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Message started by tomahawk54 on Apr 22nd, 2005 at 5:07pm

Title: Pvc bow
Post by tomahawk54 on Apr 22nd, 2005 at 5:07pm
Hi, new to the forum.

I'm building a pvc short bow. I cut a 3"-3' piece of pvc pipe in fourths lengthwise and strung two of them together. I haven't grinded it down to the final shape yet, but it shoots well so far.

I also made a longbow by getting 5 1/2 feet of 1/2 inch pvc and adding nocks to the ends and stringing it. it shoots well, but with very low draw weight (about 5 lbs.).

Have any of you attempted to make a pvc bow before?

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by nwmanitou on Apr 22nd, 2005 at 5:16pm
Hehe, I started out on a PVC bow. I noticed they only have a short lifespan. I quickly went out and bought a recurve. It was the PVC bow however that got me started, even though I only played around with it for a few days.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by MammotHunter on Apr 23rd, 2005 at 2:34pm
Short lifespan? I made a 35-lb draw weight PVC longbow and I've had mine for about a year. I just took a 3/4 inch diametre piece of PVC, about 5 feet long, cut some nocks in the top and bottom of the pipe, strung it with a double stranded length of rawhide, and made my own arrows. It's actually outlasted the initial bowstring, so far.  Gotten pretty good with it, too. Usually shoot 33" long 1/4" thick wooden arrows with it. I've so far been able to put an arrow about 80 feet at a little over 3/4 draw. Anyone know if recurving the bow would add weight to the draw? I'd like to get the thing over 40 lbs draw weight if I can.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by hawk_chucker on Apr 25th, 2005 at 4:24pm
I would love to see a tutorial and a pic on how to fab. one out.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by lobohunter on Apr 29th, 2005 at 1:56pm
I wonder what backing the pc bow with fiber glass would do

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by tomahawk54 on Apr 30th, 2005 at 10:17am
It would make it a lot stronger, I think

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by loh_kah_hoe on Oct 7th, 2005 at 8:56am
I made one long ago out of a 15mm grey pvc pipe,it's now broken.It's not strong at all.The pipe is four feet long.The arrow can only reach 10 meters. :-/

I want a stronger bow but I can neither get wood nor bamboo. :(Or can I use double pipe to double the power?Or taper the thing? ???

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by britishslinger on Oct 7th, 2005 at 1:24pm
you can make one out of tent poles string and 2 shotgun cartrages

i will try to explane
1 take out primers
2 pas line through were primer was and two connected tent poles then other cartage
3 with the brass facing oppersite each other now cram as many tent poles into the shells but make sure they all can connect like a take down bow
4 connect them all
5 put one tent pole were you want the belly of the bow and tape it on so the bow stays together
6 now tye the line ends together and you have a bow

Makeing arrows

connect two tent poles together make a foreshaft and point and tape the poles together then put foreshaft in and tape on
fletch (feathers or tape)
make a small nock and put it in same as a foreshaft

these instructions are from survival.com videos and i suggest having a look  

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by MammotHunter on Oct 7th, 2005 at 1:27pm
Maybe you made it out of material that was too thin or too old or had been exposed to direct sunlight for too long? Mine is still working just fine, but it was a little thicker. The material I used was about 20mm inner bore diametre, maybe a little wider, and was dark grey. And I didn't really cut it or taper it in any way. I just cut the pipe to the proper length (actually, it was a little long. in order to gain more yardage, I cut it down again to about 4 feet) and used a handsaw to cut a slit at either end, where I then slipped a rawhide bowstring into,(knotted securly so it wouldn't slip out) put a piece of round wood into the end to keep the bowstring from slipping out during the draw, and fired off some arrows. The only modification I made to the round pipe to make it a more comfortable bow was to wrap several layers of fabric around the handle area. From this, I was able to get a bow with a 35# draw weight at 30"

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by loh_kah_hoe on Oct 8th, 2005 at 2:30am
The pipe I used is very thick.The inner bore is exactly 15 milimetres.It's a little old.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by slinger on Jul 11th, 2006 at 4:52pm
i once made one with 3 foot of 1/2inch pvc. it looked like a normal bow but i taped a couple of heavy duty rubber bands on the bowstring and to the bow this greatly increase its range and draw wieght. without the rubber band the bow would have been trash

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by Tuukka on Aug 18th, 2006 at 11:08am

wrote on Apr 23rd, 2005 at 2:34pm:
I've so far been able to put an arrow about 80 feet at a little over 3/4 draw. Anyone know if recurving the bow would add weight to the draw? I'd like to get the thing over 40 lbs draw weight if I can.


You mean the bow really casts an arrow just 80 feet? Something's amiss then: a good primitive bow of that weight shoots an arrow about 450 feet, or roughly six times as far (my girlfriend put an arrow at that distance with a 28# maple selfbow last year).

Yes, recurving the bow ends will theoretically increase the draw weight of a bow. In practise, recurves big enough to really boost the weight will also strain the limbs a lot more, often resulting in zero improvement in bow performance. In order for the bow to work at all with the recurves, it should remain absolutely straight throughout the draw, looking from the front, so the string tracks around the 'curves properly. This might prove difficult with a narrow PVC pipe bow.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by MammotHunter on Aug 19th, 2006 at 11:02am
Granted it's been a long time since I fired that bow, but I am pretty sure I meant 80 yards. 80 feet does sound extremely short to me, even for a PVC bow, especially one at 35# draw weight and I seem to remember some pretty good shots coming off it at 45 degree trajectory. I've since scrapped the bow and I'm working on a red oak D bow right now. I'm trying to get a bow of at least 45-50# draw weight so I can legally hunt deer here in VA. Interesting note about VA hunting laws with bows. In order to hunt deer, the bow has to be able to shoot an arrow at least 125 yards. There's no implied draw weight minimum, just distance. Anyone have any ideas why?

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by CanDo on Aug 19th, 2006 at 11:14am
Strange......
Does it mention the weight of the arrow. I'd think that a 13# bow could shoot that far with a light enough arrow. The law for something like that should factor in arrow weight, draw length, and weight of bow...

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by Willeke on Aug 19th, 2006 at 11:15am
Easier to check in the field?

If the officer in charge has doubts about the legallity of a bow all he has to do is to find an empty field or road and have you shot an arrow. For drawweight he would need tools and knowledge how to use them.

Just a guess.

Willeke

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by CanDo on Aug 19th, 2006 at 12:47pm

wrote on Aug 19th, 2006 at 11:15am:
Easier to check in the field?

If the officer in charge has doubts about the legallity of a bow all he has to do is to find an empty field or road and have you shot an arrow. For drawweight he would need tools and knowledge how to use them.

Just a guess.

Willeke


Also, draw weight in and of itself does not determine the power of the arrow. You could have a 200# bow, but if it's extremely uneficient, it could be outshot by a 20# bow.

Title: Re: Pvc bow
Post by lobohunter on Aug 20th, 2006 at 2:12am
wilkie,can do that may all be true but the fact is here in the states bows are regulated by draw weight

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