The Free DIY Bowmaking Instructions and Videos

LONGBOW MAKING GUIDE VIDEO - All in One

Before anything, i wish to tell to those who are going to make Composite Recurve Bows to refer to the Recurve Video Guides available below. And to those who are making a Composite longbows, stick to the above really good. Good luck from the beginning!

All right folks, before we start to jump around and shoot squirrels around the house, we are going to need some archery equipment. Easiest way is to buy it - but as a Guru I am somehow responsible to teach those who cannot afford to buy How To Make A Quality Composite Self-Bow.

A composite bow, by definition, is a bow made of two or more materials. Typically the composite materials are used to make the bow stronger, although it can be purely ornamental. Must remember, almost all composite bows are longbows or recurve type.

Exotic materials like horn can be used, but for beginners, wood, hide/skins, and sinew are probably the easiest. I'll show you how to make a basic bow, and also continue the project towards a finished composite bow.

Assuming you are an average skilled student in woodwork and craft at school, this project can take up to three days if you work it out straight for 3 hours a day.

The process is divided into 2 major steps. Please follow the steps properly. No horsing or bullshitting, guys - the bow you are going to make is a damn serious weapon.

Things You Need

1. Length of board from a lumberyard, this is your stave
2. a foot length of 2x4. This is your tillering board
3. Knife, draw knife, spokeshave, rasp- people like to use different tools, I prefer a draw knife.
4. Jigsaw and belt sander will decrease the amount of time, but are unnecessary
5. Sandpaper of varying grit
6. Material to make a bowstring (Easier to buy online from any online archery supplier)
7. Materials to make a matched set of arrows (Wood shaft, Fletching and Point)
8. Round file
9. Hide glue to bind the backing
10. Backing material such as snake skin, rawhide, sinew, wood, horn (very difficult to work with)
11. Finishing Coating such as Tung Oil
12. Bathroom scale (cooking scale is also good - sensitive)
13. Measuring Tape

Step 1 - Making and Shaping The Basic Bow

RECURVE VIDEO TIP 1 - Making The Recurve Shape Permanent

Select your wood. Go to a hardware store or an archery store.Don't chop down live trees.

1. • Look for a board that's 6 feet long, 1"x2".
   • Oak and lemonwood are good woods for your first bows.Osage and yew make the best bows, but are difficult to work with.
   • Do not use pine, poplar, or other soft woods.
2. Check the grain. The board doesn't have to be straight, but you want the grain to run straight, both on the face and the sides. Ideally, the grain should run straight down the length of the board, so that the back of the board is a single layer of wood unbroken by any growth rings. It's unlikely that you'll find such a board at lumber yard, so get a board with as few defects as possible.
3. Use a pencil to roughly draw the shape of the bow on the wood:
   • For a longbow, you want it long and narrow taper to the tip.
   • Follow the natural grain.
   • If there are knots in the wood, work around them, not through them.
4. Glue on your second piece of wood now, if you plan to use one. It will be far easier to shape the two together.
5. Rough out the shape of the bow with a saw. To save a lot of time, you can use a jig saw to rough out the shape, or stick with a draw-knife, spokeshave, or coarse rasp.
   • Rough out only the sides.
   • Remember, don't cut anything off the back.
6. Create your tillering board.
   1. Take a 2"x4" board 3 feet long.
   2. In one end, cut a 1" inch deep notch across the board (the short way).
   3. On the side of the board from the notched end, use a tape measure and mark off every inch, starting from 10 inches all the way to the end.

   • Note that 20" is actually going to be 19" because you've carved a 1" notch.

   1. Tie a string from one end of your stave to the other.
   2. Stand the tillering board upright and rest the bow in the notch.
   3. Push the string down. Since you haven't begun carving the belly yet, it won't bend more than a few inches.
      
      
      Recurve Video Tip 2 - Making The Handle Of The Bow
      
      
7. Carve and shave the belly of the bow with your chosen tool.
   • Taper towards the tips of the stave.
   • Don't take too much wood off at once.
   • Every so often, go back to the tillering board and ensure that the limbs are both bending evenly.
   • You can use a belt sander here which will save a lot of time, but it can also lead to big mistakes happening rather quickly.
     
     
     Recurve Video Tip 3 - Handle Work
     
     
     

     Recurve Video Tip 4 - Measuring, Shaping and Sizing The Bow

     
     
     Recurve Video Tip 5 - Limb Work
8. Make your nocks by cutting 1/8" slits angled down on both sides of the top and bottom of the bow.
9. String the bow (with the tillering string).
   • From one end, look down the length of the bow and ensure that the string runs through the center of the bow. If you carve one side too much, the bow can twist and pull the string off-center.
10. Check the weight of the bow now and then. If carve too much, there's no going back. You want to aim for a specific weight at a specific draw length, and stop when you get close.
11. Carve the string nocks. At each end of the stave, use a round file and file the nocks for the string. They don't need to be too deep, just enough for the bowstring to sit. They should be diagonal, high in the back, low towards the belly.

Step 2 - Making The Composite Bow

1. Glue your backing material to the back of the bow with hide glue. Note that hide glue really stinks. Don't prepare the hide glue in your kitchen!
2. Wait for the glue to dry.
3. Put it on the tillering board. Go slow here, now is not the time to make a mistake. repeat the tillering process from above.
4. Check the shape and weight one more time.
5. Finish the bow.
   • Put your mark on the bow.
   • Mark the weight and draw length.
   • Give it a name, sign it, make it personal.
6. Finish the bow with a few coats of Tung Oil. Tung oil protects the bow from the elements without hiding or damaging the wood.

Tips and Tricks

• If this is your first bow, try making a plain "self" bow, without any backing. If the bow comes out OK, you can always add a backing later. That way if your first few bows don't work out, you're not wasting the backing.
• Using power tools you can make a bow in a matter of hours, which will save you a lot of time over carving by hand. However it's easy to make a big mistake with a power tool and harder to learn what you are doing.
• Don't bother with Osage or Yew. While they're ideal woods for a bow, you don't find them growing naturally in many places. The staves are expensive to purchase. And let's face it, the first few bows aren't going to be much to speak of, better not wasting the money on quality wood until you've got a few bows under your belt.
• If you can find it, Ash is a great wood and is plentiful. If you see a tree down, ask the landowner if you can have a length. It should be at least 8 inches in diameter. A 6' length will produce 4 staves, or you can use a 3' piece and splice together 2 staves. The wood should be dried for several months, so if you're in a hurry, use boards from the store. Don't use green wood or chop down a live tree.
• Oak is usually easy to find and is relatively cheap. It's an easy wood to work with and makes a decent bow, so it's a good wood to start with.
• If you bought a 2"x1" board, you might want to glue a 2' piece of wood to the belly near the middle of the board if you want a higher draw weight.
• Your arrows need to be matched to the weight of a bow. It's much easier to buy shafts and make your own arrows rather than trying to carve shafts yourself.
• You can make a traditional bowstring from hemp or linen, but they are really easy to break, and breaking strings could damage the bow. Get some B50 to make your own bowstring.
• You can carve diagonal notches in the tillering board (start 1/2 way between the inch marks and cut diagonally towards the notched end). This will allow you to step back and see the entire bow.
• By putting the tillering stick on your standard bathroom scale, and then pushing down on the string, you can measure the weight of your bow.
• Remember, this is a work of art, work with the wood. You don't need use a protractor and compass to figure out the shape of the bow. As long as it's long and narrow and tapers at the end, it's a "long bow". What matters is how you carve the belly, so that it bends like a bow. Carve away wood where the bow is not bending, careful not to take away too much wood at once. Take your time.

WARNING - ACHTUNG - AMARAN!!!

Okay guys, Here is some warning for you too - A guru gotta be responsible, man. Other than that, if you have a problem, please come back to me by leaving a comment. If you don't have the specified wood for the work, you may substitute it with thick bamboo. Bamboo's fibre is stronger, but it made lighter bow than wood. Perfect for children, though. Good luck!!!

• You will be working with sharp objects, make sure you know how to use the tools!
• Hide glue smells BAD! Don't prepare hide glue in your house. If you've got neighbors living close, they may protest if you cook it up on the back porch.
• Don't dry fire (draw and let go of the string without an arrow) as this will damage the bow.
• Don't draw the bow back beyond the draw length it was designed for, as this will damage the bow.
• To string the bow, use a bow stringer; your tillering string will work. Basically start bending the bow with the tillering string, then slide the bowstring up into place. Don't do the under the leg step over thing you learned in the scouts, this can bend the bow in the wrong direction and break it.
• Don't aim a loaded bow at any person or into the vicinity of people, someone might get hurt.

Sources and Citations - wikiHowhttp://www.3riversarchery.com Try Three Rivers Archery, they carry everything you need to make your own bow, arrows, and bowstring.http://gallifrey.org/bentstic.htm "The Bent Stick" by Paul Comstock, one of the authors who contributed to the "Bible"ISBN 1585740853 If you're interested in becoming a Bowyer, the "Traditional-Bowyers-Bible" is a must have. There are three volumes, get the first, the others are interesting but not necessary for a beginner.