This bow is an experiment in seeing how quick I could make a bow with the least energy required.
All it took to make is a mora classic, but I figure you could make it with a small swiss army knife even.

It took me about an hour to tiller. The trick is to find a thin sapling from a good bow wood with no big knots, so you only have to carve the belly. Leave the bark on the back on.  Nothing complex here. The wood I used is ligustrum vulgare, a wood I absolutely love for how dense it is and because it's also pitless. It is a a hedge/bush tree that when let grow, grows very straight

I let the wood sit for a few days and it did not crack, then I knew this was a good piece of wood. Then I fire hardened it. It's not completely seasoned yet but its good enough to use. I am quite confident it will not crack, it should have done it already.

The bow is 150 cm / 59 inches long. She draws to 25 pounds to 23-24 inches, then it starts to stack. 
I am satisfied with the result considering how little work it took

(tiller stick here is not competely straight aligned with the wall)

Keep in mind this is not a professional or exceptional bow, that's not the point.

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This bow is one I showed earlier, made from Hawthorn. it is only 118 cm long / 46 inches long unstrung. The construction principle is basically the same.
I have shot this one alot already. I finally have a scale and I can now give more accurate numbers, it draws 30# @17'' , I call it my Indian bow. It took a little longer to build than the above one because it's from a sapling twice as thick and I also used a hatchet in its construction. This one is fully seasoned.

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These drawweights are low, but I don't think that's such a big deal. While these are really simple stick bows, I do want them to last and not have too much string follow. Choosing the right sapling and letting them cure for a little while and doing some firehardening is halve the work. The low drawweights have a few advantages in my mind. First, the bow will not take long to make, second, if you are in a survival scenario, it's unlikely you have a lot of energy left to draw heavy bows anyway, and third, if you have got to make a primitive string from plant fibers like yucca, then a low drawweight will ensure the string will last. The scenario I have in mind where such a bow would be useful would be for fishing in shallow waters. You could use a spear or an atlatl, but a bow is much easier to aim. The inuit have developed a great detachable arrow head fishing system, but I reckon a simple barbed fire hardened sharpened wooden head would go through a trout

Oh this is very interesting.
I am trying to make a pellet bow and I have no history of bow making or specialized tools so a simple and easy manufacturing process will definitely be useful.

I have a piece set aside right now that I'm hoping to make into a short bow. One problem is that I brought it inside recently to dry and and... well... it's sprouting. Like it has full on leaves. I knew it was pretty green when I picked it up but I wasn't expecting it to start growing. Life... uh... finds a way I guess. Going to be a while before I can use it.

I am learning bow making with just a few tools. Hatchet, rasp, drawknife. I am keeping certain tools in my BOB (bug out bags) for survival and my bushcraft purposes

Besides the obvious knife, hatchet etc a superb weapons related BOB tool is a thumb plane. It's mostly one dimensional in the sense that it excels mostly in arrow making but what it does it does really well, takes up no room and weighs nothing.

Nice bow J! I love me a short bow. They sure are fun.

Kick wrote on Jan 8^th, 2021 at 2:34pm:

I have a piece set aside right now that I'm hoping to make into a short bow. One problem is that I brought it inside recently to dry and and... well... it's sprouting. Like it has full on leaves. I knew it was pretty green when I picked it up but I wasn't expecting it to start growing. Life... uh... finds a way I guess. Going to be a while before I can use it.

LOL. You have to show us a pic!

@ J

I like your 30 lb hawtorn bow. Thirty lbs also works for scurids, bunnies, snakes etc.

Morphy wrote on Jan 8^th, 2021 at 6:33pm:

Besides the obvious knife, hatchet etc a superb weapons related BOB tool is a thumb plane. It's mostly one dimensional in the sense that it excels mostly in arrow making but what it does it does really well, takes up no room and weighs nothing. Nice bow J! I love me a short bow. They are sure are fun.

Dont tell me theres another tool i need to get.

vetryan15 wrote on Jan 8^th, 2021 at 7:23pm:

Morphy wrote on Jan 8th, 2021 at 6:33pm: Besides the obvious knife, hatchet etc a superb weapons related BOB tool is a thumb plane. It's mostly one dimensional in the sense that it excels mostly in arrow making but what it does it does really well, takes up no room and weighs nothing. Nice bow J! I love me a short bow. They are sure are fun. Dont tell me theres another tool i need to get.

Oh ok no problem.

Anyways, since I'm tapping these keys on my phone anyways I would like to record that if there was another tool to get that would definitely be one of my top choices.

Since I'm prone to talking to myself I would continue by saying it's super cheap with no moving parts. It's easy to sharpen and makes the best primitive survival ammunition faster than any other survival tool I can think of.

They say you shouldn't bring a tool that only does one thing. I disagree. I would bring this even if it was only ever good for arrows. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself in this oddly expository memo.

Well i will be waiting. I havent even attempted arrow making yet. I think i got everything to try, but right now i am waiting for some maple saplings to dry right now, i will be looking into it. I do have a spokeshave, but havent used it yet.

I took a picture a couple of days ago then went to take a new one just now. It's growing pretty fast...

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That is crazy  :-?

And this is after it was sat for at least 2 weeks on the balcony, no water no nothing. Plants be crazy.

So this is actually awesome since often times bowyers will look for unusual pieces to make bows from. This is like the opposite of the guy that made the bow from a multi-decade old Osage fence post. Instead of long dead you have a branch that is desperate to stay alive. I know it sounds cruel but I would be carving that bad boy up. Bet it makes a fun and memorable bow.

I might leave it to see just how much it grows. My dad said I should just plant it :D

I had that happen last winter with poplar, while i attempted basket making,  which didnt end well. I dried out saplings, then u had to soak for a couple hours then weave, well by the time i got ready, all the saplings were sprouting. I ended up just chucking it

I am curing two pieces of Elderberry. In the mean time, I am learning about other uses for this amazing tree.
This tree that sprouts edible black berries (when cooked) and edible flowers, has a very distinctive soft pit in the middle of the wood.
This pit is easily pushed out, leaving you with a hollow tube.
This can be very useful, as a drinking straw, or for blowing into a fire to get it to burn better.
This wood also happens to be ideal for friction fires, and an elder shrub almost always got some dead branches attached to it.

Aside from that you can make a flute from it, or a fishing bobber.  I made this detachable harpoon-arrow point from a piece of it, and put it on a shaft, and firehardenend it. I wonder if it would be effective enough for bow fishing.
Also reckon you could make a very nice detachable blunt-arrow head for birding and squirrels
People used blunts for these all the time, because you don't want your arrow sticking high up in the tree where these animals might be, if you miss your shot.
And they say you can make cordage from the bark, I've yet to try.

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blunt

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Made this not very serious bow under an hour from a piece of privet I had laying around
https://youtu.be/tagGXwT1WHk

This is some great work! Didn't know that elderberry can be made into a tube either.

Cool! I have to find some privet.

That would be a fun weapon to shoot.  ;)

How far are you drawing it? Looks like at least 20" if not 23ish. That's a tremendous overdraw for unbacked bows. Seems to be working though! 

I have made another common privet shortbow tonight. It's much better than this one and draws a hefty 42# at 17'', the heaviest bow I've made so far. Tomorrow I will finish it and hopefully shoot it, if it does not break.

@morphy, that's the fisheye lens playing tricks on you, I wasn't drawing that shorty further than half its length