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I'd been involved in archery and bowhunting when I was younger, shot an oldPSE wheel bow, chased deer around the woods of New Hampshire. But lifeintervened and archery took a backseat. Anyways, some how I got a bug in mybackside to build a bow over spring break. I did a great deal of reading over atpaleoplanet (http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/), tradgang(http://tradgang.com/) and primitive archer (http://www.primitivearcher.com/),and I'd suggest anyone who chooses to follow this instructable do a fair share ofreading over there before proceeding.

So, let's begin, shall we?

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Step 1: First, a confession

This wasn't the first bow. No the first bow was built using these old Pop Mechplans (http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery/flat-bow-plans.html). However, itwas powerful weak, only 20lbs at 28"s. So after further research i found thedescription of pyramid bows. Not wanting to design another weak bow, I enteredthe dimensions of the Pop Mech bow into Solidworks and recorded the

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displacement under a 20 lb load. I then designed the the new bow in Solidworkssuch that an applied load of 50 Lb resulted in the same displacement as theother bow.

Step 2: Select your wood

The easiest wood to begin with is red oak, as it's available at anyhardware/lumber store. I selected a 1"x3"x8' board with the straightest grain Icould find, as well as the widest growth rings and greatest weight relative toother boards in the stack. You will have to dig through the pile, you might needto visit several stores, it's worth it, bad wood, bad bow, bad injuries.

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Step 3: Laying out the bow

Begin by inspecting the wood, check for any splinters, cracks, knots, if you canwork around them great, if not, go get another piece. Slice a inch off one endand then cut a 70 inch portion off, that will leave a 25 inch section.Take the 70 inch portion and locate and mark the center of each end, snap aline, or use a straight edge to make a line down the plank between these points.Now mark the center of the board. Label the center very clearly. The bow issymmetrical so layout is easy.

The handle is 4 inches long, one inch wide and centered.The "wedges" are 2 inches long and 2.5 inches wide.

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The limbs are 30 inches long and go from the wedges to a width of 3/8thsinches.

Got that? Pretty simple.

Step 4: Cut and thin the limbs

Cut out the limbs, i made a simple jig and used my table saw, took two seconds.Now thin the board down from the stock size to 7/16ths inch. I used a surfaceplaner, you could use a hand plane (yuck) or a table saw to split the plank tothickness.

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Don't cut out the handle area yet.

Step 5: The handle

as is, is too thin, your bow will break there. So we are going to make it thicker,but we also need a smooth transition to the limbs.Start by cutting the saved 25 inch piece to 9 inches. Now using your table sawcarefully feed the piece back an forth across the blade while raising the blade insmall increments. the feather edge should be tangent with the highest point onthe blade. you can make a simple sliding jig to ease the process, I didn't, butwould recommend it. Also I used a 7 inch blade, a 10 inch would have made

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nicer fades.

Don't worry about getting a perfect paper thin edge, but get close, now you canglue the handle piece to the bow and let it dry at least 24 hours, and then cut outthe handle.

Step 6: Now the scary parts start

Right now you have a bow shaped object, and you have to start working it into abow. Start by easing all the corners, this will help prevent "lifting a splinter" whenyou start flexing the bow. After that, cut a couple of thin wedges from scrap andlash then one inch from either end of the limbs.Now make a heavy long string from some cord and we can start working thebow.

Step 7: Tillering

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Here's where it really get's scary, we are gong to start bending the bow to get asmooth curve. We need a tillering stick, i just took a 3 foot piece of 2x4 and cutslots every inch, suboptimal, but workable.

So put the bow on the stick and start pulling it back, you want a smooth evencurve, you can see my outer limbs are too stiff, so I'll scrape the belly (string)side to thin them. Keep working until you have a tiller you're happy with.

If at ANYTIME you hear cracking, STOP, get a new piece of wood and go backto step one.

Step 8: Attach the nock wedges

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I liked the nock wedges over cut nocks on narrow limbs like these, so beingchicken, I spot glued the nocks an inch and a quarter from each end, lashed withhemp twine and soaked with titebond glue. and they still moved when I firststrung the bow!!! Fortunately just a 1/16 and symmetrically so I didn;t have to fixit, but that gives you an idea of the forces involved here.

Step 9: Finish

After finish sanding I coated the whole thing with a wax finish I use on myfirearms called variously "gunny paste" "one third finish" etc. a mix of BLO,beeswax and turpentine. Finally, you can wrap the handle with hemp twine, but Ilike the bare wood..

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Very pleased with the result.

Step 10: Addendum

Many people have commented on "backing the bow', this involves gluing a fabricsuch as linen, burlap, denim, silk, etc or rawhide or sinew to the back of the bow.With the exception of sinew, these backing do not improve the performance ofthe bow and are more an insurance policy that if the bow fails it will not result ina catastrophic detonation. So, having said that, if you feel uncomfortable withthe risk attendant to an unbacked bow, by all means apply a coating of titebond,lay on a layer of fabric and two more coats of titebond wood glue and then trimwhen dry.

And now for something completely different, fruit at 8 paces.

Step 11: Just an Update

So, it's six months on. The bow has held up well, I've been hunting with itseveral time, unsuccessfully, but that's not the bows fault. After all this time it's

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developed about an inch of string follow, nothing to worry about. The weight isstill up there above 50lbs, I measured it before the season just to be sure. I didhave one small problem, the first day of hunting was ninety degrees and onehundred percent humidity, I sweated so much the grain raised on the handle,that was a quick fix with a bit of sanding.

I also added a "razzle dazzle" bit of camo by zigzagging painters tape on thebow, and rubbing in burnt cork, followed with another wax coat.

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obi wan kaoni (/member/obi+wan+kaoni/)

Silent_Shadow (/member/Silent_Shadow/)

How do I tiller it? Please help I'm a newbie...

Andrew LB (/member/Andrew+LB/)

If you want a protective finish that will give the look of your wax/turp/blo mixture,while preventing sweat from raising the grain, I'd recommend getting a bottle ofBirchwood Casey's Tru-Oil and hand rubbing it into the wood. (make sure youwear nitrile gloves). I usually pour a bit into the cap of a used water bottle and daba finger in it and get to work rubbing it into the wood (you want to create heat fromthe rubbing action) till it's absorbed, working in sections to prevent it from buildingup on the surface of the wood. I recently refinished a friends bow for him and itturned out very nice.

Oh... and if you want to speed up the process, before each coat of Tru-Oil spray atiny bit of Armor-All (yes.. the crap i'd never put on my car) on your gloves so theyget slippery, and rub the wood down, followed by the above Tru-Oil method.Someone over at RimfileCentral told me about it yet nobody can seem to figureout the original source. My theory is that some guy with a Tru-Oil finish appliedArmor-All to a shotgun or rifle prior to going out in bad weather with the intent ofprotecting the wood. He ended up dinging the finish while out that day andtouched it up with some fresh tru-oil only to find it dried in 5 minutes instead of afew hours. And no joke, that's seriously how fast it dries. Armor-All works like acatalyst and some sort of reaction occurs.

Here's a couple examples of how Tru-Oil looks on Walnut. The first is myBrowning Auto-5 16ga (circa 1928) which I refinished and re-checkered after Igouged the crap out of it climbing a fence while running from a bull (long story).

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The other is a pair of custom grips I made from a block of Pao Ferro (BolivianRosewood) and hand checkered. You can build up the finish further but I like thefeel of the wood.

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seanwhalen (/member/seanwhalen/)

Great plans! I made this last summer. It was a fun and easy project that tookme all of one afternoon. I used a piece of red oak salvaged from a job site.The photos were taken before I stained it. I used a red oak stain and finishedwith polyurethane. The bow has held up exceptionally well. I use it onaverage maybe twice a month, just shooting at a small target in my back yard.It is surprisingly powerful. I had to reinforce my homemade target because itkept blowing arrows straight through the back and into my shed.

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kelsch (/member/kelsch/)

when you are "Tillering" the bow how and when do you know to stop? do you justguess? please help!

kelsch (/member/kelsch/)

What kind of bow string do I use and where can I find it?

1201004 (/member/1201004/)

wouldn't the grain split apart? I'm making a flatbow out of osage and I'm getting theback down to one growth ring. Just wondering.

obi wan kaoni (/member/obi+wan+kaoni/)

this is brilliant and i just rang the wood shop up to order a peice of maple how everi think its going to be 5inch thick can i still run with that or would it be better to buzzit down to 3inch and if it were to stay at 5inchs would that increase the poundage

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on it ?

charlesian2000 (/member/charlesian2000/)

It's very interesting the way you'vecut the bow.

Looking at the end grain, where youcan see the rings. you've cut acrossthese instead of going with the rings.

Hey it works, but it definitely adifferent way to do it.

ElCubano (/member/ElCubano/)

If you paint this like Katniss' s bow it will look badass!

boredinclass94 (/member/boredinclass94/)

thinking about making this, anyone know what would be the best wood for thisproject?

survivalist at home (/member/survivalist+at+home/) boredinclass94

maple or yew

Zetsumeimaru (/member/Zetsumeimaru/) boredinclass94

Osage Orange/bodark/bois d'arc,how ever you call it, is some of thebest wood for making bows. Hell"bois d'arc" is French for woodenbow. If you can find a knot freelength of the stuff, GET IT.

afridave (/member/afridave/) boredinclass94

yew.....its expensive and rare sodont bother.......orangeosage,lemonwood are easyilyavailable in the USA ibelieve...........basically any densehardwoods are capable of makingreasonable bows..........ive read oakwith a hickory strip glued on theback works well.............

spooninbrian (/member/spooninbrian/) boredinclass94

The best wood for making bows isdead wood, Oak is the next bestthing.

MR.builderguy (/member/MR.builderguy/) spooninbrian

where might I get deadwood? what isit anyway?

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Tool Using Animal (/member/Tool+Using+Animal/) (author) boredinclass94

read the comments

oneofakind3 (/member/oneofakind3/)

Is there any more simpler tools that I can use besides a table saw?

oneofakind3 (/member/oneofakind3/)

also hickory, ash, elm, and oak.

PLUCK YEW (/member/PLUCK+YEW/)

Nock wedges????? do you get fries and a coke with that?

PLUCK YEW (/member/PLUCK+YEW/)

oh boy...

mje (/member/mje/)

Very nice! I've done a few similar self bows with a heavy kraft paper backing. Idon't have a table saw, so I use an inexpensive bandsaw and clean up theedges with a mix of belt sander and rasps.

zwells (/member/zwells/)

What do you mean "ease the corners"

wtannebe (/member/wtannebe/)

Can you give instructions for the jig used for cutting the limbs?

Doug1965 (/member/Doug1965/)

In step 6, why have the nocks not been cut in yet?

zwells (/member/zwells/) Doug1965

The knocks aren't cut they are secured on.

rchoppy (/member/rchoppy/)

I'm a little knew to bow terms. About how strong does one have to be to use thisbow to it's maximum strength? How would someone make a weaker bow ifrequired? I'm looking to make a bow like this for my girlfriend, but I really doubtshe has the armstrength to pull a very powerful bow.

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You need some method of "weighing" the draw. I use a spring plungerscale of the type used to weigh fish but it goes heavier. I attach the scale tomy string and pull it to draw lengths.as I go. You shave the limbs lightly asyou go so you can reduce it to whatever you want. Most hunting bows gofrom a minimum of about 45# to about 60# at full draw. For simply targetshooting, 35# is a popular weight. For smaller women or kids from about10-12yrs, 20#-35# is a good weight range. These are just rough averages.You can make them whatever you or the intended used is comfortable with.

RIKZAK66 (/member/RIKZAK66/)

Hey Tool Using Animal, I have a little question. How did you made the bow string???

gcaces (/member/gcaces/)

hey, i know this is out of the topic, but is mahogany a good bow wood?

IamGOD Biotches (/member/IamGOD+Biotches/)

how many pounds of force does this exact bow have? do you know?

ro.duro2010 (/member/ro.duro2010/)

Hey boss, I have to thank you cause you got me into making bow and my owns strings. I took the initial ideas from your instructible but turned out the piece that I boughthad a defect a 4ft so I had to cut it there. So I made a short 4ft pyramid bow and itwas allot of work seeing as I didnt want to use any powertools. I made it pull 50pdsbends 11inches on both sides at max pull and the string is made from good oldhemp cord. Made a waxed hemp endless loop bowstring that works like a dreamjust gotta twist it a bit sometimes but so far so good

So yeah. Thanks very much for the instructible and ill upload the pics in the time being. Inthe meanwhile making the exact same idea except 7ft instead of 4 cause I found anice straight piece and I wanna make an epic longbow from it

-ro

vandejake (/member/vandejake/)

currently on my forth home depot oak board bow, so far no failures, I havebuilt three flat bows (similar to pyramid) and currently tillering a 78" americanlongbow 50# @ 28". One thing not discussed in this DIY is the use of backingonce you get the back of the bow shaped (the tapers) consider backing it tokeep it together during the tiller stage, using simple wood glue and any linen(or glass) will do nicely pull it tight clamp it on the nocks and it shouldn'texplode as you work it. over all great DIY buddy!

DarkHood (/member/DarkHood/)

this bow looks awesome so going to make it

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yesterday i broke my third bow on the tiller.........first one was oak which broke at38 pounds at 28 inches....i was aiming for 40 pounds...........second one wasimboia which i broke on purpose ...it was well over 50 pounds and about 29 incheswhen it broke last one was iroko which i was very carefull with ...i was aiming at 35 pounds at 28inches ........it broke at about 33 pounds at 28 inches.......

so im rethinking all of this.......ive been attempting the longbow concept that bendsthrough the handle but yesterday i glued a riser on a piece of iroko and will attemptagain with this new method.......i build as long as my wood will allow........the oakwas 6 ft long..........the iroko are both 70 inches as i get two equal staves out ofone piece of wood.......i think one of my mistakes is that im starting with my roughshape to thin and not leaving enough timber to reach my desired drawweights.......not sure what im learning but will get it right eventually.................ibelieve breaking bow may in the long run be more educational than it seems.........."a fully drawn bow is a 7/8 ths broken bow"

Jaygo (/member/Jaygo/) afridave

This build does not fully explain tillering. There's more to it than shown. Hetillered to form but that's all. A bow should be 'exercised' on the tillering bar, pulling it to varying degreesstarting from light to greater bends as you progress. It wouldn't hurt to flexthe bow at least a dozen times at each stage of shaping. In the end, itdoesn't hurt to tiller a couple inches beyond your target draw. That can helpprevent failure if the bow is over drawn. Such tillering can also reducestring follow.

Kynan4th (/member/Kynan4th/)

i think i shall make a pyramid bow, ive got nothing better to do, but i reckon ill saveup for some ash, itll be harder to work, but worth it if i succeed, but with the heightthing, should i do longbow measurements? height of the archer plus a hand?because 6' 4" of ash, plus the handle bit, is gunna cost alot

Jaygo (/member/Jaygo/) Kynan4th

Check hardware stores for tool handles. Many are made of ash, hickory orother "white" hardwoods.

To the many comments about what type of wood to use, hark back to thebeginning of this build along. He recommends a red oak board. You canfind these anywhere lumber is sold, they are not expensive and just thething to make a bow until you improve your technique. Learn to make agood bow first before going on to more exotic- and expensive- woods.

Another thought on backing came from another site. It recommended usinglayers of the drywall net stuff for seams and patching built up in layers withwood glue. It's durable, cheap and easy to make, and works.

blaflair (/member/blaflair/) Kynan4th

i bought a rough cut board of ash with nice straight grain and free of knotsfor i think 8 bux. then they planed it for me. i am in the process of makingthe handle. it seems like its gonna be sweet though. i went with ash ratherthan oak. it seems like more ppl recomend it

afridave (/member/afridave/) blaflair

i believe oak backed with a hickory strip is very good....i live in south africaand cannot find a piece of hickory for love or money.........

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