First finished and mini-review of bow making course

How to make a Bow, a String or a Set of Arrows. Making equipment & tools for use in Traditional Archery and Bowhunting.

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flyonline
Posts: 90
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2016 7:18 pm
Location: NE Vic

First finished and mini-review of bow making course

#1 Post by flyonline » Tue Oct 11, 2016 1:00 pm

After posting here a few months ago, Neil (Nezwin) got in touch with me and gave me a few pointers, ideas and suggestions via here and email. After a few back and forths, he mentioned that he was running a bowmaking course scheduled in October. A quick chat with the good half about the possibility of a w/e off from baby wrangling (she's just returned to work and often works w/e) and I was signed up.

It was about this time that I managed to source a huge stash of Osage trees that had been felled from a fence line. A few door knocks and phone calls later I had the ok to 'take as much as you like'. The weekend before the course was a long w/e for me, so I conned my dad in helping me for 1/2 a day of harvesting the logs from the piles of trees pushed up together and I went back and spent another 1/2 day a couple of days later taking out what I couldn't get on the first day. In all I made 4 trips with the ute loaded to the gunwales which was kind of fitting given the amount of water around, I even got a little stuck and was thinking I'd have to give the farmer a ring for a tow by tractor.
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This is most of the bigger logs, I have not quite this much again of longer thinner stuff that might be useful for split staves and other uses.

Neil had mentioned the possibility of me bringing some logs up to mill into boards, so I volunteered to bring up as much as I could safely, both to share between us and beyond. One of the reasons the farmer was happy for me to take it was that I had told her it was going elsewhere as well.

Friday night I loaded up the ute, but given the state of the roads (flooding in NSW and water EVERYWHERE else) I kept it safe and took 6 or 7 of the bigger logs up. The ride was quite smooth given the ton or so of weight in the back :lol:

After an early start I arrived safely and a little early on saturday morning. After meeting Neil and the other course participants, Neil went through the 2 days outline, explaining the steps required in each session finishing with a bow ready to shoot the following afternoon. We also received a printed booklet with a whole host on info on bows, bowmaking in general, as well as specific info for the course on bowmaking with a red oak board. As the range of the 6 participants experience was from zero knowledge through to highly experienced trad shooters (but never built bows) Neil was able to tailor each persons bow to their personal prefences/experience. I opted for a modern handle and aimed for a mid 20# draw weight, while others opted for a shoot off the hand handle and higher poundage.

All materials and tools were provided, and given the cost of the course was only $155 and we each took home a working bow along with a couple of completed strings I think this was very reasonable. The course was held in the local mens shed, so we were able to use some of their tools as well as having the bench space to spread out a bit.

The first session was marking out the bows, cutting the width and taper profiles and gluing on handles and knock overlays. The afternoon session was making up flemish twist strings and we each managed to make up two strings ready to take home with us. It was good to see this done in person, although I've done similar in the past making furled fly leaders there is nothing like seeing it first hand and being able to ask questions. These were completed the following day with serving and nock points once the bow as finished.

Neil and I then headed to his house to mill up some timber, drink red wine and talk BS for the rest of the afternoon/evening......

Sunday morning was a little harder with a sore head and a loss of an hours sleep due to daylight savings. We started off cut string grooves and fades from the handle block and shaped up the tips and sanded all of the major tool marks out and smoothed the limbs up and radiused the edges ready to start tillering. Unfortunately my bow ended up with one limb somewhat stiffer than the others, so I spent some time with a pair of callipers, a pencil and a farriers rasp taking the thicker/stiffer limb back to match the lighter limb. This was actually quite easy and much easier than I had been expecting, the farriers rasp took off a good amount of timber but with easy control. Once the limbs were close to matched Neil put the bow on the tillering stick and pointed out a few spots to work on and why. A few more repetitions of this and I was close to finished. Watching some of the others, I quickly noticed that 2 things were evident, 1) care in cutting the thickness taper paid off with less time taking it down to the line by hand and b) spending time with the callipers and rasp was a very good way of ending up with quite even limbs. As I'd had to take one limb down a fair amount, I ended up with a lower poundage than I was hoping for, but this was rectified after Neil suggested later to remove 2" from each limb. I did this later at home and ended up with 20# @ 28" and 62" NTN. I was happy with this as a beginner, it would be good to get some learning done on a light bow before progressing to a heavier one once I'd built some form.
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Yes, probably need a little more bend near the handle but I'm happy with it as it is for the moment, and have shot a hundred or so arrows through it already with only a small amount of string follow so far.

Once we were happy with the tiller, we shaped up the handle according to our own preferences and sanded back the timber to achieve a good finish. We then coated the bows in a furniture wax and finished off any loose ends. The last thing to do was shoot an arrow or two and it was a bow!!

Overall I was very impressed with the way in which the course was run, quite casual but with a lot of info available on hand via the booklet as well as Neil's own personal knowledge. What impressed me most was that he never passed his way as gospel or intimated that he knew everything about bowmaking, rather it came across as a man passing on his own experiences on what worked for him to some interested people and that there were other ways that worked for other people. He also brought along a few of his own personal bows to show other methods such as backing, different shapes, handles etc. Neil also did some of the trickier parts for us if we wanted help, such as cutting the fades and rough shaping of the handle for us to finish. Given that almost all of us ended up with a shooting bow at the end of the 2 days (I did leave a little early to tackle the long drive, but expected the couple that were still going when I left to finish) and we all wanted something different, I was highly impressed with Neil's multi-tasking skills! The only thing I would suggest would be the addition of an arrow rest as I shot the vane of one of Neil's arrows, as well as one of my own before I added a velcro rest, even after radiusing the shelf further.

Neil tells me that it looks likely that another will be run later in the year, so if you know someone that might be interested I'd highly recommending them getting in touch with Neil for more info. I doubt that those that have been making bows for a while would get a huge amount out of it, but for a novice like myself it was highly invaluable and I feel confident to tackle both board and self bows in the future.

Thanks again Neil!!

Steve

edit: Dang it, this ended up in the wrong section so mods please move if wanted.

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Nezwin
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Location: Temora, NSW

Re: First finished and mini-review of bow making course

#2 Post by Nezwin » Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:34 pm

Thanks for your kind words, Steve. I am happy to help out other people as & when I can - that is what makes for a healthy community in any hobby or craft.

To clarify, I don't present myself as a bowyer, nor do I organise these courses. The courses are organised & run by the local Council, I just take the lead on the day as a favour to my friend, who is the Community Services Officer. As Steve said, this two-day crash course would have little to interest anyone who has already made a bow but for someone starting out from scratch, you may pick up a trick or two. Anyone who wants to develop their bowmaking craft further I would refer to Tharwa Valley Forge where they can make a more developed bow under the tutelage of a real bowyer.

It was a huge task with 7 bows being built in two days; I was particularly nervous about limbs bending toward the handle/riser sections some wanted. Your tiller is still a bit 'tippy' but it's better than my first bow and something I'm sure you'll continue to improve upon in your second, third & fourth builds :D There were a few that came out not quite as well-tillered as I would like, there were others that came out absolutely spot on. Like you said, much of it came down to the individual and how careful they were in cutting the depth of their limbs.

While building bows from boards can't closely be compared to bows from staves (which is perhaps a better way to get into bow making) I think that for a weekend session for people with a marginal interest in taking 'make a real bow' off of their bucket lists, this should be alright. And like I always say - the only winners are the attendees who enjoyed themselves!

flyonline wrote:Neil and I then headed to his house to mill up some timber, drink red wine and talk BS for the rest of the afternoon/evening......
And it was a great evening, you were most welcome. Some of the best wine I'd had in a while, great company and even better conversation. And enough Osage to last me a lifetime, which is never, ever unwelcome!

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perry
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Location: morayfield qld australia

Re: First finished and mini-review of bow making course

#3 Post by perry » Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:06 am

Very impressive Fella's. Great that the local Council is involved in promoting these Coarse's.

regards Perry
"To my deep morticication my father once said to me, 'You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.' "

- Charles Darwin

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