His "wooden stave" was a beetle and he used a wedge made of antler to split the wood. To do this make or get a wedge made of a harder material than the wood you are cutting and place it on the wood along the grain and lightly tap it in with a soft hammer (called a beetle when hammering a wedge) to make an indent in the wood. One you are satisfied that it's straight then bash is as hard as you want to almost split to wood at that point. To move onto the next spot you want to beetle place the wedge into the edge of the split you've already made and bash away. One you get a split along the length of the wood split the ends all the way through and pull the wood apart. I've done this with a hatchet, and the technique is almost the same with a beetle and wedge.

You're going to have to buy a hacking knife and hammer, froe and hammer, or wedge and mallet if you don't use a splitting axe.
Edited:

Thanks for the quick responses guys.I realize that a knotted stick is unlikely to make a successful bow.I have had a hard time finding a good hardwood that is free of knots in my area.I haven't been deep in to the woods but I've been looking around my area and neighborhood for a while.

I was hoping to not spend any money for my project but i understand now that i have to since i don't have any type of bone/antler tools.

Also i bought 3 books from amazon.

Vol.1 Of the Bowyers Bible.
Making Indian Bows and Arrows The old Way
And I think the last one was called Traditional Archery or something like that.

I'm hoping to get into archery and at the same time keep my interest in slinging.


I tried splitting the wood yesterday with a pocket knife and a stick i've been using as a hammer/baton thing and i ended up slicing my finger and creating quite a gash so i probably am in need of some better tools.I have no idea where to get a hacking knife but i'll probably pick up a cheap hatchet up at ace.From that video does anyone understand how he created the edges on those stone tools?Those dont look like stone you can flake, i may be wrong though.


Also has anyone attempted a bundle bow? I may just try one of those until my books come in

Knots can be coped with , but require special treatment.  Osage is notorious for having knots, and you have to leave plenty of material around the Knot...Leaving it reinforced.
A deep knot that goes well into the wood.... I fear nothing will save such a stave.

"Board" bows are relatively easy to construct, I've done several.  However, "an ordinary 2X4" is NOT what you use.    Pine is a particularly poor bow wood.
Normally, the choice for hardware-store lumber is oak.  Second would be maple, and ash is a possibility if your stores have it.

The trick is finding a board with the right grain structure.    You are unlikely to find a perfect board to work with, but it doesn't hurt to look.  If the grain is OK but less-than-perfect, a backing can be applied.    Silk or linen works well... My silk-backed oak bow still shoots fine.  I used a couple of old silk neckties from the Goodwill.
All this will be covered in your books; the first volume of the bowyer's bible will cover this in detail.

What is the importance of letting wood season?And how long does it take?

Thanks Bill

I got my books today.the seasoning process takes at least a year! Any suggestions?What is a board bow?Also how did you all learn wood identification?

Key wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2010 at 6:39pm:

Red Oak has a pinkish tinge to it, but more importantly Lowes puts a sign next to it that says "Red Oak." I've never made a bow, ever. But if I wanted to build something out of wood with the highest strength possible and the least chance of splitting when bent then this is what I'd look for (in order of importance):

• no knots
• straight grain, not slanted to the side
• Straight board with no warping, or the least possible warping
• 1 single color of wood on the board

Knots are hard to work around, and the wood near a knot is weaker. When the grain of the board is slanted to one side the board is more likely to split  when flexed. Warped board can be straightened to a degree, but you want to start with the straightest possible board before straightening. Heartwood, which is at the center of the tree, behaves differently when flexed than outer wood. Having one type isn't really important, but the different behavior in flexion can lead to different properties when aged. Advanced bowyers can take advantage of heartwood and use it to make the bow perform better, but it'll take you a while to be that good of a bowyer.