Newbie bow makers...

[looseplucker]

Good advice there - which I am following this weekend by investing in some vertical boo flooring - I think I found a source in Dickson, ACT.

[TomMcDonald]

Let us know if the source is a good one.

[pdccr]

Just bought 3 hardwood floorboards, short and not very good grain but o well.

[looseplucker]

Will do Tom

[pdccr]

Here they are,

Image000.jpg (50.24 KiB) Viewed 4603 times

The first one is 1.3, 1.4 then the last is 1.6 metres. Grain is not that flash on all of them, doubt they will make a good bow but my aim is 25#.

[rodlonq]

bamboo is grate but if its hard to come by dont dwell on it just go to bunnings at tuggers bunnings they have both blue gum and spotty gum, both good bow woods. and heck i have made a 25# @ 29" bow from pine (a slat from my old futon base, it had 6 nail holes in it) it all comes down to design more than anything.

Good point ichiban,

Where does one learn about the design aspects of bow making? Are there rules of thumb for tapers and lengths, or do specific design elements exist for specific bow types.

I have looked around a bit and there are a lot of very good posts on bowyering techniques but not so much on the actual dimensions a bow should finish at. I guess a lot of you have learnt by making several bows, examining the results of your efforts, and then fine tuning thicknesses, widths etc.

To all,

Well done to everyone that contributes to the threads on bow making (and trad craft in general), your words are truly inspirational.

Cheers, Rod

[longbow steve]

There are a few instructional DVD's available for specific all wood bow designs but I recomend reading the Bowyers Bibles 1234 to get a good base of knowledge. Steve

[Glenn]

Limb design is everything, what works for one species may not be very good for another. Reading books and watching DVD's is good to get you started and give you the fundamentals of bow building. Read as many authors as you can and work out what works for you and what doesen't, the best teacher is experience, don't be afraid to fail as failure can be the best teacher...Glenn...

[looseplucker]

Well I took the plunge on the weekend and got a vertical bamboo plank from Bunnings - cost me the princely sum of 8 bucks - 72" long and about 3.5" wide or so. My boy has been after a new bow since his other one broke and I was amazed at how nice this stuff was to work. I cut a piece about 52" long and a bit over an inch wide, glued on a riser and shaped the profile. Will tiller it this evening and will go for about 15-20# at his draw length - and I have enough left over to make a slightly more robust one for myself, which I'll back with hickory.

Kimall, this is a great thread - I wish I'd got onto the bamboo earlier - might have saved a lot of blood, sweat, tears and blasphemy.

[ichiban]

hehe told you, and as far as i have seen boo wont chrissal

[kez]

Looseplucker, with your kids bow did you keep a flat profile or go for a rounded-eliptical shape as Kimall did for his children. if flat what dimensions did your tapers start and finish with. seriously thinking of giving it go also this coming w/end. Live in Brisbane and after coming home from the Medieval Festival the conversations from the kids were nothing else except about bows, bows. will see if the local Bunnings here stocks the boards.

[looseplucker]

Kez - its got a rounded back and then out to the tips its practically a D shape. At the flares its about 30mm odd wide - about half that at the tips.

I'll measure it tonight with the digital calipers and post the correct dimensions tomorrow.

I did back it last night with some calico - for durability if nothing else.

[kez]

Looseplucker-Thanks will await the info. With the riser did you use another timber? and any issue about glueing on the riser. interested in seeing a photo if you have one-suspect you are likely to start a trend here for quick turn around kids bows!

[looseplucker]

No worries Kez.

Can't do a photo as the leader of the oppositon is in Melbourne with the kids and took it with her.

For the riser I just used a piece of the bamboo from the offcut. Glued it on with CA Techniglue which I finds works ok with boo.

No credit to me- it all belongs to Kimall who started it with the initial post - and damn good advice it was too.

[looseplucker]

Kez

Dimensons of this kids obw - it pulls 18#@20" - bit of follow, but I bend it back against itself and it straightens out - probably sounds like blasphemy

Length: 1320.8mm ntn

Thickness at true centre: 32.3mm
thickness 254mm (10") from true centre: 11.6mm
thickness 381mm(15") from true centre 11mm
thickness at tips - 8mm

Width at flares- 27mm
width at 254mm(10") from true centre: 23mm
width at 381mm (15")from true centre -20mm
width at tips 13mm

All measurements have been rounded up and bear in mind there is 2 layers of calico backing on this bow.

I probably would go for something wider next time, given the follow, - but I was working off the pull weight of the bow that William used at the club last time (15#).

Mind you, I shot it this morning at 15yards with POC 11/32 arrows that are spined for my longbow (45#) and by gee, it shot nice.

[kez]

excellent info, much apprecaited. just need to find some stocks of boo here in Brisbane which is becoming very difficult.
good to see you were pleased with your own work-always gives a lot of satisfaction!
Kez

[looseplucker]

No worries Kez - I actually went off my boy's dimensions too - he is 51" tall and has a draw of about 20"

So the bow is 52" long (1320.8mm) and the draw weight is per his draw length give or take.

The thickness at true centre is reflective of having glued on a riser from an offcut of the boo when I ripped out the stave - the planks themselves that I got from Bunnings are 2m long by 65mm wide and about 16-17mm thick.

I ripped out a piece that was 27mm wide, which still leaves a stave that is 38mm or so wide and which I will back with hickory and probably deflex-reflex - might go for a length of 66" -68ntn or so. Will post in the next week or so.

In terms of backing with hickory, still tossing up whether the backing should be tapered or parallel in thickness. Any views out there?

[kimall]

Good to see guys you getting into making a few kids bows it is good for the sport and the family.
I haven't made a bow for a while as I injured my shoulder so cant shoot one to test it but will maybe make some sworf this w/end.The bamboo F/B are just so easy to start with you can get a finished shoot-able bow so quickly.

[ichiban]

i persoanaly wouldnt waste (for lack of a better word) hickory on a long bow for your self as hickorys tensile strength isnt needed in a longbow as the back isnt under that much stress could always go with the cheaper spotty gum, its also a very elastic timber (i have a self bow on the way)

[Glenn]

Looseplucker, I normaly glue timber backings on parallel and then taper the backing during the tillering process. Whenever I use a bamboo backing the bamboo has to be preshaped to it final diamansions and tapered before it is glued onto the belly timber. If you don't pretaper the bamboo it will be too thick on the outer limb and the only way to pretaper bamboo properly is to shape it to it's final diamensions...Glenn...

[looseplucker]

Thanks Glenn

I was debating in my mind whether to thickness taper the hickory backing say from 3mm down to 1mm over the length of the limbs - which would be made from a vertical bamboo board.

I was contemplating a bamboo backing from a pole -and have done these in the past, and have used the method that you prescribe here.

Ichi - hickory backings are pretty common on osage and other bows - covered very well in the TBB. The piece of hickory I did get, while being $40 or so when cut into 4 billets the grain alignment meant that the outside billets would be sub-standard for bow limbs themselves - and so were always going to be cut into laminates for backings or even a laminated bow. And the hickory is not wasted - all the chips and dust are saved for the smoker.

[looseplucker]

Had a boo bow go on the weekend

A bamboo floorboard - 66ntn - about 15mm thick at the flares and 3.6cm wide at widest point. Continuous thickness taper to the tip - about 5/16" inch. Width taper from midlimb to about 5/8" at the tip. Backed it with hickory - trapped - thickness taper 2.5mm to 1mm at the tips.

Glued it into standard deflex-reflex. Got it to the short string stage and the reflex in one limb pulled out - so the tiller was way out of whack - even though with the digital calipers it was all within range - 20" brace - bang it broke where the reflex was pulling out.

Bamboo inside seemed a bit 'powdery' - not really decayed but somehow overdried? Ah well plenty more boards at Bunnings.