ive put off trying building a self bow for a few years now, new additions to the house, and a new baby all rank up there high as my reasons, but mostly, just plain lazy takes the cake.....
but nothing like the plea from your first born to motivate a fella!
i had Dean's video that had the rattan kid bow build in it, plus his book to start me out. After a few back and forth emails with Dean, with his matter of fact manner he's got, reminded me that my worry of not having a band saw, and belt sander was false. there are always trade offs. Time, for precision. well....time it is.
so i ordered a stick of rattan. I nursed my sons interest (a month from being 6yrs old) all week as the rattan came in the mail. when it did, i let him find it in the back of my truck, because of course thats where the mail man leaves such prized and coveted packages, says i. So after he came running in with the poles that i had already removed from their packaging, the first words out of his mouth was, LETS MAKE ONE.
i said, well.........son i gotta figure out how to get started, might not be til the weekend. But then i remembered that notion about being lazy. So i cracked open a Budweiser, and began to wonder how im going to rip this pole without a band saw, and with my limited power tools.
I finally got it ripped in half along its flat axis by starting it with a saw-zaw, and finishing it with a hand saw. took a while, but thats ok.
Traced out the pattern starting at the center mark just like Dean outlined in his article, and cinched it down in the vise to begin roughing it out.
handle area is 6" long, and 1 3/8" wide, with the center line of the bow being its middle. on a 51" half stick of Rattan, 25 1/2" being the center. from the handle area, a straight taper to half inch tips at the nock. Dean cut pin nocks with a band saw, but i chose to file my nocks in because it involved less sawing.
for a string, i hadnt a clue. so i tried gutting the 7 inside strands of a length of paracord. seems to do the trick, doesnt stretch much, or at least not under this weight. good thickness and not harsh on bare fingers. tied an extra loop on once end of the string, until i got enough wood removed to brace it on the shorter loop, the extra loop will be removed.
roughed out the entire bow with a very sharp draw knife, i plan to get a rasp and cabinet scraper very soon, for taking less wood away with more precision.
basically that was it, add in a little 100 grit sand paper, and i had a bow that my son could draw all the way back with good speed. ive got some kiddie arrow shafts in the works, but this bow will fling a full grown carbon arrow pretty good, good enough to stick into my target....it nose dives a little though. but hoping a lighter arrow and proper string nock will remedy that. plus feathering out the limbs more.
one limb is more stiff than the other. but im going to wait to take off the wood, cause im afraid i'll take too much off with the draw knife. for notw it will do, and im going to start on another one tonite. once i get some more suitable tools, ill finish up and even out the limbs on my first one.
i left the bow in his bathroom last night, took me 3 hours between beers, :D . so before he went to school this morning, i heard when he found it. also heard a few squeals, followed by a few THAWIP, THAWIPS, as he drew and released it.
we got a few rabbits in the yard i hope he gets a chance at. i'll post a pic of the bows new owner once he comes home from school!
i think this winter THIS (me) kid, will try to land some osage staves already dried. now i want to build one for myself!
-dale
Topic: first bow build, a Rattan bow for my son. (Read 513 times)
