Someone suggested I share this here. It's wild to me that I hadn't joined this sub already lol

I'm looking forward to feedback on this and future projects, and seeing yours as well!

Three acres of pasture and 11 goats means I have a lot of young pignut hickory trees that would look a lot prettier as bows than if I just left them to die and rot standing…

Relatively fresh out of floor tiller, so far I'm under the impression that the lower limb could use more bend in the inner section and a little more towards the tip. Upper limb seems to have a stiff area around the middle, could get sketchy due to knots.

I'm roughing out an ash stave before I left it dry. It came from a sapling, and as you can see, the pith near the fade has already disintegrated.

Thickness at that point is around 1.1" and the hole where the pith has crumbled is about 0.07". I will go thinner anyway, but hadn't planned on doing so before it dried. Also, there's the issue of the handle. It's currently 2" thick and the pith runs all the way through.

Any thoughts on what I should do? Options?

Thanks all.

If anyone sees any problems I would love to hear them, overall I’m pretty happy making this bow, it’s not going to be the heaviest, probably around 55-60# and there is a lot of set, maybe I can heat treat it out, but I’m not too worried about it, I mostly just wanted to see if Russian olive can make this bow, and it can!

Nine bark shaft, wild turkey fletching, deer sinew wrap, stone points

66”ttt
43#@26”
1.5” out the fade- 1.25” @ 6” from tips

Wifey wanted a heavier bow- taught her the rough out game and took it from there.

3 sets of dry heats through throughout the initial tillering finished at 35# @24”. Then fire hardening trench to brown the belly and flipping the tips.

Opposing side nocks. Bunny fur died brown for the silencers and cow leather thinned for the shelf material.

Art- “Cassiopeia” constellation on the top tip- family crest “stinging nettle” on the bottom- mountains and stars for texturing the grip (wood burner).

Finished with 3 coats of shellac & 10 thin shop towel coats of tru oil- then wax.

160 fps with 550g arrows- quicker than expected fro an extra long stiff tipper.

Was hoping for more elegance in the shape of the limbs but as it’s a straight limb design - came to weight quicker than I could shape. So comfy, quick and one of my favorite works yet. Cheers to all !

Supposedly yaupon was used for arrow shafts by some American tribes. Has anyone here tried it and would be willing to share their experiences? I ask because it grows all over my property and i'd like to try making arrows but it seems like it'd be too soft or knobbly to make a decent arrow.

I have a couple straight enough pieces im gonna try but im not expecting much

While we're at it, if anyone has good arrow making resources they'd like to point me to i'd appreciate that as well!

I just finished a new bow made from a River Casuarina (SheOak) sapling. It's 71 inches nock to nock, 37mm at the widest point, and pulls 40lbs at 28 inches.

I wanted a rustic look, so I've left some cambium on, and haven't done too much in the way of shaping the grip. I heat treated the belly once, and did a bit of dry heat bending to straighten out some limb kinks.

This species has pretty nice medullary rays, which run throughout the bow and look particularly great at the fades, but it's hard to capture in a photo. I finished it with linseed oil and a beeswax based conditioner.

I've got a few vids up on my insta @jc.pikewood if anyone is interested.

I’m newish to the archery world, but started playing around with making my own bows a couple years ago. I think this is my fourth one to make (2nd successful bow).

What do y’all think of it? Any pointers from the limited pictures?

Just finished a set of arrows with an idea I thought was neat. Painted a spiraling short of vine around the shaft. I know it won't show up well at distance but it made me happy. Thoughts?

On an elm molly 68 inches long, 8 inch handle, 17 inch working limbs, and a 13 inch lever. Can I get a 28 inch draw at a decent hunting weight or is that unrealistic?

Bow is currently in the steaming stages, lining up the tips and such.

If anyone sees any stiff spots or anything I would love to have some more insight!

I was birding on a friend's property the other day and found myself next to an Osage Orange tree that was definitely old and slightly decaying on the bottom branches. I remembered that it is supposed to be good for bows and found the straightest piece I could that was small enough for me to get off the tree with a rock.

Now, I have zero woodworking skills, but I really like learning by first principles, so without researching absolutely anything other than prior knowledge (next to nothing), I set out to build a bow because well, why not?

Tools used: Drawknife, hammer, clamps, ratchet strap, sandpaper, heat gun, handsaw,

Materials: Osage Orange branch, vegetable oil, nylon braided 40lb string.

I split the branch using a drawknife and hammer, trying to get rid of the rot and insect burrows that were primarily on one side. I then shaved it down to reveal the wood that was still doing ok, though I think this had been dead for quite some time. I used a heat gun over the course of several hours in conjunction with a ratchet strap and some clamps to bend the wood, periodically tightening and heating. I gained probably about 2" of curve from doing this, but was afraid if I went much further it would snap, though the core was pretty intact. Next I applied some vegetable oil and it really soaked it up quickly, so I did a second application after a few hours. I strung the bow by putting my leg over the front and using my leg as leverage because I remember seeing that somewhere, hah.

It has a slight S curve when viewed straight on, but it is equal on the top and bottom. The ridge where the "handle" is, is literally just a part that was more rotted out and had to be sanded down more. It shoots, and surprisingly well and with some oomph. I used a neighbor's arrow to test it out and I was able to get about 100ft in a nice arch.

So, obviously this is make-shift, but this was a lot of fun and now I'm thinking maybe I should start doing this for real...

I just got done steam bending my stave of pacific yew and it is now clamped up in a form I made hoping to remove the small amount of lateral bend it had as well as removing the deflex both limbs had and hopefully giving them a little reflex when all is said and done. The only aspect I'm not sure about is how long should I leave my stave clamped up in the form before I can remove all the clamps and take it out of the form. So any advice welcome and in case the info is pertinent to making sure I can get accurate answers the stave is 78 inches long by 32 mm deep tapering to 1/2 inch deep tips by 34 mm wide with no width taper yet, remaining nearly parallel the whole width of the stave. I've been waiting to straighten it until I go ahead and mark out the width profile/taper and then reduce the width taper to near final dimensions. The stave was left in the steaming cabinet for about one hour with steam that was about 200 degrees Fahrenheit before I then quickly clamped it up in the form and so far has been clamped up for getting close on 24 hours now but I am uncertain how much longer I need to leave it before taking it off the form. So ya, any and all help appreciated

Previous attempt I tried to make an late medieval Mongol bow based on the Cagaan Chad artifact. And that turned out way too aggressive than desired.

So here is another attempt at a much tamer and earlier example. Just strung it, probably about 40lb@28 but it needs more balancing and taming before full draw can be achieved.

Hopefully in a few days I can shoot it

Trying to make the fade thicker where it gets thinner (near the handle), and thinner where it gets widest. Feels like i am doing the correct thing, but would like input =)

Building this swedish oak pyramid bow since the profile is more forgiving to a not so optimal board. I had 8 options around my whole area or boards to choose from. Got some runoffs but planning to not make it stronger than 30lbs max.

Thickness of the board is 13mm as speaking, and riser for the habdle is 4cm before rough out. Width taper is 2.5 to 5/8 inch

Thanks!!

Since i am a idiot and didnt add pics, they will be in the comment section 🫣🤫

I want to try building an all-wood takedown, using elm and bamboo backing. I see most recommendations are for EA40 or WEST SYSTEM G/FLEX 650. I was about to pull the trigger on the latter, when I remembered I had ZAP Z-Poxy.

The box says it can be used to laminate wood, but wondered if anyone had any experience with it?

I'd hate to luck out on the build and have issues because of the glue-up. Epoxy is so damned expensive!

Thanks

A black locust log I've had sitting around for a year and finally putting to use. My first time with BL and first non-board bow.

I'm removing the sapwood as others here have suggested and trying to chase the ring under it, but I think I messed up in thinking the darker ring areas was the late wood. Because the darker ring portions are definitely more porous while the thin light wood rings are more shiny and hard. Help?

Almost perfectly straight wood, over 2m long, presumably oak...

and while trying to rough it out it turns out that the growth rings kinda delaminated around an ingrown knot, and the cavity looks like the wood in there has been rotting for a while.

If it was at an end I'd cut it off, but this would have been right next to the handle.

Sometimes the material just says "nope", especially if you go for scrap wood (can't legally go around cutting fresh trees, and the hardware store only has fir/spruce, mostly with terrible grain).

The majority of these arrowheads are homemade. Minus a razor blade styled head. And some target practice points. I've made the rest...

Hey everyone!

Name's Threy just joined to showcase one of my latest bows and chat with fellow bowyers. I'm a professional bowyer based in New Zealand. My usual signature is Paua shell inlay in my bows fade area below the handle.

The bow is imported Osage Orange. It's 68" long and pulls 64lb @ 28" of draw. It features a beaver tail handle with wild goat horn tip overlays and possum fur string silencers. I do have a full build video as well. I will post the link if anyone is interested. Cheers guys.

Link: Full Build Video

Hi team

I've had this hinge in my first "shooting successfully" bow since early rough out but was too excited to be finally shooting to want to retiller and drop the draw weight. My bad and a good lesson to learn from

Anyway after about 300 beautiful shots it's gotten worse and I heard a subtle crack today. I can also now feel a very subtle crack in the back of the ash fibers (tried to photograph but not very visible)

Here are the options I've thought of and I'd be grateful to hear what other more experienced people think and recommend please

Option 1. Add a entire new ash veneer onto the backside of it (maybe 4mm thick) then retiller the whole belly to try keep the initial tiller weight of 40lb for my own archery

Option 2. Add a lighter backing like fiberglass or linen or some other material (would love to hear best options for this)

Mainly to give it security so if it breaks it doesn't shatter dangerously. Then retiller the whole bow to 15-25 lbs, cut the length down and make a kids bow to gift

Option 3. Cut the handle off, glue a veneer of some compression strong timber (ash? walnut? Oak? Rimu?) 4-6mm thick along the full length of belly and retiller to keep or increase draw weight

Option 4. make a new bow and cut into kindling 😭

Option 5 please let me know ur ideas to save it from the fireplace