Grassroots archery: Making a (good) longbow on the cheap!

I took a look at those videos, the one about making a quick longbow is crap. The bow has tons of deflex, it probably shoots like a wet noodle. It's not even set up right, you can see the arrow nose-dives visually when fired.

That tillering video is great, but there are some key differences with what you may encounter when starting, especially if you use a board to start like I recommend. He's using a stave of osage orange, a wood from the american south/east. It makes an excellent bow, it's very forgiving, and you can read the rings very easily. You probably can't get any osage overseas for very cheap (you can't get it here for cheap!!) but you may have access to Yew. Yew will also have a price problem, and it tends to grow full of pin knots, but it shares some characteristics and was one pretty common in Europe/the Mediterranean.

He also does some limb bending with heat, which you should avoid for your first bow. He mentions steam heat and dry heat, both of which are different than heat treating I mentioned earlier. Contrary to what people think, steam heat also dries out wood, though not as much as, say, heat treating which is a LOT of dry heat.

His end product has pretty nice tiller. It's not perfectly even looking, but remember, split staves are almost never perfectly straight to begin with, so a perfectly tillered bow won't look even. That guy knows what he's doing, not like whomever was selling those hickory crap bows on ebay.

In reply to Rufledt:

Just a thought, why don't you make a video?

Good idea, but I don't know where I would do it. I actually haven't set up my woodworking stuff in the garage of my new place yet. Plus, video making is very time intensive. It's a good idea, though, I could probably try to make some videos this summer when it's a bit brighter/warmer and I have a little more time.

Hi Rufledt, I am starting to make my first bow following your instructions, I have a straight grained no knot maple board but I am wanted to do V-nocks and was wondering if you knew how to do them and if you make me some intructions. This is from the original build along. Also making a handle, I had a hard time understanding those instructions. I believe you are great at what you do and I understand its been a year since you posted it but i hope you reply.

just saw this, and it made me think of this thread
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/most-dazzling-photos-from-national-geographic

V nocks? Do you have a picture of what you mean?

What kind of handle are you going for? The one I did on the walnut bow is a bit overly complicated. Are you going for a specific shape? Do you want a shelf? Do you want to wrap it in leather or leave it wood?

Rufledt wrote: V nocks? Do you have a picture of what you mean? What kind of handle are you going for? The one I did on the walnut bow is a bit overly complicated. Are you going for a specific shape? Do you want a shelf? Do you want to wrap it in leather or leave it wood?

I was planning on just a stiff handle with no arrow shelf and plain old wood. I have friends with weird v shaped nocks on their bows but it must be complicated so I mine as well as go simple. I'll need to get extra wood because I didn't plan on backing the bow. I was also wondering how you meshed draw weight and draw length during tillering?

when you say V nocks do you mean they make a V shape like this?

I was also wondering how you meshed draw weight and draw length during tillering?

Do you mean how I keep track of bow weight while tillering?

My tillering stick is free standing, and I pull the string down to bend the bow. I do this with the tillering stick on a scale, so I just watch the weight reading on the scale while I pull to make sure I don't go too far. I can take a picture when I get home, I'm currently at my parents house for the holidays.

Perhaps this?

If you are going for a longbow, then that kind of inlaying is pointless. If it's a recurve (which is the kind of bow in the picture), then it could be useful, but you should start with a longbow, not a recurve. It's cool looking, though.

I'll need to get extra wood because I didn't plan on backing the bow.

Also if you are using good grained maple, and you're careful tillering, you won't need any backing or extra wood. Wood is stronger in tension than compression in general, so if you do it right, you shouldn't have any problem. If you want a little extra width just for safety and you don't mind if the bow shoots a couple FPS slower (which is pretty much imperceptible) then go for it, but you won't need it, or a backing.

Yes like those nocks, I have a decent piece with only one small blemish on the wood but I was thinking for the original nocks you planned that there was a need for extra wood.

I did mean when tillering, I am aiming for a 30- 40 pound draw weight but I have no clue about draw length.

You don't know your final draw length? How tall are you? A safe average for men is 28" draw length, women are more like 25". A better measure might be finger tip to finger tip with arms spread. I am 5'11" tall, but my arms are unusually long so my draw length is a little longer.

Okay that sounds like a plan, I also now have a Bear Firebird recurve bow. Still planning on building the longbow now I'll have TWO bows both about 35 pound draw weight and something in the 22-28 draw length range.

Bear makes some good stuff. I started shooting on an old Bear Polar recurve.

if the "V" nocks you say are like the ones I posted above (the first pic I posted) then they aren't actually difficult or complicated to make.They weigh a little more than the longbow nocks I usually use (so a little slower and more shocky) but not a lot, plus they are probably a bit safer. I could probably do a how to, it wouldn't take too long to make. I'm not at home at the moment, though.

It is a pretty solid bow, if I get more speed with the other nocks than I may go with them but I not 100% convinced with the first nocks, you showed. I was little disappointed today when I realized that on two sides of the wood I will be using has a smAll blemish. It right near the end of the limb. Would it be better to have the blemish on the back or the belly of the bow?

belly for sure. blemishes rarely cause belly problems but almost always cause back problems. on the belly, the compression forces just push on the problem, but blemishes don't crush much easier than regular wood. The back, though, pulls the blemishes apart, creating a weak spot, which can cause more pulling apart, which causes more weakness, and so on, until it goes BANG.

What do you mean you aren't 100% convinced by the first nocks? which ones?

Rufledt wrote: belly for sure. blemishes rarely cause belly problems but almost always cause back problems. on the belly, the compression forces just push on the problem, but blemishes don't crush much easier than regular wood. The back, though, pulls the blemishes apart, creating a weak spot, which can cause more pulling apart, which causes more weakness, and so on, until it goes BANG. What do you mean you aren't 100% convinced by the first nocks? which ones?

Sorry, I tend be confusing when I write. I meant the nocks that you originally planned on your longbow. I am planning on overtime building bows that are progressively faster, more powerful and at one point reach an 85 pound draw weight. I'll be trying to make the best design. I guess if the original nocks you used are faster than I'll use them. Just tapered the width today, rounding edges tomorrow.

Got any pics?

In reply to Rufledt: Don't have pics right now but I'll get some later, I've just been freaki g out trying to remember if I round all 4 corners of the bow and all throughout the limbs and handle.

Well, crap in the excitement of starting my first bow yesterday, I accidentely tapered the THICKNESS instead of the width. Now the bow is tapered on BOTH sides so the tip is 1/2" thick. I have an extra 2 feet of good maple from the end of the board i can back the bow with saw it in half and replace the lost thickness? I'm an idiot, here's some pics of my screw up:

I can't seem to be able to post photos, I hope you have a general idea of the error of my stupidity, can the bow be fixed?

Yes indeed! Tapering thickness to start isn't such a horrible thing. In fact, when I started making bows the tutorials I used suggested tapering so that width AND thickness were half an inch at the tip. I stopped doing it to exploit the lighter, faster tips that need more thickness to remain strong when narrowed a lot. It can be saved, in fact many would argue you've done nothing wrong.

For corner rounding you should round the corners of the back, and yes round them through the handle. Even if your handle is stiff, there is still tremendous tension on the back, since hypothetically the fibers continue through to the limbs. You don't need to round the belly edges, doing so will only cause slightly more set, which is bad, but the reduced mass almost makes up for it.

In reply to Rufledt: So I can go ahead and taper the actual width. Perfect this might actually not be a failure.

What can I do to make the tips more efficient? Add a backing? Special tips design? The blemish that I have on the bow is a small knot that I had hoped to eliminate during tapering but that didn't happen. I am wondering if I put it on the belly will it still need a backing? Sorry for so many questions, JUST DON'T want to mess this bow up.

Always put blemishes on the belly, not the back. If the back is fine, you won't need a backing. Backings also don't really add speed unless added with 'perry reflex' described earlier. If you want the bow to be more efficient, you want efficient tiller, and as little tip mass as possible.

Sorry for so many questions, JUST DON'T want to mess this bow up.

No problem, ask as many questions as you want, i'm happy to help. Also keep in mind if you make bows, you're going to screw stuff up. It's not the end of the world, it happens to everybody. I've learned more from screw ups than problem-free bows. embrace the screw ups!

Also pics would be much better for clarity and for me to explain stuff.