The "So You Wanna Build a Bow?" Build-Along

[4est trekker]

Hey, all.  I've seen a lot of folks hangin' out by the edge of fire                    looking in just wanting to build a bow but no knowing where to start.    Well, this build-along is for you.  

We're going to make a cheap, solid, and good shooting "board bow" (i.e. bow made from board lumber rather than a stave or billets.)  This bow will certainly be overbuilt by most standards, in that it will be very wide.  This will create a bow that is forgiving of any mistakes you might make and/or flaws in the wood.  Even if you’re the poster child for Murphy’s Law, you oughta wind up with a hunting weight bow that’ll render an unsuspecting gobbler as dead as the next stick with a string.  This won't require much money or time.  In fact, you can buy the wood for $12 on Friday afternoon and be shootin’ the bow on Saturday night.  Plus, you'll only need a handful of tools you probably already have or can get access to pretty easily.  Well, enough talkin’!  Let's get started.

ROUND 1: WOOD

You first stop should be a local lumber yard (Menard’s, Home Depot, Lowe’s, local hardwood supplier, etc.)  Head for the hardwood section and locate the RED OAK lumber.  

       

Ignore the walnut, cherry, mahogany, pine, aspen, birch, maple, etc.  Just RED OAK.  Next, as Tim Baker so plainly stated in the Traditional Bowyer’s Bible (TBB) in his article on board bows, you need to pick a board that has PERFECTLY STRAIGHT GRAIN ON ONE FACE.  That grain should run from one end of the board to the other without snaking, waving, running off the edge, etc.  Again, you just need ONE face to exhibit this quality, not both.  And don’t even worry about the way the grain looks on the sides.  Also, be sure you find a CLEAR BOARD (i.e one that has no knots).  Lastly, I would hesitate to use a board that exhibits two or more distinct colors, as that second color most often means that board contains heartwood and sapwood.  If the transition between the two woods is situated right (or wrong, depending on your outlook on life), the bow can fail there.  

You’ll need a 1”x4”x7’ board (which in actuality will be ¾”x3 ½”x7’, and probably come in 8’ lengths, not 7’.).  So, start in that stack.  Here’s what you’re looking for:

       

Here’s what you’re NOT looking for:

       

Here's what you're REALLY not looking for.  If you drew this sucker back it'd give you a knockin' you wouldn't soon forget!

       

If you can’t find a suitable 1”x4”x7’, look in the 1”x6” or 1”x8” pile.  Still no luck?  Try the next store or come back when their next shipment of lumber comes in.

Now, just one more thing.  You want to make sure that you have an appropriate ratio between the early grown (porous part of the end grain) and the late growth (solid part of the end grain.)  You want a higher percentage of late growth per annual growth ring.  This picture should help.  The black line follows the early growth while the green lines indicate the late growth region of a single growth ring.

       

Be patient!  Out of the entire stack of lumber shown above I came home with just two keepers.

       

I decided on this board for the build-along.  It’s 1”x4”x7’ and has a slight reflex to it.  

       


All for this round...see ya next time!

[4est trekker]

Round 2:  Layout and Glue-Up

We’re going to build a 68” pyramid bow with a target weight of 50#@26”/55#28”.  It's called a pyramid because the limbs will be shaped like a pyramid when finished.  This type of bow is efficient, easy to make from boards, and is VERY easy to tiller.  In fact, sometimes they need little or no tillering after the bow is profiled to shape.

Your first task is mark the face with the straightest grain as “back.”  This part will eventually face away from you when you shoot the bow and will need the straightest grain possible to maintain its structural integrity as it stretches in tension at full draw.  Mark the other face as “belly.”  This side will face you when you shoot the bow.   Now, on the BELLY side, mark your stave as in the picture below.  The section marked “Tip Overlay” is optional and will be described at a later date.  

       

Still working on the belly side, find the vertical center of the 68” section and square a line across the board.  Mark this with a “C” for center.  Then, square a line at 3” and 5” from both sides of your centerline.  I mark the 3” lines with extra dots so I can keep everything straight in my little pea brain.  Your stave should now look like this picture (minus the green lines running horizontally along the stave, which we’ll get to shortly).

NOTE: As outlined later in this thread, I would now recommend an 8" riser section to give you more working limb and a better look.  To accommodate the 8"riser, mark the center (C) as normal, then draw a line 2" and 4" from either side of it.  The two lines 2" from center denote the end of the limbs' front profile fade (i.e. the "pyramid" shape) while the lines 4" from center indicate where the ends of the 8" riser block will be.  All other dimensions and procedures can remain the same.

       

Now, mark the horizontal center of the stave on your center line.  If using a 1”x4”, this mark will be at 1 ¾”.  (Remember, the 1”x4” is really ¾”x3 ½”).  Now, mark 1 ½” above and below this mark to give you a total of 3”.  Now, do the same thing on the vertical lines located 3” to either side of your center line (the ones I marked with dots).  Connect these two lines along these marks as in the picture above.

Now, at both ends of this 68” section, find the exact center of the board, which again will be 1 ¾” from either side assuming the board is true.  (Check just to be sure!)  Now, put a mark 1/4” to either of this mark, which will give you a 1/2" width overall at the tips.  Next, connect these marks with the lines your drew between the dotted lines.  Here’s a picture of what that’ll look like:

       

Now, here’s a picture of how to do it.  Just clamp a straight edge along these two marks.  These horizontal lines now represent the outline of your bow.

       

Now cut off the tip overlay and riser sections from the end of the board, leaving just the 68” section.  Cut along these profile lines on this section using a band saw, jigsaw, or handsaw.  Be sure to LEAVE YOUR MARK!  You’ll trim it down to the line later.  By the way, the bandsaw in the picture is a cheapie Delta benchtop model that does the trick.  If you have a bigger model, great.  If not, buy yourself a new 1/2 blade with about 7 teeth per inch and get your fingers out of the way!  

       

Clean the mating surfaces of the riser block and bow belly with acetone (fingernail polish remover) to remove all the oils.  This is kinda’ overkill, as red oak isn't that oily.  But, it certainly doesn't hurt and is a force of habit for me.

Once the acetone is dry, spread a good layer of Titebond III on both surfaces, line the ends of the riser up with the lines marked “Future End of the Glue-On Riser,” and clamp it up.  Please use Titebond III.  It’s tough as nails, moisture resistant, and cheap.   The kid at Menard’s might tell you Titebond II and Titebond III are the same thing, but he’d change his mind in a heartbeat after a broken bow relocates his nose while staring down a trophy buck in a drizzling rain!

The next part is optional.  You can choose to add a glue-on recurved tips if you’d like, or you can just skip it and not worry about it.  It’s a technique that Tim Baker wrote about in the TBB.  If you’d like to try it, cut the tip overlays apart and clean them with acetone.  Now, mark a line across the BACK of the bow 6” from the end of each tip.  Clean this area with acetone and then put a few pieces of masking tape starting at the 6” mark as shown in the picture below.  

       

This will prevent glue from getting all over the back of your bow.  (You’ll be cutting off a good portion of the belly of the bow later, so you didn’t need to do this when gluing on the riser block.)  Now lather some TBIII on both surfaces and clamp.  

       

Then, let the whole shootin’ match dry overnight, as in the picture below:

       

That’s all for Round 2.  Be back later for the next part!

[Dave Bulla]

Cool, I'll be watching this one.  Might get the kids to make their own.

[Greg Owen]

I think I might have to try this one. Never built a bow, but its time to learn. I can also use it to strengthen my muscles. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

so far just like I did my red oak bow minus the tips?

[Over&Under]

I think I could even do this!...  

Looking forward to the next installment....

(even saved this thread to my favorites so I can reference it later)

Thanks!

[4est trekker]

Thanks to the administrators for getting this in the right spot.  Sorry for the oversight!    

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Finish your how-to and it will get moved.

[SteveL]

Man those are best photo illustrations of grain I've ever seen. Bar none! I struggled early on picking a decent board and had I had these I would have been way ahead of the game.

Thanks! for the the time and effort to put this together.

[YankeeRedneck]

This is soo cool ! Thanks for posting this I'll be watching this thread and hope to do it on my own. Thanks...

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Gonna get me some wood this weekend.
What other kinds of woods will work for this type of bow?
How do you determine what your projected draw weight will be and adjust for that?
  Example: narrower limbs, thinner limbs or vice versa.
Can this type of bow be made any shorter for kids or just someone who likes a shorter bow?
How will it effect it if I back it with snake skin?
Just a few questions.. LOL
Kris

[Jesse Peltan]

Hickory would also work. You simply shorten or lengthen the bow depending upon draw length. If you back it with snakeskin it will be slightly more durable and slightly heavier.

[4est trekker]

Kris:  I know you've got a target bow in mind, since we've talked a few times.  If you PM me I will shoot the specs for your drawlength/weight.  

You can use other woods such as hickory, ash, red oak, etc.  I'm just sticking with red oak here since it's easily obtainable and can provide those following this thread with a predictable bow (which by the way will be 50#@26"/55#@28").  

You were right about narrowing and/or thinning the limbs.  This bow will be uniform in thickness throughout its length (minus the fades), and the limbs will taper uniformly.  Narrowing the limbs uniformly can lower poundage, and vice versa.  Thinning the limbs can lower poundage, and vice versa.  I'll try to cover this in later posts.

Yeah, you can shorten this bow up.  My turkey bow of this style is 64" in length and pulls 44#@26".   My son's bow (which I posted under "A Boy and His Bow") is also of this style but is not much over 48 inches.  Generally, as you shorten the bow up you'll want to widen the limbs at the fades to minimize set and string follow.  I'll bet tons of folks on this site have made pyramid bow.  Maybe we could get a thread going with specs for pyramid bows so folks can have a running start at hitting their target weight and drawlength.  Thoughts?

Snake skins will help protect the back from the elements, although I've never experienced an appreciable increase in draw weight when a bow is backed with them.  

All for now.  Hope to post two or three "Rounds" tonight!

[stickmonkey]

awesome build thus far  

[4est trekker]

Round 3: Truing Up the Bow’s Edges and Shaping the Recurved Tips

Well, here’s what the whole package should look like after you unclamp it.  

 

Note that the riser goes on the belly and the recurved tip overlays (if you’re doing them) go on the back.  If you added the overlays, you first need to roughly trim them flush with the sides of the bow as in the following picture:

   

Remember the tape you added to prevent the glue from smearing?  Here’s the nice clean result:

   

Next, you need to true up the edges of the bow down to your mark (which you left when cutting it out, remember?)  I use a Stanley Surform rasp, although a block plane, long file, or even sandpaper wrapped around a flat piece of wood will work.  You want to make sure the sides end up square to the back and belly and that it is perfectly straight along it’s length.  Here’s a picture to help:

   

THE NEXT STEP IS NECESSARY ONLY IF YOU ARE ADDING RECURVED TIPS!

Now it’s time to shape the recurved tips.  Your first step here is to shape the upper (back of the bow) profile.  I made a very simple jig using a French curve as shown in the picture below (I would be happy to e-mail you this jig, along with the fade out jig on page two in PDF format.  Just send me a PM with your e-mail included.)  The jig need only be accurate on the top side (back of the bow side), which is up in the picture.  You will trim the belly side later using a different jig.  The recurved tip should gradually fade from the straight line of the bow’s back to the graceful curve at the tip.  No abrupt changes or the bow will fail.  Just study the picture and use your eyeball to judge the transition.  Sure wouldn’t hurt to do a couple of tests on some scrap boards just to be sure you’ve got your ducks in a row!   (Note: At this point, I know a lot of you are thinking one of two things: (1) “68 inches is too long for a recurve,” or 2) “Those are reflexed tips, not recurved tips.”  You’re both right.  By most standards, they’re actually abruptly reflexed tips.)

   

Now trace the profile along the top (back of the bow), remove the jig, and cut to shape using your bandsaw, jigsaw, or coping saw.  Remember to LEAVE YOUR MARK!  When first cut, it should look like the following picture.  Notice the little bump at the transition between the glue-on tip and the back of the bow, as detailed in the second picture.  You want to leave yourself some wood there, as cutting into the back of the bow will create a headache (figuratively and possibly literally!)  

   

   

I like to use a small rasp/file combo with one flat side and one round side to take the tips down to the mark.  I finish it off using a sharp knife as a scraper to remove all tool marks.  If I’m in a hurry (which is not a good thing when building a bow, but is my usual mode of operation) I use a sanding drum that I chuck up in my cheapie drill press.  You'll notice the grain isn't straight on the curved tip anymore, but that's okay.  These will be doing very little work and are part of a laminated section, which will naturally be stronger.

   

Be back next time for Round 4: Shaping the Side Profile.  Thanks for following!

[4est trekker]

Round 4: Shaping the Side Profile


Now it’s time to shape the side profile (i.e cut the limbs to thickness.)  This is the only quasi-difficult part of the build-along, although minimal woodworking skills tempered with PATIENCE will give you success!  
 
For a 50#@26”/55#@28” bow at 68 inches in length, the thickness of each limb should be 15/32”.  (If you want a bow that’s heavier, make the thickness a full ½”.  If you want a bow that's lighter, you can take off wood later, and so stick with 15/32".  In any case, we’ll get to tillering to your intended draw weight/length later.)  

Here’s a simple principle to keep in mind:  In general, when you double the WIDTH of a piece of wood it will be twice as strong.  If you double the THICKNESS of the wood it will be eight times as strong.  So, you have more room for error when trimming the front profile (i.e. side tapers) than when shaping the side profile (i.e. limb thickness).  Go slow, and as Norm Abram says, “Measure twice, cut once!”

Here’s a gauge I made to mark the limb thickness.  Nothing fancy:

   

You run the inside of the notch against the back of the bow while holding a sharp pencil or extra fine point marker against the edge of the jig.  You don’t want a really fat line, as this allows more possibility for error.  This jig will allow you to draw an even line 15/16” from the back of the bow.  (Note: Make sure your jig is no wider than 1/2” in thickness as it can create accuracy problems when tracing along the curved edge of the recurved tips, if you’re doing those.)  I mark both sides of each limb.  Here’s the jig in action:

   

You want to stop the line about an inch shy of the edge of the glue-on riser.  You don’t have to be exact.

Next, you’ll need to build yourself a fade-out jig.  As before, I used a French curve and made sure the transition between the 15/32” mark and the start of the fade-outs was very subtle and smooth.  (Please note that you want the bow at full thickness at the point where the limbs are full width, which is right along the original line you marked 3” off of center before doing the glue-up.  This is NOT aesthetically pleasing to most, but it is easy and ensures there's plenty of wood in the area that a lot of first bows fail.)  I usually start the curve of the fades approximately 1½” from the edge of the glue-on riser.  This ensures that the bow will not take a great deal of set here (i.e. permanent deflection), which would be manifested greatly at the tips of the bow.  Here’s some pictures of the jig and the layout line:

   

   

   

I put two marks along the side profile lines.  The one closest to the riser tells me where the fade-outs will begin.  The one closest to the tips is 1” from the other mark and tells me to start squaring the board up on the edge of the riser block as opposed to the edge of the bow’s limbs.  This sounds confusing, but you’ll understand when you start pushing the bow through the saw (if you’re using a bandsaw).  If you cut the fade-outs while holding the board flat along the bow limb’s edge, your fade-outs would come out crooked, because the bow’s limbs are tapered and will lift the riser block up off of the cutting table.  I won’t say anymore about that, other than it’ll probably make itself clear when you get to cutting it out.  Here’s my marks:

   

Because my bandsaw is so small, I have to add an auxiliary table to give me enough space to lay the rise block against when it comes time to cut the fades.  I just make a cut several inches into a scrap piece of FLAT plywood, MDF, etc. and clamp it to my table.  Here’s the get-up:

   

If using a bandsaw, make sure the table is square to the blade (which again, should be brand new or close to it.)  Starting at the TIP of each limb with the waste side (belly side) facing inward toward the saw, cut the sucker out!  You want it oriented that way so you have plenty of room for the board to clear when you maneuver it through the fade-out cuts.  Go slow and give the saw plenty of time to clear the wood.  When you get to that mark 1” tipside of the beginning of the fade-outs, remember to VERY CAREFULLY tip the board back toward you and rest it squarely on the riser block as you finish the fade-out cuts.  As always, LEAVE YOU MARK!  If you’re not sure of your bandsaw skills, leave a little more than your mark.  You can’t put wood back!  If all goes well, here’s what you’ll end up with:

   

If you don’t have access to a bandsaw, check out page 12 for a method for shaping the side profile of the bow using a few simple hand tools and a little elbow grease!

That’s all for Round 4!  The next step is truing up the side profile and checking the initial tiller.

[4est trekker]

Well, I've spent more time processing pictures and posting these threads than actually building the bow, which is why they're coming one right after the other.  Anyhow, here's the next installment:

Round 5: Truing Up the Side Profile and Checking the Initial Tiller

Now it’s time to true up the thickness of each limb by bringing them down to your thickness mark (which you remembered to leave, right?).  I do that by using a Surform rasp, a round and flat rasp/file combination, a flat-edged drawknife and hunting knife used as scrapers, and sandpaper.  I use calipers set to 15/16” to gauge the thickness of the entire limb, slowly removing wood until the entire limb (save for the fade-out region) is uniform in thickness.  The fade-outs are trued up to the guide lines since the calipers would be useless here.  Once the fades are close, I use my fingers to feel them and make any adjustments my eyes missed.  Here’s some pictures of the tools and the process, including some of my 3 year old son's laying on the floor:

   

   

Ignore the fact that in this picture the handle is already profiled to shape.  I took the picture out of order          

   

When you've gotten the limbs to a consistent 15/16" thickness and have the fades trued up, it’s time to round over the edges of each limb.  I like to use a file to break the edge and get it roughly rounded, and then I take a strip of sandpaper and work it back and forth like a shoe shiner uses a rag. Once I get it to about the radius of a pea or a pencil, I sand lightly with the grain to remove the sanding marks. I really like those 3M foam sanding blocks for that task, especially after they've been used and broken in a bit.  One final note:  I like to round the edges about 1" into the riser block on the back of the bow.  I've had a couple of bows blow here when I didn't do that.  Theoretically the bow should not be bending here anyway, but when the back undergoes tension it goes on a wild hunt for the weakest point in the limb, and the pressure could creep its way all the way back into the riser my.  Just my $.02.

Alright, it's time to see if that stick in your hand works anything like a bow!  We need to check the initial tiller on the tillering tree using a tillering string.  (If you don’t have a tillering tree and string, search this site.  There are some great references for building your own.) Here’s a picture of the initial tiller:

   

Well, the left limb is a little bit stronger/stiffer than the right limb.  Actually, that’s exactly what I was hoping for.  (That's sounds like I'm covering a mistake, but really I'm not          )  I tried as much as possible to get both limbs to an even and uniform thickness.  However, I almost always make a slight error, just enough to render one limb slightly stronger than the other.  (Search "positive tiller" on this sight for a description of why this is often a good thing.)  Suffice it to say, this bow will most likely draw evenly along both limbs when drawn in the hand if I make the stronger limb the bottom limb.  We’ll just have to see!  If for some reason your bow looks perfect at this point, good for you.  We’ll change that later on      

NOTE: I would truly suggest making one of Eric Krewson's tillering gizmos.  It is simple, effective, and will help produce a finely tillered bow.  Please not that it will NOT work on the outer third of the bow's limbs if you've added the reflexed limb tips.  Click the link below to view his thread on making and using one.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047#000000

That’s all for Round 5.  See ya’ soon.  Again, thanks for following!

[dutchwarbow]

this is an excelent buildalong so far!!
amazingly clean work, great!

Nick

[Art B]

Some great info there 4est.

"However, I almost always make a slight error, just enough to render one limb slightly stronger than the other."

If you will check and see how your boards "stands in the tree" then you will always know which limb is most likely going to be the strongest (trunk end). That's the very first thing I do before laying out a bow. ART

[4est trekker]

Art B: Never heard that before. That's some great info that would come in handy.  How can you tell which end of the board is the trunk end?  

So, if the trunk end is stronger, then perhaps I haven't been making errors like I thought, eh?  Well, I wouldn't give myself that much credit!