bow wood

[jimjimjimmyjim]

heres the thing making a bow is pretty difficult if you have no prior experience, does anyone ave any ideas of what wood to use?
or material for the cord?

[Sarge47]

heres the thing making a bow is pretty difficult if you have no prior experience, does anyone ave any ideas of what wood to use?
or material for the cord?

You want the bow wood about 1/2" thick and supple enough to bend it into a bow shape. As far as the cord is concerned you can use your bootlaces, 550 cord, or any tough nylon stuff. The drill should be made from a sturdy branch about 3?4' in diameter. The fireboard itself should be made from a flat piece of wood approximately 1/2" thick also. The socket may be made from a flat rock or hardwood, however you will need to drill a depression in it to hold the drill straight as it spins. (This is from the book: "The Complete Book of Outdoor Survival" by J. Wayne Fears, pgs81-82) Is this what you needed to know? The wood can be anytype as long as it matches these requirements.

[jimjimjimmyjim]

well that was another one of my questions but in this case i was talking about like hunting bows

[Borelli]

Great reply Sarge.

I know from expirience that the branches of a Juniper tree works well to make a bow drill bow, The bark of a juniper tree is also great for making fire nests. hickory(hardwoods in general) is good for spindles(i make spindles out of my old drumsticks), yucca and other softwoods work for the fireboard

For more info and products go to www.Primitivefire.com

Dom Borelli

[Rick]

I don't like to use a fire bow. Too danged much work but something that makes it a bit easier is to rub the upper portion of the spindle on your face to transfer the oil from your skin to the top of the spindle. Makes it a bit easier to spin since there is less friction at the top or seems that way.

[Recurve Bowyer]

How good of a bow do you want to make? You can be very primative or very fancy. The first bow I made was quite primative. I walked through the woods until I found a tree that had a 6.5 foot section that was knotless, limbless, and straight. I think my tree had a diameter of about 2.5 inches. I'm sure more experienced bowyers can use a skinnier tree. Anyways, I split the log down the middle, giving me two staves. Slowly, cut and file the wood into the shape of a bow - thin at the knocks, wider at the base of the limbs, and thin/long at the handle. For my bow, I bought a string from a local archery shop. (There are ways of making bowstring out of plant fibers or sinew, but that takes a lot of skill.) Carve knocks into the tips, string it, and draw the bow. Then, you should tiller the bow. Tillering is the process of evening the resistance of the limbs so they pull evenly, giving the arrow proper flight and your bow longevity. Tillering is slow, precise work. Once your bow is tillered and your draw weight is what you desire, you're ready to shoot.

If you want to talk to other bowyers or get more detailed information on bow making, check out http://www.xsorbit4.com/users/buildabow/index.cgi

[archer]

Osage is the best

[bowyer]

In my opinion any hardwood or any wood that is dense and has straight grain would make a fine bow. It is very, very important that you start off with a piece of wood that has been sufficiently dried (7-9% moisture) before you start bending the wood, otherwise the wood will loose a lot of power. What I have done is take an unseasoned (wet) piece of wood and cut it down to just a little bit bigger than the dimensions that you want it to be. Then let the wood dry for at least a month or two (it will dry faster this way). If you live in a place with very dry air then it wont take as long. But if you live in a very humid area, then it takes longer for the wood to dry, and you may need to build a drying box to get the wood down to optimal moisture content. And once the bow is finished, add a polyurethane finish on it to keep it from absorbing moisture. Make sure you start off with a good enough quality piece of wood, because no amount of skill or time can transform a poor quality piece of wood into a quality bow.

[FVR]

Gents, think they were speaking of a fire bow.

But hey, osage is good, well it's my favorite. Second is elm, can't beat a good piece of elm unless you have a good piece of hickory.