First boo-bow. A practice project.
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:33 am
Heya.
I was an avid (but totally raw) archer as a young kid (It wasn't till years later that I realised I had been stringing my recurve backwards). Fast forward to a mates 40th birthday party where, in our cups we reminisced over the target shooting we used to do (.22 rifles mainly). I mentioned that I'd love to get back into it but not with rifles. Bows seemed a lot more affordable than I remembered and archery might be the way to go. Well. The following year when my 40th rolled around my mate had a gift for me Back in to the sport again.
Anyway. Enough background. I love archery and I love working with my hands. Since I found the lively culture of bowmaking, I've been itching to get started in it. Cue a good year or more reading everything I could on the subject - inspecting every build-along I can (ozbow, tradgang), reading the suggestions and tips, perusing kit suppliers (Ausbow, Binghams etc) I ran across an article suggesting that for a beginner, bamboo floorboarding was a good starting material. Make that a few articles. So...
I've tried my hand at making a simple boo-board flatbow. Primarily to start practicing the techniques involved. However, given my point of view and the type of resources I had on, I thought that there may be some value in documenting and sharing the build progress. Mainly so that I can show what I have done so as to solicit critique and suggestions, but also to show what a person with little (read: 'no') experience can do Hopefully to encourage other wanabe bowmakers to just get in and get started (or to point out what not to do - as the case may be).
I'm more than a little self conscious posting my beginner attempt on this site - given the quality of some of the projects I've seen but. Like I said, I'm hoping that there is some value in this post.
Starting resources.
websites:
OzBow - http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/
TradGang - http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
Stickbow - http://www.stickbow.com/features/index. ... owbuilding
How to make bows and staff - http://poorfolkbows.com/
and the post that got me started.
Boo-board bow - http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.p ... 96&start=0
Magazines/Books:
Primative Archer magazine - http://www.primitivearcher.com/
The Design and Construction of Composite Long (Flat) Bows by John Clark - http://www.ausbow.com.au/books.html
Supply companies:
Ausbow Industries - http://www.ausbow.com.au/longbows.htm
Bingham Projects - http://www.binghamprojects.com/
Acers Timber Flooring - http://www.acersgrouponline.com/
Acers timber flooring is where I got my boo boards from. They're conveniently just 2 doors over from Eagle Archery in Slacks Creek, SE Qld. The boards, while not the best, were only about $10 each. More on that in a bit.
I was an avid (but totally raw) archer as a young kid (It wasn't till years later that I realised I had been stringing my recurve backwards). Fast forward to a mates 40th birthday party where, in our cups we reminisced over the target shooting we used to do (.22 rifles mainly). I mentioned that I'd love to get back into it but not with rifles. Bows seemed a lot more affordable than I remembered and archery might be the way to go. Well. The following year when my 40th rolled around my mate had a gift for me Back in to the sport again.
Anyway. Enough background. I love archery and I love working with my hands. Since I found the lively culture of bowmaking, I've been itching to get started in it. Cue a good year or more reading everything I could on the subject - inspecting every build-along I can (ozbow, tradgang), reading the suggestions and tips, perusing kit suppliers (Ausbow, Binghams etc) I ran across an article suggesting that for a beginner, bamboo floorboarding was a good starting material. Make that a few articles. So...
I've tried my hand at making a simple boo-board flatbow. Primarily to start practicing the techniques involved. However, given my point of view and the type of resources I had on, I thought that there may be some value in documenting and sharing the build progress. Mainly so that I can show what I have done so as to solicit critique and suggestions, but also to show what a person with little (read: 'no') experience can do Hopefully to encourage other wanabe bowmakers to just get in and get started (or to point out what not to do - as the case may be).
I'm more than a little self conscious posting my beginner attempt on this site - given the quality of some of the projects I've seen but. Like I said, I'm hoping that there is some value in this post.
Starting resources.
websites:
OzBow - http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/
TradGang - http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
Stickbow - http://www.stickbow.com/features/index. ... owbuilding
How to make bows and staff - http://poorfolkbows.com/
and the post that got me started.
Boo-board bow - http://www.ozbow.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.p ... 96&start=0
Magazines/Books:
Primative Archer magazine - http://www.primitivearcher.com/
The Design and Construction of Composite Long (Flat) Bows by John Clark - http://www.ausbow.com.au/books.html
Supply companies:
Ausbow Industries - http://www.ausbow.com.au/longbows.htm
Bingham Projects - http://www.binghamprojects.com/
Acers Timber Flooring - http://www.acersgrouponline.com/
Acers timber flooring is where I got my boo boards from. They're conveniently just 2 doors over from Eagle Archery in Slacks Creek, SE Qld. The boards, while not the best, were only about $10 each. More on that in a bit.