Bowmaking

[GreatUsername]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask those of you who have experience with making bows from wood about my chances with my next undertaking. But first, a little context:
I've made four bows so far, all but one of which have broken, but each has been successively more powerful and took far more abuse to break. The first two were made out of big-leaf maple, and in typical novice clulessness, I assumed a branch roughly an inch in diameter would be effective, and made both bows too short as well, the first being 2.5 feet tall, the other being 3.5 feet tall. I unfortunately have pictures of neither of these. I do have pictures (which I will attach later, if you guys would like) showing my two most recent bows. The third I made is almost my hieght, and works acceptably, but performance is still pretty anemic, and full-draw would probably break the bow because it's made from a random stick of lumber. The rings however had better separation than my previous attempts, and I tried to keep the rings parallel to the back and belly of the bow, putting some research into it. This is the one that didn't break.

The last one actually had a draw weight heavy enough to fire some of my father's old compound bow arrows (very heavy, aluminum shafts) at impressive speeds, and I assume it was getting somewhere between 30 and 40 lbs draw weight. The bow was 6 feet of madrona, cut from a 2 inch diameter branch with few knots. Sadly, this one exploded spectacularly into six pieces.



I know now that you are supposed to cut the bowstave from a thicker section of tree, with rings farther apart. I have an eight-foot section of big-leaf maple that came from a branch downed in my yard during the last big windstorm. This piece is roughly eight inches in diameter, and weighs about 100 lbs. My question is this: is there any possibility that this will finally, FINALLY be the longbow that doesn't break? I inspected the wood for termite damage, and cut a section from the downed branch that seemed mostly unaffected and clear of knots. I'd say roughly a 90 to 130 degree sector of the piece is all good wood, with few to no defects. I just don't know if that will be spread enough in the rings, as must bowtaves are cut from the trunk, not from branches, no matter how thick.

Thoughts, anyone? Pics upon request.

[crashdive123]

Canid and FVR (I'm sure there are others) can probably help you a lot with your bow questions. Pics of what you have done so far may help them to see any errors you may have made.

[Old Professor]

I don't know that Maple is a desirable bow wood for a self bow for a begining bowyer. I prefer Osage or Hickory. I would advise seeking out traditional bow makers and buying a stave of Osage or Hickory. Some sell roughed out bows that need only finishing. I find that a 60" to 68" bow works best for me (I am 5'8").

[FVR]

The fact that you are getting your bows to shoot prior to them breaking is good news. Examine how and where they broke. Maple is an okay wood, I think it makes low performance selfbows, but laminations under glass are awsome. For the beginning bowyer you may want to stick with hickory. Osage is awsome but can be pricy if you have to purchase it. Hickory can be found in board form in many hardwood supply stores, or better yet find that downed tree. What books are you using for reference? Bowyers Bibles are a great place to start. Also hit sites like Primitive Archer who have directions posted somewhere. Remember that if you are not breaking them, you are not making them. I've been building selfbows for over 15 years and yes, I still break them once in awhile. My breaks are because I push the limit and throw the basics to the side. I will see if I can get a few websites with pics for you.

[FVR]

Here you go. This is Jawge's site complete with pictures. http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net

If you have questions you can post them here or you can email Jawge.

[Adventure Wolf]

I've daubled in bowmaking, but I've never made anything usable. I think it's because I've never had the proper wood, and I'm trying to get my hands on yew (the traditional wood). Hopefully having the right materials will help.

[GreatUsername]

I don't know how many of you have ever encountered madrona before, but it behaves very similar to osage, hickory, and those other hardwoods you've talked about (with the one major issue of generally not growing in straight lines for more than a few feet, and being knotty as hades). It's a very hard wood, and quite elastic, with tightly spaced growth-rings. The common theme I've seen in each of these breakings is that they happen at knots or other weakpoints in the wood, and happen because I draw too far (I have a very long draw length, because I'm 6' 4", though I actually haven't measured it to give you a number) As far as where I've been learning from, it's mostly internet research, and youtube tutorials. A lot of it is fluff, but I've gleaned some good information too. I will say this, at least I can make an excellent bowstring, so I'm a third of the way there! (I'm terrible at arrows, btw)

I'm hoping to find a larger, straighter, and higher-quality piece of madrona someday. They're just hard to find, sadly.

@Adventure Wolf, I wish you luck with finding yew, in most parts of the world it's either the wrong species, or highly protected (like pacific yew in my area) due to endangered status.

[old2531]

im going to try making a pvc bow for 10 $ you can construct an 80 lbs. recurve or long bow