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making a bow. (Read 13618 times)
Bikewer
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #45 - Jan 20th, 2012 at 5:26pm
 
One of the clever ideas I took for my own bows is the "floppy rest".   A simple piece of leather that is sufficient to protect the hand and also quiet the slap of the arrow against the bow:

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&q=floppy+rest&gbv=2&aq=f&a...
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Bill Skinner
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #46 - Jan 20th, 2012 at 9:06pm
 
Floppy rests are good and they are easy to make, but I usually don't go to the trouble.  You get the cuts on the top of your hand from the end of the quill on your fletch.  There are several cures, wrap the end of the fletches so the tips are covered, peel the feather off the quill, there is no hard sharp tip to cut and last and best, move your nocking point on your string.  Your nocking point is too high and the arrow dives upon release, hitting the top of your hand.  If your nocking point is correct, the arrow will not touch the top of your hand when you release.  It took me several years to figure that last one out, I have the scars on the top of my bow hand to prove it.  Even wraps will rub the top of your hand raw unless they are slick as glass.

You want your nocking point slightly above the arrow pass, just slightly above the diameter of the arrow.  If your arrows are 11/32, your nocking point should be 3/8 (12/32) above the pass or rest.
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Dan
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #47 - Jan 21st, 2012 at 10:03am
 
Wow, I had never thought of that thanks Bill. I always wondered why the arrows would sometimes cut my hand and other time I wouldn't even feel that much friction, definitely nocking point error.
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I was pretty good at slinging like 10 years ago.
 
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Arthur the great
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #48 - Jan 25th, 2012 at 3:12pm
 
i decided I'm gonna make a bow using mountain cedar (aka ashe juniper) cause that is what is around here so i went and signed up on PA got some good advice

(any one who wants to find me on PA i using the ID as here)
no I'm not leaving slinging.org in case any of you are wondering
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Dan
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #49 - Jan 26th, 2012 at 9:32am
 
Juniper is great in compresion but terrible in tension so if you sinew back it you'll get a great bow. If not, you will most likley have a great looking bow in smaller pieces.  Wink

My username on PA is Christian Soldier.
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I was pretty good at slinging like 10 years ago.
 
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eanmwatkins
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #50 - Feb 1st, 2012 at 6:00pm
 
http://youtu.be/3zyV8tZGJtE

Do you guys think this is really 60lb? was thinking about making for the fun of it but I don't know.
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Bill Skinner
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #51 - Feb 1st, 2012 at 9:38pm
 
There has been a thread on this bow.  It probably is around 60#.  And, if you have something to put the cut in the pipe, it will work.  I think it would be fine if you ran over it in a truck.  I think it would make a pretty good carp bow.  That being said, if you want a bow to shoot a lot, this one probably isn't it.  On the video, note the way his bow hand jerks when he releases the arrow, that's called hand shock and that bow has a lot.  It can damage your wrist and elbow if you shoot it daily and you don't hold it correctly.

It is not difficult to make a wooden bow, there are several sites that will walk you through, in a step by step format.  Most of them start with an oak board and depending on the site, will walk you through the building process with minimal tools to a fully equipped carpenters' shop.  It does take time, if you want to build it and shoot it the same afternoon, PVC bows are definately the way to go.  Check out Youtube, there are several better ways to make a PVC bow, most won't get the 60# pull.
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eanmwatkins
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #52 - Feb 2nd, 2012 at 3:37am
 
Do you know about how long of a process it is to make a bow out of oak with minimal tools? I have access to tools I just want to see what I do with as little as possible. This bow was going to be done just to do it but I didn't know if it was even worth it.
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Dan
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #53 - Feb 2nd, 2012 at 9:05am
 
Well you could do it with all stone tools, there is also a competetion to see if you can build a bow entirely with a hatchet/tomahawk. The last bow I finished (about an hour ago) I used some splitting wedges for the stave, a large knife to baton the stave into shape, a small knife for other wood removal and scraping, and a 4in1 rasp. As Bill said the pvc bows would have a lot of hand shoc and would probably be realtivly slow as well.

If you want a bow in 1-2days I would suggest looking into board bows. First find out what makes a good bow, then find a design sutible for that wood and rasp away, once your stave starts bending slow down. Look for hinges cause you probably will have a few and then work the areas above and below to get your stave to bend evenly.

The last bow I made was a hickory (generaly tougher than oak) deflex-reflex mohigan short bow. Made using 3 main tools, and finished in 3 days. Though again take your time, a bow that works in a week will shoot much better than one that's broken in a day.
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I was pretty good at slinging like 10 years ago.
 
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Bikewer
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #54 - Feb 2nd, 2012 at 9:55am
 
I don't doubt that PVC bow draws at 60#.  However, the tiller is not going to be good (note all the bend is in the middle) and it's certainly not going to have an optimal "cast".   
I'll wager if you ran it through a chronograph it would be considerably slower than a comparable 60# longbow of good design.

You don't need a lot of tools to make a good bow.     I did my last "board" bow using a skillsaw to cut out the rough shape, then a Stanley Sureform rasp for the rough material removal to get to the "floor tiller" stage.

After that, 4-sided rasp almost entirely.   A pair of cheap calipers to make sure everything was tapering properly.   

Down to the final work.... Scrapers.  Pieces of commercial steel packing-tape material sharpened with a file... Essentially free.

Then sandpaper and finish.    I backed it with silk; a couple of silk neckties bought at Goodwill for 1.00 apiece.

Took about a week working a bit each day...   If you have strong arms and plenty of time I see no reason you couldn't knock one out in a day if you worked steadily.

An important thing is either a tillering tree or similar device to gauge how the bow is bending.     I made a simple tree out of a vertical 2X4 mounted on my deck and a pulley and rope.    This lets you not only gauge if the bow is bending properly, it lets you "work" or "exercise" the bow as it's being tillered.
Normally, you do a round of filing/scraping, then put the bow in the tree and flex it 30-ish times.   Check how it's flexing, mark stiff or overly-flexy points with a pencil...  work the stiff spots down.
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Dan
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Re: making a bow.
Reply #55 - Feb 2nd, 2012 at 4:39pm
 
As Bikewer said a check your tiller often, a tillering tree helps. If you ever see a hinge in your bow, fix it before flexing it anymore. My last bow I broke I had a very fine hinge in combonation with grain running very close to the back, it broke. So once again if you get a hinge, fix it.
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I was pretty good at slinging like 10 years ago.
 
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