and so - the adventure begins....

[bbassi]

One of the things I've wanted to do since I was a kid was to build a bow I could actually hunt with. Other than a few false starts when I was young and had more ambition than brains, it's largely been one of those things that always got put off until next year. Well, hopefully that's about to change. I finally got out in my woods to try to find a bow among the trees. Here's the result of this mornings wandering.

   

After about an hours work, this is what I was left with...

   

My goal is to somehow get a hunting bow for this fall out of this pile of kindling. How I get there from here remains to be seen. LOL

I think it would be real neat to kill a whitetail on my place with a bow and arrows made from tree that grew on the same property. Wish me luck.

[ishiwannabe]

Good luck! I will be attempting a bow soon myself...keep us posted. Pun intended.

[Billy]

that's real Homefield Advantage when you've got it all in one spot.
Good shaping to you bbassi.
Take us along on the adventure, if ya wouldn't mind.

[mmgrode]

Cool stuff!  Make sure to post pictures of your progress. Is that maple and hickory? The best of luck to you on your first bow build!!!     Matt

[Eastern fisher]

I would LOVE to try it myself.  A good friend of mine Dirty Bill says that I should try something new to help me battle depression and to feel better.  I have read all your posts and MAN IT LOOKS DIFFICULT.  Where do I start??

[bbassi]

Thanks guys. Next step I figure is to build a bow vise/bench while I wait for these staves to dry out. I sealed both ends with white glue and I plan to move 2 or 3 staves down into my basement where the wood burner is. It's so dry down there they should be ready to play with in just a coupe of weeks

MMgrode, it's actually 3 pignut Hickory staves and 2 hop horn beams. I took 2 trees, about 8" at chest level. The hardest part was carrying them out over my shoulder. The hickory wasn't bad but that HHB is heavy! And of course the first rule I learned about self bows is the best trees are always the furthest from the house.      This morning both of my shoulders look like they went through a meat tenderizer. If I do it again I think I'll take some larger trees and split them right there in the woods or take the dang tractor out to bring them in. While the trees looked straight and limb free, they were young enough that many of the lower branches were only slightly under the bark. This might cause me problems going forward, but that remains to be seen.

Eastern Fisher - you must be thinking of someone else on here. I've never done this and am probably as clueless as they come, so we are both in the same boat. I'm sure I'll have more questions than answers for the folks here, but I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[allanburden]

Good luck...one of these days, I'm gonna get all motivated to try this...until then I'll just keep drinkin my coffee and reading about the great bows you guys do.  

[Glenn29]

Wish I could find a Hophorn straight enough to use. Our Florida Hophorn's don't grow big enough nor straight enough to use for a bow.

Keep us posted!  

[Eastern fisher]

bbassi.  miss type.  I meant that I have read alot of the past posts and it seems difficult.  Not yours,  Sorry

[Ray Hammond]

Bbassi,
get yourself a game cart to haul those logs with...save your shoulder for shooting.

[Osagetree]

Very nice haul for a days work.

Let the staves settle for a week or two before moving them in the warm area of your basement. I'd try to reduce one after a few months in the warm basement. But, seal the back of it with linseed oil after to prevent checking. After a few more months you can probably have a good practice piece that may make a decent bow. That way you're sure to keep up the intrest and not have to wait a year or two before hacking up some wood.

Good job on the gathering and splitting. I'd get a another coat or two of glue on the ends,,, ASAP! ???They look pretty long, so you may be able to cut off any checks at the ends???

[bbassi]

Thanks for the advise Osage, I'll probably need a lot of it. all are cut 7 ft except one that was cut 8ft. Right now I'm looking for a big band saw to reduce some of these down and speed the drying. I'm also considering cutting another hickory. Larger this time. I was looking at some staves on line and lets just say none of them have the character these do. I'm thinking an older log will have less "issues".

[ishiwannabe]

Those knots that show up after ya split it are something huh? Brian and I got really nice stave from a tree that was about 15" in diameter. Thats a lot of work to do by yourself. You should look into building a hotbox...easy to do and helps shorten the time ya have to wait.
Did you get the PM about the rock? My computer was fritzing so I dont know if it sent...

[Dirty Bill]

Originally posted by Eastern fisher:
I would LOVE to try it myself.  A good friend of mine Dirty Bill says that I should try something new to help me battle depression and to feel better.  I have read all your posts and MAN IT LOOKS DIFFICULT.  Where do I start??

There's a book called "From Billets to Bows" I think it was written by Glenn ST. Charles.  

[Wapiti Chaser]

You forgot one important step. Call Bob to help bring the wood out.

[bbassi]

Bob, I thought you were in FLA stickin' pigs. Let's go chase some bunnies!

[Terry Green]

Lookin good so far!!!!!

[bbassi]

ok, while I'm waiting for my stave to dry a little, I thought there were some things I could do to make my new adventure go a little easier. I've seen a bow bench in a couple of threads here and actually got to  see one in person a year ago, but I had no plans and basiclly just winged it from memory. It may not be the best bench ever made but I think it will work.

   

The other thing I figured I'd need was a bow tree, so working off pictures I've seen here and other places, I came up with this.

     

While I managed to get a couple hickory staves stripped, they still need to dry quite a bit before anything more can be done.