This is exactly what I was looking for. I watched part one, and am about to watch part 3. You making it possible to very easily go out and get a piece of wood from Lowes and make a bow in a day, gives so many more people the confidence to do this as a weekend project and be shooting after a few days of drying. And the best part is, it is all done for virtually no money. Thanks for the videos!
Definitely would love to see more content like this - especially a bow made with material from home depot but with a shelf. Would be awesome. And as for Merino as base layer, can't go wrong with that, totally different type of warmth you get. Thanks for sharing, man.
Clay, actually can't adequatly express how much I apreciate and love the content you share! Thanks man. Really looking forward to your upcoming videos. Wishing you and your beloved ones a very Merry Christmas! Take care, brother.
Hi Clay! Just found your videos, Love them. I Absolutely love traditional archery. I've made a few bows in the past, but I jumped in way too quickly with less knowledge than I thought I had(over-enthusiastic) and 3/4 have finally failed. My brother still shoots one from time to time, but only I believe because he hasn't dropped the cash on a better bow. Your video has inspired me to try again for a better result. I use Titebond on a daily basis at my job. Great stuff! I love that you said "add a little glue between the rawhide strips" and then proceeded to put enough Titebond III to hold a car up.... Thanks for the vid! I appreciate your taking time to explain what you are doing and why. I'll just be off to Home Depot now...
That sort of failure is likely because you are not smooth in your cutting of the wood off the bow. It MUST be perfectly smooth. IE no potholes or washboarding or uneven or sudden thickness variations. I would bet, if you take your broken bows and measure the thickness at the break that it will be less that the surrounding wood.
Excellent series! I tried making a board bow a year ago and hit problems. I think I know why now thanks to your video. I'm going to take another shot at it now. Thank You!
I have been following your videos for a while now and you have inspired me to build a bow for my son and my self. Thank you for your amazing work 💪 you inspirational 👏
Great video! Yes definitely keep up the how to videos. Bow building, arrows, shooting, broad heads, camping, stalking,...campfire cooking in elk camp, what ever you got I'm listening!
Awesome videos. The worst about about your channel is waiting for the preceding videos to be released, makes it more of a treat when they come out. I'm on my third hickory flatbow (first one shoots terribly, second broke, third one showing good promise), and learn something new every time (like back setting). Helpful tips and tricks in these videos.
good morning Clay, i scored a find at a thriftstore, a squeegee for window tinting, and a wallpaper roller. i use these to smooth out bubbles in rawhide, or linen backing. i've heard of exercising your limbs, but jogging pants? brother you're taking it to the next lvl. that bow's gonna get spoiled you pampering it like that lol.
It was worth the wait Clay , loved the video and with minimal tools as well brilliant thanks for sharing 👍👍👍. At 70 pounds it would be to heavy for me would it just be a case of removing more wood from the back of the bow for a lighter poundage or just start off with a thinner blank , thanks Clay
Thanks mate for the epic vids that you put out. Such an inspiration. I’m planning on making my first bow just like this. You’re a legend. From Australia, phil
Love the videos. I will be following this build. I have made a couple bows out of staves but never really got into board bows. This will be a good start for board bows for me. Thanks for the videos! I look forward to buying some raw hide off of your website!
How bad is it if I made the tips as thin as the limbs? I planed the limp all the way through to the tip. It seems that you stopped short of the tips and just rounded them off.
i love this vid i have been wanting to make a bow for years and really want to use Osage but i was pretty intimidated by the process, but for my first self made bow this way seems much less intimidating and novice not to mention inexpensive perfect for getting the feel of bow making, i will be starting my project soon and ordering rawhide from you. thanks for the help and inspiration.
Thanks for all the videos. I've recently just started going down the rabbit hole with bow making. It IS So awesome to actually work wood vs machine and assemble like in cabinetry. Couple questions, how come you and everyone else puts some kind of baking on all their board bows? A gentlemen medieval reenactor said they were unnecessary(he has made many board bows). What is that plastic white cup/pipe on the edge or your bench for? You're awesome! thanks for all the vids and advice.
Great videos. What’s got me troubled is it’s pretty unclear how much material to actually remove from the edges. And how much tension should initially be in your limbs. Can anyone provide some insight?
Damn, now I`ve gotta go find a good board at Home Depot. Thanks Clay for another great bow building video. Can't wait for the next one. Curious...would it be possible to do a small arrow shelf on a board bow?
For a bend through the handle bow, you'd add your shelf to the side. Don't try to cut one in. To cut a shelf in, you'd need to add a piece of wood to beef up the handle section and make it stiff. I'll do a vid on the process.
ya know a board bow is not as romantic but the wood still comes from a tree. I am going to try board bow first. I just may enjoy the concept more. and there is some nice wood out there
Hello from Sweden Clay. :) I have a question: could you use a silk tie or linen as a backing if you don't have rawhide? I saw another bow builder use it... so could it work for this build too?
I would definitely watch more videos showing bow builds...I have a beautiful chunk of Osage that was milled into a square post with amazingly straight grain. I'm thinking a board bow style would be great for a first attempt at making a bow of my own
MrDeebz32 how big is your post? With Osage you could chase a ring and make a great bow I would save that for a few bows in. I love Osage it's a great wood to work with bet my first bow 4 years ago was a red oak board bow and it worked great to start.
MrDeebz32 Another option is to mill the post into as many straight grained 3/4”x1.5” slats as you can get out of it. Back it with hickory backing strips, or better yet with bamboo. A well built bamboo backed Osage bow is about as good as it gets for a backed primitive bow in my opinion.
It's about 6 foot long, and roughly 3x3 inches....I've done a tone of reading and watching videos, and I will definitely work up to chasing a ring on a piece of Osage at some point....I believe there's enough wood on the post to make several bows. I will probably try to cut off a piece to do a board bow backed with another wood, and save the rest for when I've got more experience..
The board that you cut should have the the grain perpendicular to or at 45 degrees to the back and belly of the bow. The grain for the party that you want to chase a ring on should have the grain should be parallel to the back that should give you a place to start. With a 1 in thick piece of Osage that's long and narrow could still produce a good hunting weight bow.
Clay i’ve been meaning to ask you. I’ve been building bows for 12 years. I cut my own trees and split them into staves. But I have never built a board bow, however. What are the moisture content readings usually at for a typical home depot board? I don’t want to bring my moisture meter to test at the Home Depot in case they think I stole it. The only thing I know is look for parallel grain from end to end with no knots. I plan on building a fully bending design like you did, with a deer rawhide backing/hide glue. Thanks! Aaron
Just tell them as you come in the door that you have it. Show them. They will not give you any problems after that. Store wood is kiln dried and in VERY different from naturally dried woods in how it responds to moisture. Research it. It is something about the plastic nature of the wood getting fixed by the high drying temperatures.
Douglas E Knapp I’ve got to re-calibrate my meter. Getting funky readings. But thanks for the info. I feel like I would have too spend hours searching for the perfect board stave. I think I will back it with rawhide as a precaution as that won’t overpower the belly. I don’t use modern finishes, so i’ll just seal the bow with a dozen coats of rendered hog fat, heat it up gently to drive the oil in, and seal with my homemade beeswax/fat. Thanks for the info. Aaron
@@aaronluna4341 I never find the perfect wood. I have ended up just taking what I can get and getting good with heat bending the wood. I use lots of branches as my base and then flatten the back. I use any wood that I can get and adjust the width to compensate per the bowyers bible number 3 or was it 4?
Great video Clay. You explain things really well. I want to make some of these bows for my grandkids. To reduce the weight do I just remove more from the belly side?
Fantastic build. How would you reduce the draw weight. Would you taper the limbs further down. If you had to remove material to lessen the draw weight would you do it just at the far end of the limbs or equally through the length of the limb. Thanks. I'm going to start one this month.
To reduce weight, continue to remove wood from the belly while maintaining the proper arc. Go slowly, weigh comes off fast toward the end of the process.
you already lined me out with the rawhide backing for protection, and sinew backing for performance. many 'brick staggered' small strips of backstrap sinew, or wide flat 'sheets' staggered? and would you do rawhide over the sinew to protect that as well?
Hi! Two parts. What is the width and thickness of the board that you started with? Second, does the growth direction of the growth rings matter in determining the back and the belly of the bow? e.g side where the growth rings start from, would determine the belly side? Thanks !
I've followed you for a while now and I'm considering making a board/self bow for "Primitive" 3D competitions. In the mean time I've purchased a second hand bamboo laminated 'primitive' bow that has moderate string follow. I've never dealt with primitive bows before. Can I remove some of that set by carefully (little at a time) stringing the bow backwards and letting it set for a few days at a time? My gut feeling says no but thought I'd ask. Thanks...
Hey, I'm beginning to make my first bow and I was wondering if it's mandatory to have the jig setup for testing the bow? Also, thanks for all your videos! They really help when making your first bows.
First of let me say I really like you videos. You break it down in plain English without a bunch of technical jargon that sounds like a foreign language to those of us that don't do this everyday. My question is; would there be an advantage to more than one layer of backing? Or would that be a waste of time?
thank you for these videos! I am wondering, I have some deer hides that are prepped for brain tanning I slipped the hair with ash and removed the epidermis layer of skin rinsed them really well and dried them for later use . can these be used for a bow back?
How you doing clay thank you for all your videos It's helped me with all my archery Specially with my shooting in my shot cycle I have a problem with my long bow The limb tips will you hook up your string is very sharp And it's been tearing up my bow strings was in aware of it at 1st but when they start looking at it my strings were being cut in their life expectancy with short By looking at it seems that I have to file it down in round it out a little bit but to be honest with you and the can of afraid it was a gift to me And I love that bow now my problem is how can I fix it your advice is valued maybe you could help me out if I have to send it down in put a finish on it so I don't damage it can I do this myself I hope you understood everything I said I appreciate your time I hope you could help me Can make no mistakes so when you explain it to me 20 to me like if I was a 14 year old OK so I understand I hope you get back to me on this And keep in videos going they've helped me quite a bit Efrain From Pennsylvania
Clay do you think this would be a good choice for a small kids bow say in the 10 pound @ 16" draw range?I have only built bows out of staves and this would be more economical and save time as well.
