Board Bows

[Ed Race]

Hey guys,

Probably already been covered, beaten dead, and t-shirts made, but looking into doing a board bow to see how I like bow making since my new job allows me more time at home.  I saw what looked like a great video series on youtube from a guy called boarriorbows.  That perked my interest. Looking at red oak boards at lowe's to start.

Any links to websites, advice, or heckling is appreciated.  I have the feeling this is going to be addicting....

Thanks!
Ed

[Sam Harper]

I had only hand tools for my first bow, and it was a lot of work.  But in spite of the amount of work it involved, I was still hooked. Then later, as I began to acquire power tools, it got a lot easier, and still addictive.

Anywho, here's a build along a lot of folks have used for their first bow:

 http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

[Ed Race]

thanks for the help Sam!

[John Scifres]

Have you searched for "board bows" here yet?  All your questions will be answered  

[takefive]

That is a terrific build along, Sam.  Very thorough and easy to follow and yours are always entertaining to boot.  I've only been at this for less than a year and just 6 board bows, so far.  I still have a lot to learn, but I'm finding out that straight and parallel grained boards aren't easy to find and Sam's suggestion of backing red oak is a good idea.  Unfortunately, I don't think that Lowes has hickory boards 'cuz that would give you a better shot at making an unbacked bow, although you still want to find a board with the best possible grain (speaking from the perspective of a guy who used to have a cavalier attitude when it came to grain violation.  Believe me, I've seen the light      The Traditional Bowyer's Bible books are great resources, too.  Vol. 2 has a chapter on board bows that I've found to be indispensable. Same for a tillering gizmo:

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get

Best of luck to you with your bow!  Here are a couple more build alongs:

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000122;p=1

 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/boardbowbuildalong.html

Gotta go reread Sam's glass longbow build along now.  That's the next one on my list.  But, nah, it's not addicting.  I can quit anytime I want...  

[takefive]

Oops...that link for the tillering gizmo isn't working for me.  Make sure you do a search for "gizmo" 'cuz IMHO you gotta have one.

[takefive]

Well, try this link for the gizmo.  Yeah, it's that important    

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047#000000

[RedMan37]

I am new at this. So I'm not much help..Ed. But I used Sam's site because of the incredible detail. He describes everything a newbie needs to know and do to build a red oak board bow. Although my tillering needs work..I was able to build a hard shooting bow on my first attempt that I'm still shooting. There are however some other designs that may yield a more powerful bow such as a pyramid bow. There's a guy that calls himself 4est tracker on here that has a good build along. You might check that out. Maybe someone on here can post the link. Personally I think Sam's is a better one to attempt for your first one because the pyramid is just a little more advanced and time consuming to construct. I may be wrong. But read other opinions on here. These guys on here have some insane skills. Good luck with whatever you decide. I'll be watching because I am unfortunately addicted.

[takefive]

The link for 4est trekker's pyramid bow is in my first post.  Whether you go with his, Sam's, or one of George's, I don't think you can go wrong.  They're all terrific.  Pick one, find a good board, and have at it :-)

[Ed Race]

thanks for all the help!  I will probably try the poorfolksbows tutorial first since that looks somewhat less complicated. but the other tutorial looks really fun.  I also have to build some tools i.e. tiller tree.

One question and it's probably dumb, but what exactly does the gizmo do?

[JGL]

my understanding is that the gizmo helps you to maintain the same even bend in the limbs of your bow and to identify hinges and stiff spots. it helped me alot for getting a shooter that has lasted

[takefive]

No, not a dumb question at all and I wondered it too.  Once you have your bow floor tillered and on a tillering tree with the limbs bending, you run the gizmo along the belly of the limbs.  The spots that the pencil hits and leaves marks on are stiff areas that need to be scraped or sanded more.  It's just a really great way to get the limbs bending evenly along the whole arc because it can be very tough to pick those spots out just by eyeing it up. Especially for us mortals who haven't made hundreds of bows    

[Grandpa Bill]

I used Sam's build along for my first bow I built with my grandson...switched linen for the fiberglass drywall tape.  He got an A for his visual aid on his Robin Hood project and I got a new hobby that is very addicting.

I recommend you use both tutorials as they build very different bows.  Red Oak is easy to find and inexpensive compared to some of the "classic" hardwoods like hickory or ash. Board bows shoot as well as stave bows once they are shaped and tillered correctly, plus you can make a bunch (I think I have 10 today and working on 3 more)for what a single stave of yew or osage will cost.  

Enjoy the building, you will build more than one...everyone here has!!!

Grandpa Bill

[Jomohr84]

I also started with Sam's red oak build along, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to make bows. I also have the Trad. Bowyers Bibles, and they are packed with invaluable info for aspiring Bowyers.

[Eric Krewson]

Acting on the advice of others who have made Gizmos I now make them like this. They will
go further up the limb with less wood to get in the way.