Hey
I Have decided to make a self bow for the first time. I have read a few threads on forums but a lot of information seems to be left out here and there. But before I can start I need the wood but I have no idea what sort of wood is needed and what sort of grain the wood needs. Any insight would help. Also for a 30 inch draw how long a piece of wood will I need?
Jackson
Making A Self Bow?
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Re: Making A Self Bow?
Sorry. I meant to put it in the "tradition crafts" section
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Jacko what type of bow do you want to make ? If a traditional style logbow/elb then double your draw length and then add half your draw length to that to give you the length of bow, 30" draw = 75' bow. This is a rough guide and depends a bit on the quality of timber used, you may be able to go shorter with great timber or have to go longer with not so good timber.
You'll need timber with long straight grain and for a beginner pick a straight stave with as few knots, bends twists etc as you can find and you'll find it much easier to tiller. A lot of guys on here make bows with local timbers so I'll let them advise you on whats best.
You'll need timber with long straight grain and for a beginner pick a straight stave with as few knots, bends twists etc as you can find and you'll find it much easier to tiller. A lot of guys on here make bows with local timbers so I'll let them advise you on whats best.
Hmmmmmmm.............
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Thanks Len
Can I just go to bunnings or similar and just buy the wood there? Also what sort of wood should I buy?
Jackson
Can I just go to bunnings or similar and just buy the wood there? Also what sort of wood should I buy?
Jackson
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Jacko, the inaugural issue of BowhunterAustralia (should still be in your local newsagent, I still see it all the time around here) has a good article from Glenn Newall on self bows made with Aussie woods. You may find that helpful. You can also talk to Glenn here. His boardname here is the very imaginative "Glenn" (only gigging ya, Glenn! 
)
)Lately, if life were treating me any better, I'd be suspicious of it's motives!
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Hi Jackson,
The type of timber will usually dictate the style of bow.
Some of the dense hardwoods are not suitable for a deep ‘D’ cross section longbow but may handle a flattened ‘D’ section.
Perhaps an American flat bow [rectangular] cross section design will allow you a wider choice of timbers.
Plans for both can be down loaded from the following.
Daryl.
http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery-plans.html
The type of timber will usually dictate the style of bow.
Some of the dense hardwoods are not suitable for a deep ‘D’ cross section longbow but may handle a flattened ‘D’ section.
Perhaps an American flat bow [rectangular] cross section design will allow you a wider choice of timbers.
Plans for both can be down loaded from the following.
Daryl.
http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery-plans.html
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken. [Ascham]
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]
I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken. [Ascham]
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]
I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....
Re: Making A Self Bow?
well considering its my first attempt it would seem a flat bow is easier to make due to the rectangular cross section. So with that decision made I still have no idea what wood to use. Although am I able to make it have a draw weight of about 35 pounds a 30 inches?
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Just a few observations, hopefully some other bowyers will come forward with more information.
Although I prefer to use bush billets for my selfbows I have run successful workshops using milled boards.
If you have specialist or dedicated timber yards in your area you will probably have a wider range of timbers to choose from and I have generally found that staff in a timber yard has a better understanding of timber than a sales assistant in Bunnings.
A milled floor board 19x100 mm x 2.4m will yield two bows, the off cut used to build up the handle sections. Also check out construction timbers/beams 50mm wide and a depth that will yield a couple of bows.
Some timbers you could look for are Red Ash, Crows Ash, Hard Rock Maple, Spotted Gum and Balau. When selecting the board check for warping, splits, drying cracks, open grain, sap veins and checking, the tighter the grain the better. The board should be straight grained, free of knots and on the end profile the grain runs edge to edge and not cut from the inner heart wood. Once I tried a milled board of Tasmanian oak but it failed badly in compression.
I have included two diagrams and a photo of the growth rings in a piece of mountain ash. With the ash [or timbers with prominent growth rings] it is possible to work the back of the bow to a single growth ring.
Daryl.
Although I prefer to use bush billets for my selfbows I have run successful workshops using milled boards.
If you have specialist or dedicated timber yards in your area you will probably have a wider range of timbers to choose from and I have generally found that staff in a timber yard has a better understanding of timber than a sales assistant in Bunnings.
A milled floor board 19x100 mm x 2.4m will yield two bows, the off cut used to build up the handle sections. Also check out construction timbers/beams 50mm wide and a depth that will yield a couple of bows.
Some timbers you could look for are Red Ash, Crows Ash, Hard Rock Maple, Spotted Gum and Balau. When selecting the board check for warping, splits, drying cracks, open grain, sap veins and checking, the tighter the grain the better. The board should be straight grained, free of knots and on the end profile the grain runs edge to edge and not cut from the inner heart wood. Once I tried a milled board of Tasmanian oak but it failed badly in compression.
I have included two diagrams and a photo of the growth rings in a piece of mountain ash. With the ash [or timbers with prominent growth rings] it is possible to work the back of the bow to a single growth ring.
Daryl.
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- Grain In Board 1.JPG (13.94 KiB) Viewed 2379 times
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- Mountain Ash .jpg (71.17 KiB) Viewed 2379 times
"And you must not stick for a groat or twelvepence more than another man would give, if it be a good bow.
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken. [Ascham]
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]
I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....
For a good bow twice paid for, is better than an ill bow once broken. [Ascham]
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” [Einstein]
I am old enough to make my own decisions....Just not young enough to remember what I decided!....
Re: Making A Self Bow?
Thats a great webiste, im going to use this next time i build an ELB.greybeard wrote:Hi Jackson,
The type of timber will usually dictate the style of bow.
Some of the dense hardwoods are not suitable for a deep ‘D’ cross section longbow but may handle a flattened ‘D’ section.
Perhaps an American flat bow [rectangular] cross section design will allow you a wider choice of timbers.
Plans for both can be down loaded from the following.
Daryl.
http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery-plans.html
Cheers, Toby