About a couple weeks ago I made this really nice bow. Here is how I did it:
1. Well to make the bow you need a thin piece of wood (not too thin) that is springy. What I mean by that is that the the wood needs to bend and snap back when you release the bow string. I used Scottish Elm.
2. I cut the piece of wood I wanted down from the tree. Then with a saw, I sawed off all the small branches coming off the wood. I used the saw to make nice clean cuts.
3. I took most of the skin of the piece of wood off and I let it dry.
4. Now I need to make the notches. I did this again with a saw. I made sure that I didn't cut to far in so that when I pulled the string it would snap off.
5. Now all I did was tie a piece of string in the notches tightly so that the string is in its position.
Info:
Average Range: 48 feet
Longest Distance: 53 feet
Wood Type: Scottish Elm
This bow is a start, keep practicing.
ReplyDeleteThe shave points are near the center on your bow, as in where it is bending. You don't want your bow bending in near its center. What if it snapped? you'd have a messed up hand. You want your bow bending at two points, a quarter of the way up from the bottom and a quarter of the way down from the top. Those points will be the center of the bends. once you mark those points, start shaving. It takes time. See from time to time how much bend it'll give you. do that till you are satisfied with the give, and make sure its even on both sides. Then string your bow. To string it, you should need to use the traditional way by using your legs as braces to help you string it. If it strings without breaking, carefully pull and see if it can take a draw. Shave it some more till it can. Add a center grip, make some arrows, test fire. I've made a few 'survival' bows all of which fire atleast 120+ feet