Build a primitive wood bow from a Home Depot board - Part 4 

Perfect!

Thanks Steven

Thanks Ed

Just jump in, you’ll learn it.

You’re welcome Jim

Thanks Kyle

Thanks

Thanks Kevin

Thanks, don’t bother with poplar.

You're most welcome.

No problem man!

thanks Frankie

Thanks Richard

thanks john

good luck

Hows it turn out

thanks John

You to dude!

cool, I"m glad you enjoyed them.

I wouldn’t do anything different than what was done in the video.

ah, you caught me. don't tell anyone...

ERC is a great wood if it’s backed. But it does tend to be brash so it can break without warning.

Thanks for the Reply Clay. I'm planning on Backing it with Deer Sinew. You And Your Family Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

Glad I could help.

thanks

I’d make the bow about as tall as they are. And you’ll probably want to go narrower than what’s shown here.

Black locust will make a good bow. There’s a section on it in my book.

I tiller my bows with a slight positive tiller. About a eighth inch or less.

If you’re doing a board bow, then a block plane, pocket knife, and sand paper is all you need.

Badass, ty for actually taking the time to reply.

Thanks Phillip, I don’t sell bows but I do give lessons on bow making.

You need to do it before backing the bow.

I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work. You’ll be safer if you back those boards with rawhide or fiberglass.

Thanks, those shirts are available on my website. Twistedstave.com

You could shorten it later but you’d need to retiller.

@@clayhayeshunter would it be possible to put a recurve on the tips after completing it like a longbow "D" bow? or ... would that cause other problems? Thanks for your reply!

It does give a safety margin but it doesn’t guarantee the bow won’t break. It still has to be tillered well.

@@clayhayeshunter Thanks for your answer Clay. Appreciated. I do see why the tilering has to be a smooth and slow process.

Hi Dave, I'm shooting 3 under with a fixed crawl of about 3/4 inch. This allows me to adjust my point on distance to 20 yards. Fixed crawl simply means that I have another nock point a little below my arrow where i put my fingers. I'll do a video on it.

Tuning is on the list for sure. Probably multiple videos on that. As for tip weight, I'm shooting 200 grains up front. This arrow was probably around 580 grains total weight. I've shot completely through elk with a setup like this. For deer, lighter arrows are fine, and probably better due to speed. But for elk I like the heavier arrows.

Clay Hayes I'm only about 5'7" and I only get about 24 inches in draw my current bow is 58lbs at my draw length, I live in UT and want to eventually hunt elk with my equipment. Ideally for elk would you say 5 to 600 grain weight arrow at about 150 to 155 fps min? I can strive for that in my next build. Using Osage any suggestions on getting there with my shorter draw? I'd prefer to not go over 60 lbs in draw.

J Jenkins I'm pretty much the same height if not a fraction shorter... I'm normally a recurve shorter (IMO the principles are the same regardless of type of bow)and my draw length is 26.4".... I can increase and decrease this purely by body alignment and string placement on my face.... Without seeing your draw and anchor point it's hard to say where this 2 inch difference is but under drawing is basically robbing you of performance of the limbs If you stand arms out like a t shape and measure finger tip to finger tip then divide by 2.5 you get a pretty good estimate of possible draw length... I've found it pretty spot on doing that Then it's finding a comfortable and repeatable draw cycle and anchor position Personally I found that my bow arm wasn't straight and my bow shoulder rising up with the bow pushing me back and my string arm shoulder too far forward and not swung back. ... Inducing a push forward as far as I could when drawing and setting my shoulders back corrected this I can within a few millimetres get a consistent draw length everytime, yes I have a clicker but it doesn't mean that some shots I'm flying through the clicker and others struggling to pull through... Its within a few millimetres everytime Over time when I shoot without my clicker I have a really consistent drawlength and that's down to practice There's no alternative to actually shooting a bow There's no right or wrong way, only your pulling technique which might be different but this helped me straighten up and pull further comfortably as I found myself with super long arrows hanging over the shelf when I first started shooting If you manage to pull those extra inches you'll have to retiller your bow otherwise you'll pull more weight than you might want

I have been working on alignment recently, part of it is that when I'm making a bow the tillering stick sits at the belly side of the handle where my hand sits so i measure draw the same way... i know that most people say measure draw from the back of the bow and if I do that then it has my draw length up to 25.5 or so. I use a 3 under draw about 5/8 of an in below the knocking point index finger touching my canine tooth and when I think about it thumb by my jawline. but with my 58 lb osage self bow with slightly flipped tips I'm only getting 143ish fps on a 505 -510 grain carbon arrow. Now I can pull and put my index finger on the middle of my cheek or even on my jaw which increases the speed but it puts things out of alignment and doesn't feel comfortable.

J Jenkins I think with most recurves it's to the back of the bow... My 26.4" is to the plunger button which is at the pivot point of my grip... Kinda like your to the handle situation Depending on the width of the handle/riser section I always measure to where the arrow contacts the side plate... That's what I find works best for arrow spine charts as that's where the arrow will bend essentially... That's my draw length and olympic recurves are made where the handle and button match With my board bow I've made a pistol grip but when I tillered it to 29" it was to a flat handle... I just wanted that extra margin knowing my bow would bend and pull to that without risking overdrawing and failure It's all part of the learning journey of bow building My first flatbow is around the 30# mark... I'm happy with that and it's a lesson towards building a 50# more inline with my recurve weight From this video you can see how a recurve tip added extra speed and that's to do with working tip distance.... With all other things being equal (which wood bow is tho?) My 66" recurve tip travel is alot more than my 70" flatbow... Granted my recurve weight is higher but hopefully when I get to building my 50# I'll be able to compare Real wood vs carbon engineering 😀 I'm not a hunter so can't comment on speed vs weight penetration

Definitely. Some woods like eastern red cedar don’t bend well with heat. Hickory can be kind of a pain as well. I usually flatten things out before bending.

That’d be very risky to turn the bow around. You’ve already compressed the belly fibers and weakened them. This would make it weak in tension as well.

Yes, you can narrow it out considerably then start removing wood from teh belly. I'd make the bow a few inches shorter than she is tall, then reduce width to maybe 1 1/8 or so at the widest part.

Yes you can. 10gpp is an accepted standard for comparison.

Silk, strong cloth, etc.

Clay Hayes snake skin ?

It's actually fairly common. 3 under. It gets the arrow closer under my eye and makes for easier aiming. I talk about my aiming method in a video titled Traditional Archery Tips, or something close to that.

Clay Hayes Thanks! I'll check it out.

I should have mentioned that. These arrows are pretty heavy at around 640 grains.

Knowing that, the speeds you got for the longbow are not too bad at all, and the speed with your osage recurve is very impressive!

You could do this at the end. Rawhide won’t take a regular wood stain very well though.

@@clayhayeshunter so will the stain shiw through the raw hide? Sorry..just a bit confused. I understand the rawhide is needed...but it that basically the final finish?

You could put stain over the whole thing, rawhide and all. The rawhide just won’t soak it up like wood will.

@@clayhayeshunter ok cool. Thanks for the input. Appreciate you taking the time. Can't wait to order your rawhide and apply it. I didn't make the bow...but it's definitely made from a plank like this video series. A finish it yourself model. Needs some sanding and such and i might shorten it up a bit and thin it out some. Any advice? And thanks again

You can bend the tips into a reflex with a heat gun. I’ve never tried to put full curves in it though.

@@clayhayeshunter can you steam them like you done the osage handle, i don't have a heat gun? Also I want to thank you for the wealth of information your putting out there for us. God bless you and your family.

Steam would be fine.

Sure. These bows aren’t as fast or efficient as my Osage bows but you could definitely take a deer with one.

that's awesome, if luck holds up I'll be making and shooting one of these by next season, thanks again for the amazing videos, they're an amazing resource

Good luck!

This maple board has some curl to it so I might stain it with some kind of dark wood stain. Then seal it with tung oil or tru oil.

Clay Hayes nice.

Sounds pretty efficient ...

what do you mean by "getting the bow to one back"?

Clay Hayes I think he's talking about stave bows where you need to get the back down to one ring.

Eighty pound draw? Have you don't much shooting with a traditional bow? Even with a compound bow, eighty pounds is a lot to handle. With a traditional wood bow it massively difficult, and you really shouldn't need it for anything short of a grizzly, if then. When I live, thirty-five pound draw is deer legal, and forty-five is elk legal. I know you can kill a moose with fifty-five. The idea is to use the lowest draw weight that will do the job because you're going to have to shoot any bow a LOT to get good with it. But to anser your question more directly, for that weight, go with Osage orange or hickory. I'd start with a piece three inches wide and two inches thick. That's my best guess, but I've never made a bow that heavy. I like my fingertips and my shoulder too much. I'm a hunter, and at least ninety-five percent of everything I've ever killed with a bow was within twenty-five yards. Tiny targets get tough past this range, and, to me, being able to stalk in close is the thrill of hunting with a bow. But whether stalking or using a tree stand, which I truly hate, hunting skill means getting close. On the ground, stalking, no blind, I've got within fifteen yards many times, and within twelve yards a couple of times. To me, this is what it's all about.

You can heat bend maple a little bit not as much as Osage.

My scale is freaking out so I couldn't weigh the arrow. But, I'd guess it's around 580 grains.

Nice Clay, i do all my testing with 555gr, your hunting bow is performing nicely id say! Looks like you have the back tension thing down too!

thanks Shelton

I’m guessing around 580. My scale is dead. Gotta get a new one.

Ok thanks.. on the heavier side then.

You can make it whatever length you want. Also check out my book, The Traditional Bowyer's Handbook. Lots of good info there. ch

I've never tried but I would suspect so. You can make a bow from just about anything. The difference is in performance.

Ummm No.

He zeroed the scale with the bow and measuring stick on it. That should take most of the inaccuracies out. Besides, it doesn't have to be accurate within grams, or even ounces. Or does it?

For this type of bow that is unnecessary. For Osage, watch my original bow building vids that I made about 5 years ago.

2sleevefinley it wouldn't be worth the decrease in shootability and tune. If he wanted speed, he would be shooting a compound. The methods he used in the video did not detract from accuracy, probably only helped it.

You sure could but it would slap the hell out of your wrist!

What part of limbs forward of grip are more efficient and give better performance did you not comprehend?Take time and go back and watch all 4, you might learn something.