Been experimenting with mollegabet inspired designs lately, out of lumber sitting around.
72” ntn heat treated hickory pulling 55# at 28”, 2” in width tapering slightly to 1.75”.
Also a 68” ntn heat treated sugar maple bow pulling 60# at 29”. Same 2” max width tapering to 1.75”. While the hickory was definitely overbuilt, I was able to get more performance out of the sugar maple. Snappy and fun to shoot.
i was sliding the hatchet up and down the stave but it took a lot of wood from the knot. is it possible to save from here? it is at the back of the bow
hello. this is my first time bow building. the stave is a plum tree around 57 inches. im in the middle of shaping the bow. this knot at the side of the bow which i choose to be my upper limb. i am guessing i can shave it off but then the limbs might get so small. what should i do? any tips since i am new to this hobby? i appreciate your time
I’m working with a 68” Osage stave, and this is my first bow after a failed red oak board bow several years ago. 1 1/2” at widest near fades, 1/2” tips
I’m going for a pyramid design, and I’ve done a few dry heat bends to try to work out kinks in the Osage so far. Not sure when I’ll be ready for stringing the bow or if I’m venturing into the danger zone with potential hinges/flat spots. Last time I got this far I went way too thin and ended up with an underwhelming/underpowered rawhide backed maple mollegabet. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.
Here's 4 mongol bows that I finished tillering last summer. Decoration in birch bark joined end to end, varnished with a mix of boiled linseed and tung oil. Note that the horn side is also covered with bark, like the originals. Everything done with hideglue. The sidestrips are separate pieces of painted bark (oil as a medium), like in the originals.
The overarching theme / inspiration of this season's decoration was Liu Guandao's Khubilai Khan Hunting scene painting, currently housed in the National Palace Museum, Taipeh. 3 of the bows have more grip reflex to give them similar curvy profile as in the painting. The other one has less, like the actual archeological finds.
Cross-sections like the originals, rectangular wood, convex horn. All bows 130 ntn along the back, max drawlenght 33". The black one with the rainbow-like bark is 110#@32", while the others range from 63-75#@32".
Braced pictures follow once I made the strings before they go to their new homes. My tillering string is ratty as hell.
Overall work time per bow was about 120-140 hours. Particularly the extremely precise cuts and joining of the decoration in the original fashion was a timesink.
Bonus picture at the end: Last year's bows
Hey all. Seeing all the bows with snakeskin back i decided to put one on my bow as well. Problem is, here where i live there are no snakes. It is also not easy to get a real snakeskin. Thats where the photo-transfere comes into place. I used this technique to create an graffitti-bow the other day. Just printed some snake-skin samples and transfered them on the wood, finished with lineseed oil varnish.
I was make a about 38inch 27pounds at 15 inch drew long ash bow the bow is about the three finger wide. For the paint I use Acrylic pigments and I want the colors and the pattern have own meaning, so I want you guys help me for that.
Also the arrow is make from bamboo, electric tape, and out lair of paracord for the fleaching.
Hi all,
I've been lurking for a while, watching videos and even read The Bowyer's Bible, volume 1... I've been wanting to make a bow, but until now haven't had anything other than saplings.
This morning, I literally found an Elm tree on the side walk. Must have come down during the wind last night and the fire department had cut it up.
The log I rescued is 61" long, and approx 6" across it's width, after splitting in two.
6" seems like enough wood to split it once more, giving me 3" wide staves. Am I leaving too little margen for error and other unforeseen problems?
Any other thoughts or advice for a first attempt, or more specifically about this log are much appreciated.
Cheers
Just something neat I ran across on YootToob. I really appreciated the use of horn. Hope y'all enjoy.
Hi there. I’m an 18-year-old guy from Spain just getting started in the wonderful world of archery, but I’m finding it a real uphill battle because it’s very difficult to find good wood here. In my area—the north—the most common woods available are ash, white or red oak, and elm. The problem is, I understand that oak is quite tricky to work with; you have to follow the grain very precisely, and it’s a very hard wood. I don’t have professional woodworking equipment. Even so, I visited the only two sawmills in my city: they don’t process ash because it isn't widely used in furniture making, and the little oak they do have is cut across the grain—the opposite of what we need. As for elm, it isn't currently being used either, and an infestation has made it harder to find. The only wood I can get is pine or fir, which are far too soft for making a bow. I’ve tried sourcing ash from the mountains, but I don’t have the equipment to season it properly. I don’t want to wait two years only to have the bow snap after all that work. The only imported option is hickory, but a single stave costs 200 euros. I don’t know what to do; I’m on the verge of giving up.
Unfortunately did the composite bow not make it, without realizing i made the siyahs too aggressive causing instability and twisted itself to death. Besides that was the bow also way too strong. Measured 80@22 before it deconstructed itself.
The core was torn apart suggesting the glueups held for the most part and bends were good.
This already fixed two issues I had with previous attempts. Next should be much tamer and lighter
Looking into getting my first farriers rasp and draw knife, would you guys recommend a get something brand new or find something older on a place like eBay? And is there anything specific I should watch out for or I should watch for?
I have zero bow experience. Am an avid hunter with a rifle however. Cutting to the point I'd like to bow hunt and my grandpa gave me his old bow and it is a Mountaineer brand. (Doing some research I see that parts can be hard to find lol) It definitely needs some work and some parts (I think)... but here's my question. With zero context behind bow hunting/building/archery, what should I do. I discovered the "frankenbow" which would be buying other parts and kitting it out otherwise, which I'm open to. Honestly since it was his and now mine I'd love to restore/kit it up and learn to shoot/hunt with it. I don't have much of a concern for budget and buying replacement parts or whatever, but what would a vet in my shoes suggest. Will answer any questions and can provide a photo of it if requested. Thanks!
Hello! I bought this piece of ash yesterday, with the goal to build my first bow - im going for max 25lbs at 29”. Should i approach it like a stave, using the 1 3/4 with as the back of my bow? And if i do - is it necessary to chase a growth ring concidering im a very beginner bowyer and archer? The grain is fairly straight, so i could probably cut a couple millimeters off and have a new back with only summer wood.
I know its a bit short, but im just gonna go with what i have until my stave harvest is dry
Thankful for your opinions
Going to attempt a simple board bow. I am a wheelbow shooter that recently started shooting trad. My toddler is fascinated with the longbow. His 2nd birthday is in a month and I want to make him a bow. He wont shoot it without help and I know its mostly going to be a wall hanger memento and I am cool with that. Mostly its an excuse to make something for him and see if I enjoy the process.
Thinking something in the 40inch 10lb@12 range could be fun with some rubber blunt flu flus.
I found this oak board at the local store and I think I did ok. I need some experienced eyes to tell me if I picked an ok piece and how to decide which face should be the back.
Thanks!
A very overwhelmed and excited dad
I split and sealed my first black locust staves recently. After doing some reading I saw that people recommend leaving the bark on and sealing the ends. Some of the bark was removed during splitting and it concerns me.
Should I spot seal those areas, leave them be, or do something different?
I got my hands of some great norwegian juniper, and I see that you have to use backing. It says sinew or rawhide, but I don’t have that. What alternatives can I use?
Elm pyramid flatbow, inspired by holmegaard.
It currently feels like it would be around 40-50 pound at full draw, I'd like to land around 22 pound.
My first first attempt broke, bit spongey and spalted elm. The second elm piece I dried this winter seems cleaner, but more twisted, with both tips going sideways off to the same side. As if designed it to avoid the archers paradox. (Like a banana that's a bit harder to eat because you rotated it sideways instead of towards you?)
Also, when drawing the string back, the handle really wants to rotate, until I string it back far enough and it become stable. Is the wood too twisted and mean to become a half decent bow?
The last image shows my best guess but I might be way off.
I recently got this hickory board bow completed while my pile of osage is drying out. This one is a 65” hickory with very mild reflexed tips, pulling 30# @ 27”. It has a red oak handle and red oak tip overlays as accents. The handle is wrapped with buckskin leather while the string is D97 and has beaver fur silencers. It’s going to a friend who got me into hunting, which lead into getting back into archery, which then lead into wanting to learn how to build bows. They’ve never shot traditional bows before so it’s made light at 30# on purpose. Here’s to hoping it lasts thousands of fun shots for them!
If anyone sees any flaws or things that can be improved on with the tiller or anything in general, please shoot your advice on over.
