Making a bow

[mnmuzzleloader]

Has anyone ever made a bow, I have been goofing around in the garage this winter so far and made my 8 year old a hickory longbow and myself a 65 lbs hickory long bow as well, let me tell you that it is a blast, I was able to get the piece of hickory cut by a guy in WA and I just had a couple hours of removing wood and shaping the rest and then varnish. I shoots awesome and what a great winter project, I just finished a maple bow for my 5 year old this morning it is around 11 lbs and he will get it Christmas morning he is going to be fired up, I will post some pictures soon

[bottomdweller]

Sounds real cool. Your kid is going to be all smiles christmas morn. You might have to take him out plinkin.

[harvey lee]

Looking forward to the pictures.

[Powerstroke]

That sounds awesome Lance. I know the little guys are gonna love those bows. Those are gonna be great heirlooms and momentos.

[Duncan7709]

I made my own bamboo backed ipe longbow last winter. I gave up the compound once I had that finished and I harvested my first deer with a homemade bow and wooden arrows. I really want to make a selfbow like what you are making. It is very fun and rewarding.

[HuskerBen]

I've built about a half dozen, mostly from red oak 1"x2" lumber from Home Depot. I have a locust stave I'm working on now. I'll be putting a sinew back on it once I get home from Christmas at my parents' house. I thought I'd make one, and be done. Nope. It's as addictive as any type of hunting or fishing.

I built my first one with hand tools on the kitchen floor of my apartment. It's tough, but it can be done. Now I have about 8 staves in the basement, all well on their way to being bows. My best so far is a 64" long red oak pyramid bow that draws 45# at 28". It's a screamer for a longbow. A real blast to shoot.

Can't wait to see the pics. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my home computer back online soon and I'll put some pics up of my better bows. Congrats on a successful bow project. I'll bet you're hooked now, huh?

Ben

[mnmuzzleloader]

Here are the 3 bows that I have finished so far, they have been fun to work on.