Making my first bow. (Help Please!)

[hillbilly WA]

Gday all
Ive just finished Year 12 and returned from Leavers and thought that this is the time i should try to build my first bow. I have always wanted to build my own bow, but have been daunted by the fact that there are so many things you need to get right.
Also, i met White_0011 while down south on leavers and seeing as hes giving it a shot, i thought i would to.
So, i was hoping the gurus here could give me a little helping hand along the way. Ive read through loads of builalongs and think im pretty much ready (or as ready as i can be at least ).
So far i have 3 pieces of bamboo floorboard, 185cm/73" long, 3cm wide, and 0.25cm thick.
I have a big piece of raw bamboo which has been hand planed for backing but was wondering if i should use glass instead for my first bow.
I also have Jarrah and Marri (sp?) for a handle, i'll probabely just use the Jarrah.

Also, i want to make the bow about 45-50#@28", and i think about 68" ntn, i only have a draw of 26"

I beleive the first thing i've got to do is taper the limbs and make the handle. Is this right? Also, does anyone have some plans for the dimensions i should do for a bow like this?
Thankyou very much, Carl

[perry]

Advice like this is hard to keep breif and concise over the net . There is plenty of advice on this and other sites like Trad Gang or Primitive Archer that go into more detail , do a search .

If you can not find someone to personnely coach you through it I suggest you save your pennies and get the 4 editions of the Bowyers Bibles . They are a valuable referance despite the content being mostly American based . The first 2 will get you started and are available from www.horsefeathersranch.com

Another excellant DVD to get is Dean Torges "Hunting the Bamboo backed bow" and his book "Hunting the Osage Selfbow" The DVD will open you eyes to the work required with a bamboo backed bow .

Unless you have a workshop with a quality belt sander , table saws etc I would hesitate to make your first bow a bamboo backed bow . Learn to tiller a selfbow first and then tackle a backed bow . Laminated wood/ bamboo bows in my veiw are full of pitfalls for the beginning bow maker .

You can jump the above and buy a fibreglass/timber laminated Flatbow kit from http://ausbow.com.au/ .Comes all glued up and in the rough - you need to shape and tiller the bow .

For a selfbow I would start with a long narrow design approx 68" to 72" depending on your draw length . Have the stave about 1/14" wide with the outer 1/3 of each limb tapering to approx 1/2" string nocks .

If you use a 19mm floorboard of Spotted gum or other straight grained timber you can afford to make mistakes at only a few dollars a metre . I understand Kimall has had good results using bamboo floorboards for selfbows - I do stand to be corrected .

Out of time would love to have given more consise advice

regards Perry

[hillbilly WA]

Righto, well i've already started on this bow and it's what i really want to make, so i want to just try it and learn from it and get making laminated bows faster. So i'll just ask a guy at the club and see what to start with, i was thinking today, wouldn't it be best to glue everything together first and then shape it so it's more consistent?
Thanks, Carl

[Glenn]

Carl if you are making a fibreglass laminated bow on a form than you just lay it up on the form and after the glue has cured you shape the limbs.
If you are making an all wood bow with raw bamboo for a backing the the raw bamboo will need to be shaped and then tapered down it's length before glueing, if the bamboo is not preshaped and tapered the bow most likely fail. I normally glue the wood laminations on the form first and glue the shaped bamboo backing on last, it's a lot easier to glue the bamboo in place this way...Glenn...