In another topic there was some discussion of making a bow with what could be considered an "unconventional" wood.  The topic is here if anyone needs it: http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1587833492.

And a challenge to make such a bow was born.

So what are everyone's thoughts on this?  Should we just plan to use a wood that generally isn't used for bow making?  Other materials?

I think I'm going to take another look at Tim Baker's bow wood list and see what's in the not-so-great bow wood group that I might be able to find.  Initially I think I'll plan for a linen backing.  I've used it before and am familiar with it.

Here’s my plan. Poplar 58-62” sinew backed 2 inch wide limbs at mid limb, Ipe and Padouk riser, high wrist grip, arrow shelf and leather over the handle. It’s coming, just a matter of time. 😀

I've been doing some searching online.  It might be difficult to find something the right size.  I might go with a regular 2X4 as a starting point.  Those are usually pine or something similar.

Eventually  i will join in, but not till  i get a few bows under ky belt. But i just upped myself.  Yesterday i went out and tried my Alaskan chainsaw mill for the 1st time, i can now cut slabs of anysizeup to 10 inch thickness

Currently making one from a bed slat (not sure of my translation here, the wooden thing you put your mattress on... )

A bit short, too thick (for now) and it will be weak but it will work :p

Ha!  That's perfect Caldou!  You've got the first one going.  Let us know how things turn out.

I already have 2 made from this stuff, but using 2 slats with an handle ^^

@Caldou That's cool! Any idea what the bed slats are made from?

@Joe_Meadmaker- If you can make one out of a pine 2x4 that would be awesome. Planning on backing it at all?

Yep, definitely backing it.  I still have a big piece of linen that I used for backing a bow before.  It's not very pretty, but it does the job.  Maybe I'll dye it.

@Morphy : Yes, I'm pretty sure it is made of wood :p Once the lock-down is really over here, I may go to the store to see if they say which kind of wood it is (they don't on Internet...) :)

Caldou wrote on Apr 30^th, 2020 at 6:29pm:

@Morphy : Yes, I'm pretty sure it is made of wood :p

  ;D 

Could Laurel work as a bow wood?

Edit: I actually meant Cherry Laurel which is a different tree
Just read on wikipedia


Quote:

Cherry laurel wood contains a lot of water. It tends to gum up blades while cutting. It tends to split and distort while drying.

So I guess not a good bowwood

AncientCraftwork wrote on May 7^th, 2020 at 4:19pm:

Could Laurel work as a bow wood? Edit: I actually meant Cherry Laurel which is a different tree Just read on wikipedia [quote]Cherry laurel wood contains a lot of water. It tends to gum up blades while cutting. It tends to split and distort while drying.

I wouldn’t discount it totally based on that. Lilac is often rated as one of the best bow woods out there but tends to be a major pain to find a decent piece and season. It will pretty much do everything but dry straight and clean.

Morphy wrote on May 7^th, 2020 at 5:09pm:

AncientCraftwork wrote on May 7th, 2020 at 4:19pm: Could Laurel work as a bow wood? Edit: I actually meant Cherry Laurel which is a different tree Just read on wikipedia [quote]Cherry laurel wood contains a lot of water. It tends to gum up blades while cutting. It tends to split and distort while drying. I wouldn’t discount it totally based on that. Lilac is often rated as one of the best bow woods out there but tends to be a major pain to find a decent piece and season. It will pretty much do everything but dry straight and clean.

Apparently Laurel and Cherry Laurel are sometimes confused. Scary because the first has many edibles while the second is very toxic. I saw someone on the net making a good bow out of standard laurel but not out of cherry laurel. Either way they are not related trees. I think I am not gonna risk it for now.

Right now I am collecting maple, ash and hawthorn staves. Meanwhile I am busy putting together a shaving horse and getting a good ol drawknife from somewhere.

I think I caught the bowmaking bug. The real beauty of harvesting a sustainable material and making something useful out of it dawned on me recently. Plus it's just one more reason to be outside  :)

Lol I’m excited for you bro it’s one pastime you will never regret picking up.

Shaving horses are really cool.  If you ever are looking at a more traditional (or less traditional I guess??  ;) ) vise I highly recommend this.

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Vises/Guitar_Repair_Vise.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2020-05-gp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhtT1BRCiARIsAGlY51LKLIQe_sbBEd8bPewLGrgprWfzTqQVL5tYGxnXsK8tVOtgunOUWVcaAvSbEALw_wcB

That's a great looking vise.  I use one of these: https://www.3riversarchery.com/stave-press.html.  I love it for the drawknife work.  Once the tillering stage is reached, I switch over to a normal vise.

That’s awesome Joe! Never seen that design before makes sense though. I like how they got the point across with a guy using a draw knife on the worlds largest stave ever lol.  Yep that will hold it alright.

One thing about mine is I wish it had a quick lock and release. Like some type of lever you can just pull down to instantly lock back on at the same width after taking wood off the belly. Then use the wheel for bigger adjustments. Still, really like it. Works very well.

I have a question !

Does this : Bamboow is legit for the challenge ? :p

We're not really doing this challenge as a contest.  It's just a fun activity to make a bow from a wood or other material that isn't commonly used for bow making, and see what we all come up with.

I've heard about bamboo and bamboo backed bows before.  I've never used one though.  Your bow definitely has a unique looking design.  I think it fits in with the challenge nicely, but that's for you to decide. :)

Are you able to do a video?  I'd love to see a video of that bow being shot.

Picked up two yard sticks. They are pine 1 3/8" wide and 1/8" thick. Glued them together and shaped my new stave in a pyramid profile. Backed it with onr layer of cheap walmart packing tape. Don't think it will work.
Going to remove the tape, apply tb2 and try two layers of tape. Hoping for 14" draw. Might get ten at 15lbs. Have always been a bit optimistic :)
This is what I have so far

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Ha ha!  That's a fantastic idea walter!!  ;D

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I have a few other projects I need some boards and other wood for.  I need to get a list put together and I'm hoping to go shopping for stuff in the next week or two.  One of the boards will be the 2X4 for my bow in this crazy experiment.

@ joe_meadmaker

Have done a fair amount of framing and know that fir two bys are heavier and usually have straighter grain than pine. Just saying  :whistle:

@walter - Noted.  Although I'll be at the mercy of whatever Lowes happens to have.  I'd actually like to find something with a nice color variance going through it.  If it won't be the strongest bow, maybe it will be pretty.  :)

That’s a great idea lol! Can’t wait to see that thing tillered!

I have made a small 150cm selfbow from a day old cut piece of Ligustrum Vulgare, using a Fiskarts hand hatchet and my victorinox pocket knife knife.

It isn't tillered perfectly nor is it a great work of art. But it took about 3 hours to complete and so far no real dangerous cracks anywhere. Will see how long it lasts.

It draws around 25 pounds at max and it shoots well. I don't know the draw length but it's pretty short. I have made the string from 2 lines of hemp twine and covered it with some wax. This is the first time I've made a bowstring from hemp and it seems to hold up very well. I really like it.

I made a little mistake with the tillering on the side that had knots on them so the bow became a little weaker than I wanted, but I am still very satisfied with what I got.

I also have some Ligustrum I will use for the arrows. Ligistrum grows pretty straight and has many perfect arrow shaped branches. It's a great wood.  So far I've only used the chinese arrows but they are a bit too heavy for this bow. I need some feathers to finish my homemade ligustrum arrows.

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I have a maple, ash and hawthorn stave drying on the right side, and a bundlebow made from ligustrum branches. There's also a yet to made atlatl on this table.

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@ Jauke
I cut a four foot piece of hazel nut a few months ago, put it away and forgot about it. Your bow reminded me of it and inspired me to try to tiller the thing. I have also made several hemp strings years ago. Going to try one of those on the hazel nut. Thanks for posting your work :)

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Morphy wrote on Apr 30^th, 2020 at 3:07pm:

@Caldou That's cool! Any idea what the bed slats are made from?

I went to the store yesterday, and I stand corrected. It may only be polish (or varnish ?), not even wood, since "Vernis" is the only thing written on the label :p

Tips moving even at 20 lbs @ 5".
Here is the yard bow 26lbs @ 5 1/2"

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First one to break, but now I know a pine yard sticks limits and have just purchased two more and better tape. I,ll be back :)

Thats still impressive.

vetryan15 wrote on May 17^th, 2020 at 9:15pm:

Thats still impressive.

the explosion is quite impressive. No stack. No kind of warning. No nothing. Just BOOM!  :o

We had a large branch fall down on my house in a storm, just got one stave to rough tiller, going to start trying to bend it next time.

Hopefully it works , not a perfect stave or wood but seeing as it came down in a storm it could be a comic book style storyline.

Wish me luck

LOL, good luck!

A gift from the nature god, good luck!

Made it this far , natural reflex, 60” staff
Hoping for a 5-6” brace and happy with anything over 20pounds @27-28”
Ideally 45@27
But it’s not easy I’m at the do or die moment where I need to get a string on it and the natural reflex has a few stiff spots
Gentle gentle !!!
If it makes it I have it’s name

WONDERBOW

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C5vqf5Jieiw

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Don’t forget the welding torch and nails when you make Wonderbow.  :)

That's looking interesting.  Can't wait to see the finished version.

I still have to pick up my board for this.  I'm planning to get it this week and will be able to start working on it.

The grain on that yard stick looks way better than I expected. Too bad it broke. Any word on number 2 Walter? Decided on a name yet if you get her shooting?

@ Morphy

#2 is glued, shaped and in the pvc hydrater waiting for this weekend to get backed with hemp fiber. If all goes well (I've never backed a bow) it  will  be tillered by Monday pm. Hows that for optimism ;D

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Thats so cool. I havent even started on my 2nd bow yet.  Did split a nice maple branch that broke from a stofm a couple nights ago.

@ vetryan15

What i miss most about ne is the trees. Love rock and red maples, white and red oaks, white and  black ash, beech and white, black and yellow birch :'(

I have  plenty. Lol. Even though my lot was logged before i purchased it. I just dont have any beech or oaks  on my land. I dont think i could ever live somewhere without trees, i love the cold, and need fire

I finally got out to Lowes.  My first step toward stud-bow has been taken.

There are a couple things to mention with this piece of wood.  I didn't notice at the time of purchase, but there is a pretty good sized knot near the middle of the board.  That's fine though.  I'll just make that the middle and have a solid handle.

What I was mainly looking at when I grabbed this particular board was the rings.  I'm going to put a backing on it, so it doesn't really matter, but I'll be able to get the back of this thing down to one ring.  Unnecessary, but I think pretty cool.

http://beehatmead.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/StudBow1.jpg http://beehatmead.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/StudBow2.jpg

@ joe_meadmaker

Have you decided on length and width dimentions?

I'm going to start with 80 inches in length.  That will allow me to put that knot right in the center and cut off some rough spots on one end.  Hopefully having the limbs a little longer will also take some strain off them.

On the width I'm planning to have it at about 2.5" right off the handle, and then taper down to 1/2 an inch at the tips.  If I cut about an inch off one side of the board, it will put me at that 2.5 mark.  And it will also allow me to get the curve of the rings centered.

Once I start cutting wood away, I'll see if this board has any objections to that plan. :)

I love when the ring orientation  is good enough to “deboard” your board bow. What poundage are you going for Joe?

No specific plans there.  I'm just hoping to keep it over the 30 lb. @ 28" mark.

Currently I'm still working on another project, so it will probably be a couple weeks before I'm able to get started on the bow.  But I'll definitely post images of the progress once I get going.

I broke my 2nd one today. I was going for a 66in, using maple. Testing out the bend on it, and heard a low crack. So i went and finished it off. Right at the handle onto #3. But might be awhile, since i am busy with a huge project now.

If it's in the handle, flatten out the back, Put a lot of glue in the crack, add a layer of wood, use a good wood glue.   

Give it at least 72 hours for the glue to set. 

Round off all the edges, then start wrapping.  I put down a coat of Gorilla glue and wrap at least a couple of inches past where the crack is.  I use twisted nylon line.  Once I have everything wrapped, I wet it and let the glue expand through the wrapping.  Sand lightly.

That should keep the crack from lifting.  Or maybe not.   ;D   

I couldn't see the crack, so iended up just pushing it further till it snapped. Its only my 2nd attempt at a bow, so still learning

Gave up on the hemp fiber backing. The fibers are too short to be worth the bother, so I opted for packing tape. This roll is much stronger than the walmart packing tape. Maybe too strong for a little bow like this.
In this pic the tips are even, but there is a hinge and stiff area, which are gone now. Here I am at 20lbs @ 4" draw. Seems like I should get at least 4 mor inches draw, but think the tape is too strong and the wood is pine. Going for 5" @ 22 lbs.

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Is that the yard stick you were working with?  It looks so thick.

It is two quarter inch sticks glued together.

Just a very.little tillering left to do.
Bow weighs 4.5oz
Drawing 10" @ 22 lbs with a 2" brace. Going to raise brace to 3".
Immediate set 3/8" and 7/16".

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walter wrote on Jun 11^th, 2020 at 9:26pm:

Just a very.little tillering left to do. Bow weighs 4.5oz Drawing 10" @ 22 lbs with a 2" brace. Going to raise brace to 3". Immediate set 3/8" and 7/16".

Fantastic Walter. Really nice job. Any chance of seeing a video of it being shot?

Agreed, fantastic!  And +1 on the request for a video.  That would be super cool if you're able to do one.  :)

Can get the vid, but don't have a clue as to how to get it here :-?
Tech challenged, you bet. I just asked the LP, who was the SO until she promoted herself for reasons unknown to me, but her rambling answer  tells me she does not know either.
So, how do you do this?

BTW, I am going to make some quarter inch dowel arrows for this little bow. I shot it three times with one of the LP,s arrows, which are for a 40 lb bow. They are more than a little too heavy.

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That is awesome.!!!!!!

Wonderbow snapped  :-[

[quote author=775F48495B3A0 link=1588178237/60#60 date=1592158304]Wonderbow snapped  :-[/quote]
I know that feeling. With my 2 bows have broken.


@walter can you show a close up of the handle? If anyone else wants to show one here as well. My first 2 bows the handles i carved different, and thats where mine are snapping

i think the handle on this little bow should only be 3" plus 1" fades, but i made it 4" for some unknown reason  :noidea:
still needs touch up, but i am keeping it in my pvc hydrator cause the relative humidity is a whopping 7%.
worked on a long bow this am and after a couple hours draw weight went down to where i started, but the tips moved about an inch more. put it away also.

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Well my tree has been condemned so I will have and almost endless supply of Eucalyptus wood. The tree is a monster and I must pay homage in some way . A nice bow would be good. Probably mill up a few table and bench slabs too

Mersa wrote on Jun 14^th, 2020 at 10:00pm:

Well my tree has been condemned so I will have and almost endless supply of Eucalyptus wood. The tree is a monster and I must pay homage in some way . A nice bow would be good. Probably mill up a few table and bench slabs too

One of these days we need to do a bow trade. You trade me a eucalyptus bow and I will send you our native Osage bow.  :)

Thanks Walter, really appreciate it..

the ystick bow developed cracks (frets). I tried sanding them out and scraping more wood above and below the frets, but they came back. Think the reason for all the stress in that area on both limbs is the poundage and tape backing, which allowed the 22lbs draw weight.
It was fun making the bows, but i'm not going to spend time making another, although fifteen lbs should work  :)

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Valiant effort Sir!

The whole process is going to take a while, but I started chasing a ring on that stud I bought.  Normally I would cut out the basic shape of the bow first, but I want to see where knots are coming through and if there are any other problems.  I think that will give me a better idea what to do when I cut the bow to length and start shaping it.

http://beehatmead.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/StudBow-1.jpg

I need to get back into building, I’ve been awfully lazy. Might try make that riser for that old set of limbs too.

Oh slinging.org how your challenges keep me busy playing catch up.

Decided to try and bring the ystick bow back to life. It was pulling 22lbs @ 10";  2 1/2" brace height when frets appeared on both limbs at mid limb
I removed more near handle wood, worked the tips down some, and beveled the edges so the belly is sightly wider than the back hoping this would relieve the stress mid limb.
Bow is now pulling 18lbs @ 4". Tips @ 2 1/2".
Going for 18lbs @ 10" draw.

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Cool deal walter!  I'm glad you bumped this topic back to the top.  I replaced my workbench a while back and did some other rearranging in my basement, so the stud-bow I was working on got set to the side and I kind of forgot about it.  I got it back out tonight after seeing your post and will start working on it again.  I'll post another photo as soon as any kind of worthwhile progress is made.

:thumb:

Interesting how they are forced to use wood with such perfect grain so as the avoid warping for a ruler. At least you have that going for you Walter lol. Too bad the wood is one of the worst that can be used. Still awesome idea for a bow.

Problem is it’s not even the back per se that is the issue. It’s fretting under what can only be assumed is a prodigiously small amount of poundage. Pine, you never fail, to never fail. Well done!

I have my poplar bow designed and can’t wait to start once we get moved in and my workshop is back up and running. Yeeeeeee hawwwww.  :D :D :D

My sapling has mostly died off so once it's warmer, I'll be starting on it. I expect to break it VERY quickly, but hey maybe this time I'll get a string on it just before it explodes.

I took a piece of wood from council clippings
The bark looked like hazel but it felt heavier than hazel
edit don't think its hazel, maybe European Mountain Ash, either way, it seems to be a good wood.

A few hours of chopping, a work in progress, but currently #80 at 28'', I think when finished it will be around 70-75.
I can draw this weight. A nice challenge.
It's like a quarterstaff that also shoots arrows. This is my style of bow, a tillered tree trunk.

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Nice one J! Wish I could still pull 70 lbs all day
Finished the ystick bow. Pulls 20lbs @ 10.5". Quarter inch string follow both limbs. Weighs 4 oz.

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Well the heaviest bow I have shot so far is 45 pounds, 75 pounds is a huge jump. I can draw it but I haven't shot it. I need to make appropaite arrows first. But after drawing it 10 times my body said  enough. I'm just going to use it as a muscle trainer first.  I think this is about the highest drawweight I want to go.

Thats a neat little bow too walter !

LOL and thanks :) Soon as I get some arrows made for ystick, I am starting my hazel nut short bow.

Those bows look awesome.  I am still working on my 2nd one its a birch.


Has anyone made or seen the "penobscot bow" aka 'micmac war bow" ? Its from the tribes in my area, its technically a compound wooden bow. Its 2 bows together.  Its wicked.

Abenaki confederation bow. AKA Penobscot war bow.  ;D

Well i think it goes by 1000 different names. Just lucky i was able to spell and say 1/2 these tribe names.  ;D

vetryan15 wrote on Jan 27^th, 2021 at 7:26pm:

Those bows look awesome.  I am still working on my 2nd one its a birch. Has anyone made or seen the "penobscot bow" aka 'micmac war bow" ? Its from the tribes in my area, its technically a compound wooden bow. Its 2 bows together.  Its wicked.

It's definitely an interesting idea for a bow. Makes me wonder if it's effective or even possible to be made as effective as modern primitive bows. That would be a fun project.

That is really neat. I'd seen the concept, but didn't realize it was a native American concept.

Since my area doesnt have very good wood to use. Thats what i read. But it could be wrong. I just dove into that information

Here is where i saw it

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=10369.0

Has pics futher down the thread

I'm not sure what exactly you have up there but Birch and many other hardwoods will make a rocket launcher of a bow once you get the knack for it. Assuming you have it lol.

I have birch, maple, dogwood, and willow.

I read somewhere i really dont remember where. But i do have a few of Jim Hamm books and i remember him saying what i listed as a few. . Since i am still relatively new to this game. I read a ton of information.  But i am aware i gotta be careful with what read. It was probably that senerio, i read it on aforum or something

You guys have sugar maple up there right? I think I remember you saying you were tapping them. Anyways, fantastic bow wood. One of my favorites. Dogwood, depending on the species makes traditional Native American shafts. Those have been used for thousands of years as arrows. So if it's the right kind it sounds like you are all good. So the maple, birch and dogwood are nice to have. Willow is trash and can be burned with no regerts as they say.

Yeh i have sugar maple. The 1st bow i made was maple. I havent seen dogwood around, but i haven't seen any. I read willow was good for arrows. But i dont have any on my land.my current one is a birch, its coming slowly. It looks like i will habe to cut logs and carve down arrows. My thumb plane just showed up today.i almost forgot i do have a ton of white ash growing, most are very small diameter

+1 for thumb planes because I will always upvote thumb planes. My man, my man...

It actually came in yesterday.  Purchased off Amazon,  supposedly shipped from China, but came with a free Mini USB cord.  ;D ;D ;D i was quite confused.  But it will be going into my BOB, but will be something i use often when i start making arrows