Bow for a little boy.

[Johnny Reb]

I used to shoot bows with a guy at work who had a new wheel bow with all the goodies & since his kids thought it was cool he bought them a little dinky kids compound to play with, one day they came over & when his kids saw my recurve they  about freaked out, they never had seen a trad bow before & from then on I became the guy who shot the wooden bow.

Of course I let them "shoot" it, I walked them within spit'n distance of the target & they took turns plink'n away with the "wooden bow"     , the seed was planted.

 Now...guy & wifey are divorcing & since the youngest one wasn't guys biological son the cool kiddy compound was left with the bio sons a few hundred miles away, I know his mom aint work'n & Christmas is not far off.

 So... I'm debate'n on try'n to build him a board bow, never attempted a build before but think I can pull it off ,  I want it to be a decent little bow & not a piece of junk (like the youth bows on fleabay) he'll loose interest in because it don't fit him, emailed his mom & told her how to measure his draw length & also how tall he was (just in case), should hear back from her soon, gonna spend my lunch break tomarrow look'n for a useable piece of red oak & try to get busy.

Wher do I start ?? I remember see'n a board bow build from start to finish but couldn't find it a while a go, mite have just over looked it.

Question: has anyone have any food for thought on build'n a board bow to fit a child ??

[mwosborn]

Sounds like a great idea - plenty of help here.

This is a build along by 4est trekker many have used...might have to scale it down for a smaller bow but lots of good advice for a board bow.  Good luck!

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

[Chris Cole]

Not sure how old he is but I built a bow for my son, who is 3, out of bamboo and a red oak riser, it shoots really good and it cost me all of 5 dollars to make. Two dollars for the bamboo, and I had the red oak left over from a red oak board bow.

   

   

[Johnny Reb]

Thanks for the link, I'm in kind of a fizz since the idea hit me & do'n a search never crossed my mind, gonna give it a good read after work tomarrow & see if I can pull it off, mite be a bit much consider'n the lack of time,tools,experience & my work schedule.


kind of curious how to figure the limb width/thickness/length to get the draw weight down to what he would have to have, if they have to be thinned to keep the draw weight down would it make them weak & apt to break ??

[Johnny Reb]

    [/QB][/QUOTE]

HA !!! that's a cool little bow & a cool little boy , very nice work you've done.

I'm guess'n he's about 9 years old, kind of skinny, figured 20-25 pound D/W would be plenty.

Gotta ask, wherd you find the bamboo ??

[DD9000]

It all depends on how old and strong he is.
If he is not too old then you may find something in this thread.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=002785;p=0

The link that John points you to there will work if you have access to the bamboo or rattan, or the post by Monterey down a few posts will work if you can find the small oak slats.

we made some based on that design for my kids at 8 and 10 years old.
 
They pull about 15lbs at 20inches with that design.

David

[Chris Cole]

got the bamboo from franks cane and rush supply. The full 8 foot piece I bouth for my bow was only 6.50

[Johnny Reb]

I received a return email from his mom, the measurements are 19inch draw length & hes 4 feet tall. mom also told he shot his big brothers bow at 20# with no issues.

Stopped at the building center today & was surprised the the red oak wood was less costly than I had thought, also found some that measured 3/4 inch thick by 2 inches wide, since its gonnabe for a child that size of wood mite save some waste & work.

Thanks for the food for thought & info gents, need all I can get.

[Johnny Reb]

Just checked out the links, just what I needed, everything is there, big ol thanks.

If I can learn to post pics & it turns out I'll try to post them up so I can get some feedback on any improvements that could be done.

Thanks.