Maybe some words of Wisdom??

[Hoodoo]

After the first failed attempt i studied the board stave closely and decided it would be in my best intrest to use the splicing method. The board is wide enough to get 3 seperate satves. but only one half of the board has good grain so i am planning on taking two half staves and splicing them together. any words of wisdom before i begin?

[ravenbeak]

be brave

[whitewoodshunter]

If its your second attempt at making a bow I would set the board aside and get a good piece of red oak with good grain and make a long bow. 1.75 inches wide fading to 1/2 tips. 72 inches long. After a couple of these you could move back to the other board.

[Hillbilly]

I wouldn't recommend that you try cedar until you have a few bows under your belt. Whitewoodshunter has some good advice. Another thing-slow down, take your time and watch how what you do affects what the bow does.

[whitewoodshunter]

Eastern Red cedar: is a goo bow wood, but kinda finicky to work, a flaw in the tiller and the bow is gonna blow. Wester Red cedar: is basically useless as a bow wood.

[whitewoodshunter]

Lowes or Home Depots hould have Red oak, and relatively cheap too

[Shooter_G22]

montana,

   i would highly recomend you start with something that is very forgiving and easy to work with...

 my first recomendation would be hickory...! but that is not as easy to get as a good peice of red oak at your local "Lowes or Home Depot"   soo it just depends with what type of resources you have available if your looking for cost effective and easy to find then Red Oak is the way to go...

and if you can put a backing on it with some Tightbond II or Tightbond III  then i would recomend that...   if you dont have a backing available or a band or table saw to where you could cut a strip of the same red oak and flip it to add a backing then after you get the stave shaped out you could put a thick coat of tightbond on the back of the bow to use just a tightbond coat as a backing that might help a little..

good luck and take some pics and post up as you go...

[David Long]

Montana, go out in the woods and find yourself a couple of nice mountain maple staves (Acer glabrum) They're free, and they're easy to work with, and they grow all around you down there in Missoula. They are not THAT much more difficult to work with than boards. I think they are easier because reading grain is not a problem. If one breaks, no biggie, go to the second which by now is nicely dried. If that one breaks, try again. In some ways easier, and man it's fun to make a 3 inch sapling into a first rate hunting weapon. Dave

[Jmilbrandt]

The red cedar at lowes and home depot is not eastern red cedar at least I have never seen it there. You would be much better off buying the oak.

[Shooter_G22]

no doubt that getting out in your terrain and finding some good ol staves or sapplings to work with is by far better than working on board bows...but you have to give those staves a bit of time to dry...   soo yes your best option would be goharvest some of your own wood in your area...   but in the mean time while those staves are a drying you could be learning on some good ol ok boards...

jmo..

[Aosda]

Montana,

I agree, try a nice piece of Red Oak w/ a backing.  Home Depot would work, but take your time and find a decent piece.  Finished my first last week 72" 50# @ 28".  Keep building, it'll turn out.  Good luck.

Tavis

[George Tsoukalas]

I agree. Go to a lumberyard or home center and pick out  a straight grained piece of red oak. I like 1 x 2's. Perfect for 50-55#. Go to 1.25 wide for less. No glued on handles. Let the handle bend. Leave the handle area full width. Leave the stave full width until just past mid limb. Taper to 1/2 inch nocks. There's more on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Dave 55]

Maybe you could pick up a hickory or elm stave from one of the venders,costs 50 bucks but you would have a decent stave to work with and thats half the battle,my 2 cents anyway.