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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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214992 No.214992 [Reply] [Original]

Soup /diy/. I have recently decided to make a short bow. How would i go about this? What materials to use? How thick the bow should be? Et cetera. I will use this primarily for targets instead of hunting.

tl;dr how do make short bow

>> No.215004

OP here, money isn't too big of an issue. Although I was hoping to find the materials naturally. Besides perhaps the bowstring

>> No.215008

I made one once, with wood from a tree in my backyard. I gave it form bending it for a few days on a plank with three nails, it was pretty cash.

The tree was... let me check google... Aristotelia chilensis, I guess it won't help much.

For the cord I didn't use anything special, I guess you could buy an actual bow cord if you're more serious than I was, they're not expensive.

For the arrows I used larch roof tiles, cutting them into squares. Then with a knife just make them round and pointy. I coiled a steel wire around the first few inches near the point, to make the tip heavier and not have an arrow flying all retarded like.

>> No.215009

>>215008
Years later I made one from 1" pvc tubes, with a thin steel bar inside to make it more rigid. I believe it shot better, but wasn't anywhere near as cool

>> No.215013

Unless you're God, make a longbow first. Longbows are easy as hell to make and allows you to get experience. ALSO you can make a bow from wooden boards contrary to what some bowyers will say. Make sure it isn't too dry.

if you do want to make a short bow, make it a nice flatbow and try not to make it too stif-SNAP splinters everywhere.

There's a nice Popular Mechanics how to from 1941 here: http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery/bow-plans.pdf

>> No.215018
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215018

READ THIS: http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

I have made ~13 bows based on what I learned from here. Pic related, it's one of them.

If you need help: tradgang.com

>> No.215077

i Made my first bow a year ago, unfortunately i dont have the schematics . I agree with everyone else though, make a long bow for starts. And to save yourself sometime i would by yourself a bow string(sold at cabellas) . Also what was really helpful for me was backing the bow with fiberglass tape put on with wood glue. I used 2 layers and it probably added about a year of life to my bow.

>> No.215172

>>215018
I love you. I am in the middle of actually making one from scarlet oak that I cut from a neighbors yard. First wood project I have ever attempted. This is quite informative. Many thanks.

>> No.215280

OP here, thanks for the help so far. I was just wondering how much this project would cost me

>> No.215573

>>215008
>aristotelia chilensis
>maqui
>larch tile
>tejuela de alerce
Anon chilote, eres yo??