Board bows for kids ... ideas?

[paoliguy]

I'm planning a bow building event for a group of kids from church. I've had some success with board bows in the past but I'm far from an expert. My thought is a pyramid bow I could cut out on the table saw / band saw in advance and have the kids cut nocks, finish sand and glue on backing. Anyone have any good pointers or suggestions?
Thanks,
Mark B

[John Scifres]

How many kids?

[paoliguy]

probably 10 - 12

[John Scifres]

It can be tough to find that many good boards for selfbows.  You can back them like Dean Torges recommends here:   http://www.stickbow.com/FEATURES/SELFBOWS/beginnings.CFM

Or do rattan like he writes about here:  http://bowyersedge.com/kidsbows.html

I've done a bunch of the rattan kind and they are pretty easy.  Where in Indiana are you?  I'm on the southside of Indy.

[George Tsoukalas]

That's a little of kids to be watching. When I make a kid's bow from red oak I make them 1 inch wide and as tall as the kid. Backing is a good idea.Burlap, linen and silk would work.
Jawge

[paoliguy]

John, I'm in Paoli Indiana - couple hours south of Indy. I had not heard of the rattan bows that might be a good one to experiment with.

I plan on having a good number of parents involved. I get scared when I'm that outnumbered!

I was thinking of either red oak or maple with burlap backing. Sounds like red oak is the better choice?

I"m hoping to have very limited amounts of tillering given the number of kids and the short attention span (kids and mine!). I want to teach them a bit but keep it fun at the same time.

[John Scifres]

Duh!  I have hunted down near Shoals quite a lot.  My first trad deer came from a farm not too far from Paoli.  It's the one in my avatar.

I may have enough rattan left over from a bow build we did for some kids at Cloverdale a few years ago.  I'll check.  When are you doing your build?  If you want to come north for an afternoon, we can walk through the steps and maybe even prep the rattan.  I have used it a lot for scouts and other smaller builds where I got the kids heavily involved.

Here's the Cloverdale build:     Cloverdale 2009

[paoliguy]

Well maybe we could meet up at Cloverdale? I'm planning to go to the Nats and IBO shoot if at all possible.

[John Scifres]

Unfortunately I won't be at Cloverdale Nationals this year.  I have to travel for work.  Still haven't decided on the IBOs as I am travelling a lot in July also.

[paoliguy]

Well, I still may take you up on your kind offer. I'm around Indy every so often. I'm not sure when we are going to do this event with the kids but I'm sure I will make some time to practice up a bit in advance. Thanks again.

[Sal]

If the kids are younger than 8 years old, these bows work out really well.  They usually come out at around 15-20# and draw over 20":

 http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/53739/How-to-make-kids-bows-fast-and-easy

I've made dozens of these bows over the years, they pretty much self tiller.

[paoliguy]

Sal, that's kind of what I was envisioning. I have a young "volunteer" in my neighborhood, think we'll try both the rattan and oak versions and see what we get. I'll post some pictures of the kids and their bows (whatever type we end up with).