board bows and the modoc

[Rob DiStefano]

i have no skills whatsoever as a bowyer, but tbb2 has sparked some interest in me building a modoc board bow just for the heck of building a "self" wood bow.  

i'd like to make perhaps 3, ranging from 35 to 45 to 55 pounds at ... 29" of draw length.  maybe that draw length is a deal breaker?  

lotsa questions for you board bow gurus, please ...

is this feasible?

could these bows, at a 29" draw length, be built at a 60" length, or at worst a 66" lengths?

if it all sounds good so far, what are some good dimensions for such a design?

where to get good boards, and does the wood genus matter lots or little?

would making a composite all wood modoc be a better/surer way to go?  that is, to titebond a thin wood veneer backing, particularly if the board grain isn't all that straight?

much obliged for yer thoughts, even if it's to say my thinking is off base!  

[KenH]

The whole   point  of the Modoc Paddlebow is/was short bow length (usually under 50") and short but powerful drawn length (under 24") for hunting at close range in thick undergrowth. They were often shot from a sitting position, drawn to the chest, not the back of the head.

Sure, you can make a long-length, long-draw bendy-handle flatbow, with or without wood-wood or fiberglass-wood composite construction, but it   won't be a Modoc paddle bow.

IIWM, I'd start with a 3" wide, 1/2" thick oak plank from one of the Big Box stores.

[Rob DiStefano]

yeah, i understand the basic original short design from the modoc/yani viewpoint, but i'm more interested in the tbb2 version that's in the 60" length range, where the pyramid design appears to make for an overall easier self-tillered bow.  also, a "modoc" in the style as offered by rudderbows.

[LittleBen]

Rob, lots to answer there.

IIRC the modoc is a very vide almost pyramid style bow with a slightly bendy (but also narrowed handle).

As a general rule for board bow I think many would recommend draw length x 2 +8" or 10". so for a 29" draw, 66-68" minimum.

Can it be done shorter? certainly. Is it more difficult? certainly.

So if you're set on going as short as possible, I think 60" is conceivably possible assuming you keep the handle section as short as possible, and go pretty wide on the bow. Assuming you're using oak I'd say 3+" wide, likewise with hickory. I'd taper the limbs pretty much straight from the 3" wide fades to maybe 3/4" wide tips (IIRC the modoc was fairly wide tipped, and you can always narrow later)

You'll need to leave the last maybe 6" of limb pretty stiff, if the bow is too whip tillered you're going to have string angle problems.


If you want my opinion on what you should do, I'd say make a more standard pyramid board bow first if you haven't built a bow before or if you're not terribly confident in your tillering yet. I'd say 66" long minimum, maybe 68", red oak, 2.5" wide at the fades, tapering to 1/2" tips.

Either way you go, you'll need a basically perfect board. If you can't get a perfectly straight grained board, adding a backing will be safer, but won't make tillering any easier, it's just makes your mistakes less likely to result in a bow explosion. Poor tillering will result in poor performance with or without a backing. Obviously the backing will need to be very straight grained. I'd use veneer if you can find it, but plain lumber is probably easier to find. If nothing else you can always buy a nice hickory backing strip from PineHollow Longbows or another sponsor.

Wood genus matters alot. If you're not sure about a particular species or genus, wood density is a good indicator.

typical board lumber woods:
hickory > oak > hard maple > poplar > pine etc ...

You basically wanna be looking for hickory or
oak. Hickory would be the better choice.

For backing I'd only use hickory in this case. or maybe rawhide.

Now that I think about it, rawhide backed hickory wuold probably give you a nice canvas for some painting on a modoc bow ...

Keep us posted as you think more about this.

[John Scifres]

I'd go 66".

Make it out of hickory, well chosen in regards to grain.

For the 35#, you can go as narrow as 2" at the max width.

45# 2-1/2"

55# 3"

Paddle bows look cool but you will have a lot of mass moving a long way at a 29" draw.  That means loss of efficiency and increased handshock.  All that said, you will be able to kill a deer with it and look cool doing it.  They allow for a grand canvas for decoration.

A standard pyramid style where the max width is at the fades might be a better choice.  All the dimensions above and the caveats for wood choice apply here as well.

I don't recommend a composite bow, particularly if your real desire is building a self bow.  Good luck. Have fun.

Here's Mickey Lotz' board bow tute from years ago:    http://sticknstring.webs.com/ferretsboardbow.htm