soon to build my own bow

[hayshaker]

i want to build a bow a short native american style, i have a friend in oklahoma who will sen me some
osageorange from which to make it.i think i,ll use ash for the arrow shafts and turkey for the fletches.
lord knows i have enough points so at least for starters i,m good there.i have a set of books i bought some time back called the boyers bible i hqave the first 3,books.i,m also gong to surf the fourm for ideas as well.
to day i,m going to finish my spirt shield i started yesterday,that is if my iron pony gets the new starter put
in,heh,heh.if i could make a couple that would reall be nice.the quiver will be made of smoked buckskin and bead work also i would like to take one of my coyote pelts and mabey make a quiver out of that as well.
sounds like my winter project for sure. any ideas out there would be helpful.

[MrFixIt]

Never made my own bow, but I had a customer ask me to make him some points out of steel. They had to weigh a certain amount of grams with a certain shape.
After a couple of tries, I got it right and he used them to hunt with. He also made his own bows.
I thought that was neat as all get out!

[hayshaker]

since i posted this thread i,ve done a litttle research building the bow copared to the arrows will almost
seem easy peasy i,m told it,s all about the arrow not how true your bow is or your steady hand.oh boy
im researching wood types and so forth for the bow as well as the arrows.rivercane,blk locust.sitka spruce&ash for arrows
bows on the other hand require different woods osage orange, ash,hickory,ect,,,,, im in for a long winter in deed.

[Tokwan]

Great news..please share when you can.

[hayshaker]

i have a question in regaurds to a practice bow i want to make before i start on my self bow.
it will be for decoration only.i have a piece of oak i ripped from a church pew made in the 50,s or 60,s
that said do i need to soak it to add some moister to it to keep it from cracking when i put the string on ?
all answers wellcome.

[RangerXanatos]

My brother started with red oak boards he bought from home depot and lowes. He just removed wood. Didn't add any moisture.

[hayshaker]

thanks ranger , right now i,m making all my marks before shapeing.

[Awanita]

hayshaker, that Osageorange is almost unbreakable. Ash will work well, if not river cane is pretty easy to work with.

[Awanita]

hayshaker, you may want to concider this little tip, I found out the hard way with the first bow I made it winded up being a tomato stake the next year.lol.....Seal the ends of the shaft to prevent cracking as it dries. You can accomplish this by spreading white glue over the edges or covering the ends with a plastic bag and securing them with rubber bands.

[hayshaker]

thanks awanita,since i posted last i orderd a doz port orford cedar shafts. so to save time
and whatnot in my project. i,ll use sm knapped points for the shafts.