boards are 6' long. I'd like the final bow to be between 45# and 60# if possible. The maple and hickory have a few run offs but overall very straight and the red oak is almost perfect. I could almost follow a ring on that if I wanted.

Thanks,

Travis

[bubby]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35312.msg464947.html#msg464947

[bubby]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,15690.msg216670.html#msg216670


An alb works great too. There is really no one better than the other

[willie]

There is really no one better than the other

I suppose that some designs are better than others for different purposes, at least that what I think bubby is trying to say.

Better for shooting heavy or light arrows? better for target or hunting? better for ease of building?

[Travis]

Thanks for the tutorials, those will be very helpful!

An alb works great too.

What is alb? Sorry I'm somewhat new to this.

I guess I was looking for feedback or preferences to overall style of bow rather than ease of building. I realize it probably depends on what the end goals are for the bow.

Travis

[willie]

different styles are not always  necessarily relegated to boards or stave, especially if you have a board that you can chase a ring on. I suppose that some historical recreations might dictate a stave over a board, but boards do lend themselves to pyramid bows with constant thickness limbs. What do you have to work with for tools? Table saw, or just hand tools?

[bradsmith2010]

I like just a plain D bow ,, bend in the hande,,,but I think I am in the minority,,
I dont like to glue a handle on either,, I just keep it simple with a board bow,, looks a little bit like a Cherokee war bow,, or war bow inspired,,

[bubby]

Certain woods may have advantages with some styles i think you can build anything with a good hard maple or hickory board but red oak has limitations. What i consider a alb is a bow say 70" ttt with 2" fades and a parallel taper width wise till a foot from the tips then it tapers to 1/2" tips, search ferrets board bow build and it should come up

[Travis]

With D bows do you find that they have more hand shock?

What do you have to work with for tools? Table saw, or just hand tools?

I have a table saw, and some hand tools (rasps, drawknife, planes, scrapers, etc..) So I should be able to rip the boards and get quite a few bows I would think.

Certain woods may have advantages with some styles i think you can build anything with a good hard maple or hickory board but red oak has limitations. What i consider a alb is a bow say 70" ttt with 2" fades and a parallel taper width wise till a foot from the tips then it tapers to 1/2" tips, search ferrets board bow build and it should come up

Does ALB = American Longbow? I see what you mean, I think that may be a good option for the red oak board. I would eventually like to try a recurve, but want to get a couple under by belt and shooting first.

Travis

[Stick Bender]

There is a good simple design for a bend in the handle bow out of a board in the back of TBB 4  I made one out of red oak , I made my first usable hunting board bow from Paul Comstocks book the bent stick , the one in the back of TBB 4  I made & shooting in a week end when I didn't have much experience , I think the bend in the handle bows are underrated as a first bow , I learned & still learning a lot from making them  I think because of the simple design they force you to concentrate on what makes a bow a bow  Good luck with what ever design you decide on.

[Stick Bender]

I posted at the same time you did  & didn't see your question but with my limited experience the white wood d bows that I made had very little hand shock but the first osage one I made was a little shocky tell I learned how to tiller out and lighten the tips  if you don't make them to round in the handle & shoot with a loose grip there's  not a lot of hand shock  I personally think they make you a better archer because they make you concentrate on form but that's just my 2 cents. 

[bubby]

Yes make the red oak working limbs 2" wide you will get 2 bows from that make the handle 4" long and 2" fades. I'll send a drawing for you

[bubby]

[George Tsoukalas]

I like bend in the handle board bows and these gays I rip the board to 1 3/8 inches.
http://traditionalarchery101.com/boardbowbuildalong.html
Jawge

[bubby]

a well built bendy isn't shocky either to answer your question