Pignut Hickory Bow from scratch

[barley40]

I thought this very brief discription might help a beginner. Board bows may be ok for practice but for a really good one you gotta cut a tree or buy a stave. I split a 6 ft. log in half, put in dry place about a month or so (might be a good idea to spray the bark with insecticide)until rather dry, then split out the staves at least 3" wide and store until used. Then take a stave and put in a vise and remove the bark with a draw knife down to the sap wood. Careful not to cut into the wood. Now thats your back, no need to follow the grain or anything like that, just work from the belly side now, but first mark the center on the back with a string or draw off the pattern with a template. Cut the stave to length removing any cracks in the ends. You can remove excess wood from belly side with a drawknife or hatchet or by driving a wedge down the length if you're careful. Now shape the bow with a bandsaw, drawknife, hatchet, whatever until it begins to look like a bow, having already marked the center. Allow about 8" for the handle area. The belly can be worked down now with a bandsaw, drawknife, or hatchet tapering from tips to handle area 1/2" to a little over an inch or so at the handle. Now you can thin it on down with a drawknife,scraper, or power sander. Cut the knock grooves with a file and tiller. WHOA... Before do any bending you gotta be sure the wood is dry, I mean real dry. I suppose you could get it too dry but it would be hard to do. Now the tillering and handle shaping is a whole nuther story that can be found here on bowyers bench or in books. This is just to get you started on an adventure that has rewarded me with many hours of enjoyment. Now it's not rocket science, make them as good as you can, but don't worry if the tips don't line up perfect or if there's a lump where a knot was removed. Hey! the things gonna shoot and shoot good.

[dutchwarbow]

Tim Baker has made a bow with nothing but stump handtools, wich shot ~170fps at 10gpp, beating a turkish composite at similar drawweight.

It was an red-oak board bow, made with dull handtools. Little bows from staves that can beat that.

that's the little point I disagree on  

Nick

[DCM]

Generalizations are about as useful as antecdotes.  On the whole, I'd wager more beginners get a shooter from a right and regular whitewood stave than a typical board.  In the right context boards, particularly backed boards, make a lot of sense.  But if a fellar is stepping over stave wood to drive to the store to fetch same, it just makes no sense at all.

[briarjumper12]

I have my first bow shooting now.  It's pig nut hickory.  Just got antler glued on the tips yestday, just about waited too late in the game for that but I got it.  After shaping on those is done I'll stain, poly and wrap the handle with a floppy rest.  Staves rock!  This is my first experience with stuff and I could believe it when my first attempt shot successfully.  Yeah, it ain't purdy but it shoots.

[George Tsoukalas]

barley, thanks for taking the time. Staves are good. Boards are good. Boards can shoot darn well and often better than stave bows. But I'll take it one step further. At least once in awhile, a bowyer has to cut is own bow wood and make a bow.    Jawge

[barley40]

I'm sure if a board is selected carefully it can make a good bow, as good as a stave even, and it's a lot easier to come by these days, but yeah, making one from scratch is something a bowyer needs to experience. Arrow speed fps, cron-o-graph or whatever needs to be left to the wheely guys... scratch that last statement! Of course our selfbows need to shoot fast.

[4est trekker]

"Board bows may be ok for practice but for a really good one you gotta cut a tree or buy a stave."

I'm not sure if this came out wrong or I misinterpreted the post, but this is a pretty strong generalization, especially for all of the guys who now are holding board bows that finally shoot after several failures...only to read that theirs can't truly be "a really good one."  Here's some thoughts to ponder...

I've hunted with both board bows and stave bows that I've built.  I've killed more with my board bows than my stave bows.  However, it does NOT mean that mean board bows are better.  I happen to like them more, just as you apparently happen to like stave bows more.    

What it does prove is that the bow is only a fraction of the equation.  A board stave requires a much careful selection and reading as a tree stave.  The last bow I built (see "Paper Backed Longbow") required me to search all 16 racks of lumber at Menards.  I went through 178 boards (and I counted) to find one that I felt was satisfactory.  The truth be told, I'm much less selective with tree staves.  

Then you must possess the skills to tiller the stave or board into a functional bow.  Given success thus far, your journey is only beginning.  Now you must match the arrow to the bow, shooting style, intended use, etc.  I make all of my arrows from scratch and spend far more time working them than I do the bow.  Bad arrows from a great bow equal a poor archer, regardless the skill level.  Proper arrows from a mediocre bow equate to food on the table or the arrow in the ten ring....or does it?

You would first (or fourthly, as it were) have to consider the large number of variables involved in the actual shooting of the bow: bow-hand grip, release style, body alignment, and so on and so forth.  Then, perhaps, you could put meat on the table.

BUT...that's assuming you possess the most important skill of all: the prowess to actually know, understand, study, and bring yourself within hunting range of game.  That where the journey ends, and truly begins.  

And in regards to the bow shooting fast: a bow can shoot lightning fast, but if you can't hit the mark, you risk missing or severely wounding the prey.  You might as well shoot a flabby 110 fps bow with 4" of string follow.  However, a mediocre bow that sends its arrow to the mark is far superior in the hand of the one who possess the skills to properly tune his tackle and use it effectively.  The bow doesn't know or care about the skill of the archer.  It does only what it is commanded to do, and the pair can only be successful within the constraints of the arrow released.

I hope I don't sound angry or crusty, for I'm not.  I appreciate the chance to discuss topics like this.  I'm not trying, nor will I succeed, in convincing anybody that a particular bow is better than another.  Rather, I wanted to point out that ALL of the factors combined create "a really good one."        

[NEProf]

4est trekker,

Very well-put. I also prefer board bows. I would love to try my hand at a stave bow, but I do not have the facilities and space, nor the tools to cut down a tree and split it, nor (at this time) do I have the  money to acquire them or (the other option) to buy a stave. So, boards remain the best option for me. And I am completely happy with the way they shoot and perform, and I love the way they look. So I, too, love board bows and will continue to make them almost exclusively.

[4est trekker]

Don't misunderstand.  I'm not trying to make a case that board bows are better, but rather that they are certainly not inferior by any stretch of the imagination to stave bows.  Like you said, they offer many folks the opportunity to build and own a wooden bow that would otherwise lack the resources and/or ability to do so.  And at the end of the day, wood is wood.  It's up to the bowyer to understand the limitations and strengths of each piece he/she is working with, be it a stave or a board.

[David Holt]

I resemble that 4" of string follow remark...4est! haha

[4est trekker]

Hey now, David.  I saw that first pyramid bow you built on the other thread!  That thing certainly is NOT a flabby bow!       I wouldn't worry about that second one.  (The truth be told, my first bow had a healthy 4" of string follow.       )    

[barley40]

Uh-oh!! I gotta admit I've never built or shot a board bow and didn't realize how good they are. I gotta try one now. To each his own. Don't mean to offend. I can only recommend the virtues of what I know, bows from trees where the game walks, wood arrows(no offense to carbon and aluminum)a good back quiver, file sharpened broadheads, hunting on the ground unless you like tree stands. Enjoy Trad! Like I said it ain't rocket science.

[4est trekker]

Hey, Barley...I sure do like the way you think!  You are certainly right that there is nothing quite like taking game with implements made from materials they one shard the woods with.  I thought I probably just misunderstood ya!  Just to show you I'm not a complete board-bow totin' hippie, check out my latest stave bow:  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002316

[barley40]

4est trekker, now thats the kinda bow I like, but I like hickory better cause I'm too lazy to chase the grain but I ain't gonna get started on that. Limbs don't have to be perfectly straight and a little string follow don't hurt as long as you're the guy shooting it, but if you're gonna sell it, it needs to be straight as store bought. I glued up a glass laminated longbow recently. Some folks actually like them.

[Roy Steele]

I agree with Jawge theres'just something special about cutting you own stave.And building a bow and for me killing a der with it.For me if you do that there's a special feeling and you'll shoot a selfbow for life.
  I'm not downing board bows.For some people its all they can get or it's easer to get and it's good exsperence.I maded a couple once just to give it a try.But after you get some exsperence you'll build stave bows.I don't know of any bowyers that build selfbows for there self that will make a board bow.Ther just not as durable as stave bows.I learned on staves for me it's staves all the way.

[4est trekker]

Roy:  

1) I've made (and continue to make) dozens of stave selfbows, and really enjoy working and shooting them.  I also really enjoy making board bows.  In fact, this particular season I hunted with one.  I've thrown it over creeks, unstrung it and used it as a hiking pole to get up slippery slopes, and hunted in 10-15 degree weather for hours on end...and it still shows 1" of string follow and shoots likes a champ.  It cost me $9.50 at Menard's.  

2) What proof or empirical data is there to show that board bows are "just not as durable as stave bows?"  One look through the entire TBB anthology or the posts on this website would prove otherwise in short order.

Refer to my earlier post in this thread.  The point is, you cannot generalize that one bow is "better" than the other.   If you read through the TBB anthology, you'll find that some of the best contributing bowyers have drastically changed their opinions about board bows.  Why?  Experience and the gathering of empirical data.  Yet, there is still this lingering stigma about board bows that is unfounded.  

But for now, this is one bowyer who makes both stave and board bows and sees the value (and drawbacks) of each.  Wood is wood, and if you understand its fundamental properties, an equally functioning and durable bow can be fashioned from either bow or stave.  The wood doesn't care if it has been split or cut, seasoned or kiln-dried.  It's still wood, and given the proper characteristics and considerations, it will make a bow.

PS  I still shoot and small game hunt with a 1939 Ben Pearson hickory longbow (made from a board) built during his second year of production.

[George Tsoukalas]

LOL. My board bows are durable provided I get to pick the board.  
I've broken one board stave. It was hickory. I missed a tiny little knot and that's where it broke.  I wish I had that kind of record with log staves and saplings. LOL. I love red oak boards. I'm not given to bragging but when I feel as if I want an easy build I get a board stave. Board bows are quite durable. Having said that like I said before in order to be a complete bowyer it's nice once in awhile to cut your own wood.    Jawge

[NEProf]

4est trekker,

What board bow did you hunt with this year?

I am no expert at bow building, but I agree with Jawge that boards are very durable if you pick the right board (likewise, the wrong stave or a stave badly tillered will lack durability). Furthermore, I am limited in space and tools, so boards are still the best option for me anyway. However, I have no idea how durable a board bow can be, because I keep making and shooting new ones.

[4est trekker]

NEProf:  It's the black one in this picture.  Nothing pretty...it's a little "boardish," even for my taste.  But, it is an excellent shooting bow for me:

 

 

[NEProf]

Thanks. Those are absolutely beautiful!