Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: NewArcher on March 20, 2013, 08:44:17 pm
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Greetings, all!
I've always wanted to make a bow, as I enjoyed the solitude and concentration in shooting, even though I haven't hardly gotten the chance in the past 10 years. The thing is, things being what they are at the moment, I don't have a lot of resources available to me. "Long story short", what is the bare-minimum required to make a bow over a week or weekend, preferably on a budget, for someone lacking a garage full of tools.
Details:
I would buy a bow, but I'd like to make my own, eventually making one for my two children and possibly my wife, assuming I didn't kill or dismember myself in the attempt on my bow :-\ But with natural bows being in t he $150 range, that's a pretty penny.
I live in Southern Arizona (Huachuca Mountains area, an hour south of Tuscon), and all we have out here are scraggly, short, twisted Mesquite trees. In fact, the only straight trees I've seen are the pine-like (not sure on it's actual name) tree in my neighbor's yard that is longer than an 18-wheeler when standing upright, and a nice "white and smooth" (again, not sure on the name) tree in front of the building I work in...and I'm sure neither location would appreciate me chopping them down (even if I could spare the buildings from being squished!).
To top that all off, I have an electric screwdriver/drill (Black and Decker, $40 from Home Depot as a gift from my children), hammer and nails, a Norman sword, and a dremel. That's it. No work benches, no clamps, vices, saws, files, drawing knives, heat guns, etc. My garage has camping gear and leftovers of random projects that I've done with my children over the years, like fish tanks, Styrofoam, and random odds and ends that we've recycled from garage sales (turning projector TVs into solar ovens, etc). A far cry from the "manly man"'s garage...I'm a byproduct of my generation, music and video games, or so it seems.
With all that being said, is it possible to get tools "on a budget" from Home Depot, Lowes, or Sutherland's and make a decent first bow? I don't mind putting in extra sweat in place of tools that I don't have, but I didn't want to go shopping only to find that I absolutely cannot make a bow without XYZ or ABC piece of equipment. Because from the looks of things, a drawing knife is going to run about $60, a rasp about $20, etc. Even the articles I've read on arrows require tools that I've never seen before (like a 'spoke shave'). I've read many of the Build-A-Longs on the site, but start getting a little disheartened with all of the tools lying around that I'm sure took a while to accumulate.
That, and I've yet to find out how to find what the draw strength on a bow is...although someone mentioned using a bathroom scale at one point, just never expanded on that comment.
Cheers, and well met. Here's hoping the garage gets some wood dust in it soon...
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My first bow was done with a $9 red oak board an old hand saw I had, a rasp I picked up at Lowes for $12 and a rat tail rasp from the local mom and pop hardware store for $6 and a sanding block which you can make with a scrap piece of wood and duct tape, push pins or small nails to keep the sandpaper on. That's it. And check out this thread http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,28697.0.html that shows how to do arrows with bamboo garden stakes, I used found feathers and packs from the local craft store for fletchings on mine. There are definitely was to get things done on a budget just takes some ingenuity and extra work.
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Wow I'm not gonna try an answer everything I will try an give some basics you will need. You said you want to make a bow over a weekend or week ?? If your planning on cutting your own wood that's not gonna happen first off one bow usually for me I make over a span of about a month or two if I worried really hard it could be done that is if my wood was dry and everything like that. Now I your planning on making a board bow you could make it over a weekend but that's if you were experienced and had all the tools. If your making a board bow you won't need a draw knife the only thing I really use a drawknife for is establishing growth rings on the back of stave bows board bows you don't worry about chasing rings only finding the straightest grain you can. On my bows the main tool for almost the whole bow is my rasp I use that more than any tool while making a bow in fact you could make a whole bow with just a rasp and sand paper to make it look nice I know I haven't answered everything but hopefully helped somewhat
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For a bow all you really need is a hatchet, knife, and sand paper, but if you going to be making more than a few draw knifed are amazing ( with a knife and hatchet it takes me a day to chase down a ring, draw knife it takes about an hour) a rasp is a good idea. I find that you don't really need a clamp for things like tip overlays. At some point you will want/need to shape a bow with heat/steam you can do a lot of this with no tools, but clamps and a form are nice (I use a space heater for dry heat) a saw would also be handy.
When I make bamboo arrows all I use for tools is a dermal with a saw attachment
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Get a hatchet. And a cheap rasp. Total- about $25.
Get a board of oak, hickory, etc.
Then ask someone else for help.
I have made bows, but none big and none great(well, some good 30 pounders of BL).
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So you have a sword,that's a good star if ya don't mind banging. It around a bit.you can use it to shape and tiller the bow as long as it's sharp!on a low budget 1st bow ,I would not concern my self with esthtics ,but rather on function! I believe basalt is native to az,but not sure as I'm not a rock guy YET. If ya can swing getting a descent hard wood board,a tape and a 5 buck alumium yard stick,and a ball of twine ,sandpaper and a ball of twine your away!good luck and have fun
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Forgot To mention the biggest tool you will need is PATIENCE without it you can forget a successful bow !
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Get the Traditional Bowyer's Bible if you do not already have it, I have Vol. 1.
It is available on Amazon.com for around $20.
It is absolutely Invaluable! You can learn how to make a flatbow...
Vol 2 has stuff on board bows...
Back them with nylon or something, then grain does not matter as much.
-Squirrel
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This is jim hamms method
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Check out your local craigslist.com site for some deals on used tools. You might be suprised at what you can find on there and what kind of deals you can get.
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Definitely what joe said. Don't be too surprised or disheartened if the first one either is a dud or breaks on you. I was lucky to have a decent first bow but my next two (also my most recent two) went kaboom during tiller. It's a learning process for sure and that's a lot of the beauty of it.
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@ss,nylon?
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If you want to invest in a heat gun you can crank out a few PVC bows. BD
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@ss,nylon?
I have successfully backed bows with Nylon fabric, like the kind they use to make backpacks.
Its cheap too- around a few $$ per bow.
Also, I have used nylon cord, glued it on. Cable backs are fun, they work GREAT on Eastern Red Ceder(actually a species of juniper).
-Squirrel
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The first bow i made i had a hatchet, bowie knife, and a small four way rasp i bought at the hardware store for about 6 bucks, and a chain saw file i used for putting in the string nocks. I would at least invest in a small 4 way rasp and some sand paper. You could probably do most of your roughing out with your sword or a large knife. Maybe use your dremel for the string nocks if you have the right attachment. Your best bet for wood starting out would be a board. Use your imagination and ingenuity, remember the natives did it with nothing but rocks and bone. Post lots of pictures and ask lots of questions. Its not a race so take your time. Have fun.
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if you have cut-off wheels or grinding wheels, or drill bits, or grinder-bits, or deburrs, etc.
You can cut the nocks with a dremel.
It might burn the wood, go at about 15-20,000 RPM. I used 30,000 and actually caught my wood on fire when I was cutting nocks into a long oak board bow...
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-Hatchet or draw knife (or both)
-wood rasp
-sand paper
-red oak board from a home improvement store
It's really worth it to buy a draw knife i love mine, however i bought an old one off ebay and with my dremel and some sandpaper i reconditioned it the whole thing only cost me 10 bucks.
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the bare minimum you say? a kitchen knife or half of a pair of Scissors and a way of reducing the board to dimensions. Also need a board. Thats the basic minimum unless you wan to make it with stones alone. which you could find a sandstone or other abrasive stone to sand with when your done with tiller or very close. ive never done it myself, but id imagine with those tools you could make a decent bow. Thats less than ideal to learn on though, if you can get a hold of a rasp and a hatchet it would be faster and will really make your experience more enjoyable.
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I love my spokeshave, and recommend that any aspiring bowyer invest in one. But you don't need it. A rasp and handsaw will get the job done just fine without being overly frustrating or time consuming.
Patience and perserverance are both key. Rushing it will get you a broken bow, but even if you break one or two, or ten, just keep at it. I broke three or four before I finally got a sluggish 25 pound shooter.
And remember, this isn't supposed to be easy.
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-Hatchet or draw knife (or both)
-wood rasp
-sand paper
-red oak board from a home improvement store
It's really worth it to buy a draw knife i love mine, however i bought an old one off ebay and with my dremel and some sandpaper i reconditioned it the whole thing only cost me 10 bucks.
might take ya a bit more time, but all these tools can be had at yard sales or flea markets for pretty cheap. i find wood and farriers rasps sometimes for $1 or $2. small hatchets for about the same, maybe up to $4. draw knives are a bit harder to stumble upon sometimes but have found plenty to give away or trade over the years for $10 or less. can tell ya one thing for sure-you will be much happier with an old good condition drawknife than the $60 one. unless ya spend the big bucks($150 or more) or have a custom one made, do not buy a modern drawknife. sounds like ya have some flotsam in the garage from past adventures, ya might try craigslist for trade or if there is a fb garage sale or bartertown page for yr area.
board bow is a good way to start. good practice, cheap and can make a good bow if ya take yr time. besides all the great tutorials on PA, there is a website called poorfolksbows that has a good step by step tutorial on making a board bow. good luck and keep us posted how its going.
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poorfolkbows is where i got my inspiration for my first bow. Lots of pictures there.
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I found a sweet drawknife on ebay. Got it for $14.00 + shipping.
CR
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Thank you all for your advice. I found a few draw knives on eBay (I honestly hadn't thought about using that) and none on Craiglist (I live in a very small town, go figure), so I guess a follow-up question would be how to judge the item? I found one that's apparently from the 1880's, found some newer ones, and the pictures don't really show anything that a novice like myself would be able to see, notice, and say "oh no, that's not good" when looking at the pictures. Any guidelines?
What exactly is tillering? Just trying to get the bow to bend enough? I see images where people are hanging their bows up on these "trees", and slowly shaving portions (not the center, though) of the stave and then pulling the string down farther.
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when there are stiff spots or where the bow isnt bending enough in a certain spot you selectively remove a small amount of wood and check the bend again, you continue doing this until it is bending nearly all if not all of the length of the bow. Thats tillering.
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Ahh, I see. Makes sense!
I'm going to Sutherland's and Home Depot to look for boards (based on images from the Poorfolksbows site) ;-)
I'm eager to start, but have plenty of patience (and time, since I've only got an hour or two per day to devote to it during the week). I just want to shoot, but can't afford the huge cost of purchasing the items necessary.
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forgot to mention this current follow along.
great advice here and some real gracious support from the fellas here on PA
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,37695.0.html (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,37695.0.html)
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i would recommend taking several long looks at the build along section on this as well as poorfolks bows, also if you have the money investing in the first volume of traditional bowyers bible
As far as the ebay drawknives go you want to look for one with minimum pitting on the blade and unless your willing to remake the handles you need to make sure those are still intact, mine is a 9 in curved model some people prefer straight models but it really all comes down to preference
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I didn't have a chance to visit the local Sutherland's, but I just looked on their web site and saw this:
2x4 8ft Construction Common S4s Redwood Board:
http://sutherlands.com/products/product.php?item=13383#.UUzpKFdm18E
Is that the right size board? It's a little long (http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm had a 6ft board), but maybe I can use the leftovers for something else.
If that isn't the correct size, they have others:
http://sutherlands.com/search/index.php?cat=2907005#.UUzpD1dm18E
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that looks a lot like how they cut pine, im rather wary about "redwood" there are several types of wood that have red in them. This is pretty close to what red oak should look like, in grain and in color, more or less.
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We used to have a great member in here from Tucson. He worked Border Patrol and was into breeding and keeping exotic snakes. Unfortunately, his personal life took a bad left turn a while back and he's been unresponsive for quite some time. He was a great guy and would have walked you thru your first bows.
There are some talented bowyers in here that build amazing bows from boards. Don't think they are somehow less of a bow. They can still take the largest big game you are likely to run across in North America! You really won't need a drawknife until you start chasing growthrings on staves, anyway. Sure, they are a handy tool for hogging off lotsa wood fast, but until you got some experience, slow and steady is a better battle plan. A spokeshave isn't too hard to come by in flea markets and Ebay, but they can be a pain in the tookus when dull and out of adjustment. Plus they need a little more tool control that only comes with experience.
Go buy a Nicholson 4-in-1 rasp. One side is flat and has half the face in coarse tooth pattern and half fine tooth. On the other side, the tool is rounded and again half and half coarse/smooth. You are gonna burn a lot of elbow grease using this and a scraper made from a knife blade or half a pair of scissors. But it can be done!!!