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- - For Willy (https://forums.wmpdevserver1.com/community/showthread.php?t=5551)

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I would highly recommend you skip the sinew string thing though. You won't like it and it shoots like sh!t unless you live in Arizona or something. Any humidity and they turn to rubber bands that don't stretch back. And that is the indians that used them out in the southwest. Anywhere else they made fiber based or gut based string until the white man showed them some other alternatives and then they dropped that like a hot rock. Indians are smart.

Ok, I will heed that advice..."brother" :-*

I still don't have a good workshop on my property...that is another thing keeping me from making these fantasies a reality. :-/

This isn't turning into a Stinky type thing is it ;D

You don't need much tool wise or space wise. Indians would season their staves at the top of their teepees for a season or two and work on them during the winter inside.
You need a draw knife for rough cutting after you split out your staves, you need a couple of rasps, agressive and smoothing. You need a wood scraper for tillering once you get the bow roughed out. A padded vise or a old style sit on bench with a foot press built on it , they were called a bow horse and it is where you will spend the majority of the time, they can be simple or as complicated as you want but they make life a lot easier, most use foot pressure on the bottom to hold the stave at whatever position you want

http://www.jackmtn.com/images/bowmaking.jpg

you can also use the black and decker type little work clamp table that hold projects your working on, that is what I used a lot, fold up and put away when done, but they are awkward and you have to hold it to the ground with your feet while working, after a couple of Jack's it gets interesting ;D

What you should do first is locate suitable wood for bows and start seasoning them now. If you can find seasoned wood appropriate for bows to start that would be good, seasoned staves with a good grain pattern are available from a lot of places, just get it from a bowyer or someone with experience in what to look for, there is nothing more disheartening than working for days on a stave only to find there is a problem with the wood, the grain runs in to much of a twist to function or the wood was dried to quickly and is brittle and sanps as soon as any bending pressure is applied.
Ask me how I know? ::)

In looking at the board I see that Hickory isn't a bad option for wood. I have access to lots of it. So I'm just looking for large straight growth rings or what?

Thanks for all of the info Willy! I see what you are saying about not needing much in the line of tools but I still need a good workshop! I have no where to keep anything!

hickory is ok, but you will be looking to build a "overbuilt bow" as it is called due to the fact that even though the white woods such as hickory and ash were very popular primitive bow woods they require a bow design that does not put too much compression or flexion stress on them or they take a set that gets worse with use and himidity and eventually shoot like a limp noodle type bows we made as kids with a branch and a string.
A site that looks very interesting for ya

http://www.xsorbit4.com/users/builda...&start=640

There is a book by a fellow named Paul Comstock called the Bent Stick. Very informative and he is a nice fellow, used to sell his books in my shop and spoke with him many times when building mine. Do a google on him and try to go into his info on the "overbuilt bow"

If you are using the white wood bows they are what you need to build, they are great performers and very durable. Otherwise you will need to sinew back a shorter bow to compensate for the white woods fibers structure.

As far as what to look for, in picking staves you want at least a five to six foot four to ten inch diameter log, straight and with no limbs or knots, at least for now anyhow, once you get experienced you can use these knotty type of woods as long as they are solid and make what we call character bows.
You are going to make the back of the bow ( the part that faces away from you when you hold it) all one growth ring layer, the tighter the growth rings the trikier this is to do.
It MUST be one continuos growth ring on the back of the bow and you cannot cut through it anywhwere.
The average hickory or white ash stave will be fine , pick up Pauls book or one of the other self bowyers books and you will be fine. Its fun .
A friend of mine built one of the over built bows in red elm and has taken several deer and one black bear with it. Probably more now but I have not seen nor heard from him for several years.

Oh and if you end up speaking to Paul ask him if he remembers Bill Schultz from Renaissance Archery in NJ. Have not spoken with him since I closed the shop down. Tell him I said hey ;)

Willy - you are one cool mother f* - I don't care what Reel and Franco say about you :-X

If and when I try to tackle something like this:

a) I'll give you a call
b) I'll take your advice and pick up the book ;)

Thanks again brother! If I have any more questions I know who to ask!

Don't listen to those pot stirrers Blue ;D

Blue, your starting shi* again, first you don't invite me to go fishing with you and now you p i s s off my buddy Willy!

I want the top back sucka!

LMAO! * ;D :-* ;D

Franco - you come up here to the outter banks of NC and I'll take you fishin ANYTIME! * I PROMISE! *

Franco has Francofest - Hammer had Hammerfest....I guess I need to have Bluefest 2007 and invite the board up to NC for a V20/1 get together! * ;D

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I want the top back sucka!

Over my dead body!