Shopsmith Forums

Any bow makers around ?

I have been wanting to make a bow for many years , I found a piece of osage orange I think will work ,, I have split a section off but there are a couple small imperfections, small what looks to be where a branch was going to grow ,, I think the staves can be spit from around them ,, any advise ?

The wood seems to be pretty dry but I think I will let t set for a year or so .

Won't know till you try. What's the worst that could happen ? Sounds like a cool project.
Paul

I suppose you know that the French explorers in the New World, gave it the name "Bois d Arc", or bow wood because the native plains people used it for their bows.
If you can get enough staves, you'll have one heck of a bow.
Surely, in your neck of the woods, you should be able to obtain more, if needed. Maybe look south of you a bit if you can't find it nearby.

one of the issues I had was finding wood that is straight enough ,most hedge apple trees I have found are pretty crooked,, I was thinking about making one traditional straight bow and one re curve with laminations with the base being hedge apple and then laminating cherry and maple with a walnut grip.

Maybe I am over thinking this,,,, however,,,,,It looks rather complicated ,, one fella says to heat bend the wood for the re curve, I was thinking about steam bending ,,,,,and then gluing the laminations , since I have never done this before It concerns me if steam bending would be safe?

The fun has began.

Wouldn't steaming it compromise the "springyness" of the wood? But, the Indians soaked their wood in hot water before forming the bow. So???
In building a few Morris chairs it was necessary to bend the arms. The arc was similar to a bow. I made a form from 3 thicknesses of 3/4 MDF. The arms were 5 laminates of 3/8" QSWO, about 6" wide. Used TiteBond ll. Even at these dimensions, there was a bit of springyness still. you'd probably use thinner laminates and, definitely not as wide. Not sure what glue would be best, either. There's some give in TiteBond but, enough?
Sounds like a neat project. I'll enjoy following your progress.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL0p3uxKNd8[/youtube]

Gene Howe wrote:Wouldn't steaming it compromise the "springyness" of the wood? But, the Indians soaked their wood in hot water before forming the bow. So???
In building a few Morris chairs it was necessary to bend the arms. The arc was similar to a bow. I made a form from 3 thicknesses of 3/4 MDF. The arms were 5 laminates of 3/8" QSWO, about 6" wide. Used TiteBond ll. Even at these dimensions, there was a bit of springyness still. you'd probably use thinner laminates and, definitely not as wide. Not sure what glue would be best, either. There's some give in TiteBond but, enough?
Sounds like a neat project. I'll enjoy following your progress.

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I dot know what will happen to the strength if I steam bend the laminations,,,, I was thinking,,, ,,, it might be better to bend them first and then glue them,,, it will be a learning curve, maybe a couple test pieces first.

with laminations you coat the finish product with fiberglass .

Nice video rpd . thanks .

I have seen a few survival,,,, bush craft videos ,, some of the older guys who have been doing it for years ,, they make it look easy.