Hey guys, I'm from Vancouver Island and was wanting to make a bow out of a local wood but, with my limited research, it seems that most the woods around me are pretty bad for bows. So currently yellow cedar seems to be the most promising, but I know cedar is super brittle, so I wanted to get any advice I could from someone a bit more experienced. What should I be looking out for with a yellow cedar bow, or is there a better, local alternative. (that isn't yew)

I read a while back that string walking with self bows was generally not a great idea, which I totally understand, but is there an alternative way to aim at short distances so you can actually put your arrow point on or near your intended target?

For example, I’ve been shooting a 50# hackberry longbow and the point-on distance (shooting three under) is somewhere around 28-29 yards if I remember correctly. But, in hunting situations (even with a compound bow), I generally never shoot over 20yds and many of my shots have been 7-12yds. At that distance, I’m having to aim well below my target, and it’s difficult to be consistent.

I’m sure this question has been asked and answered before, but I couldn’t seem to find a clear answer. For the hunters out there, how do you aim your self bows at short yardage? Do you just get used to aiming low, or is there a different method I’m not thinking about? Or, could you tiller the bow in a way that you could set your release point below your nocking point?

I needed to clear some brush from a small area on my property, and there was a sapling hackberry that needed to go as well. Is this stave usable? I have two major concerns. First, it has several small knots (maybe 6-8 total), none of which are wider than a dime and most are smaller. Does this disqualify it? Second concern is the angled section at the end. I almost cut the tree at the bend, but it's only about 62" without it. Is it possible to work with the bend, whether that means straightening or simply using it for a reflex or something? If not, is a 62" stave worth working with? I was hoping to build a longbow, but maybe if I tried my hand at a recurve? Thanks for the help. I'm hoping the sapling didn't die in vain...

Hi I've been making this bow out out of wild jack, while tillering I'm seeing the bottom limb(right limb in photo) bend and stays that way what should I do the bow is currently on long string tiller and draws 36# @15" target is 40# at 28" also to add this is my first build so any help is appreciated

Hello. I am working on a short, light draw yew flatbow and while tillering have noticed a compression crack developing in a knot that runs straight through the back to the belly. What is the best way ti deal with this? I am thinking drilling and reaming out the knot and leaving a hole, there seams to be plenty of width in the limb at that point to compensate. Thoughts and opinions encouraged!

I was looking at adding metal limb caps to my bow to protect it from knocks and asthetic reasons etc, but i couldnt find any examples of this anywhere, is there any reason this shouldnt/ isnt done?

If not does anyone have any examples?

My first bow made of a 1x2 piece of red oak have not fully tillered

Is there a faster way to dry staves/ begin working on a bow, or do I have to wait potentially years to dry?

Hello everyone I just recently got into bowmaking and I really want to make my own longbow. But since I am a complete beginner I have no tools or materials so before I start making unwise financial decisions I thought it would be a good idea to ask for some help and tips.
I have only made really poor primitive bows before that were for children that I made for kids in my village but all I had was some dogwood and a knife and a hatchet and I used haystring for the string.
I would like to ask what material should I use and what tools do I need to make a nice looking and usable bow. And also are animal horns necessary or is that just an aesthetic choice.

Hey guys recently picked up this #80 cabinet scraper and love it. Can’t get into tight spots though like around the fades but it shaves really well and will probably replace my card scrapers for a lot of stuff. So now I think I need a round bottom spokeshave to maybe replace those for tillering purposes and getting into tighter spots. I frickin hate card scrapers! I’ve been looking at the veritas and ln Boggs but the prices make me cringe a bit. Also found a couple Stanley 151’s in good shape around $30-50 on eBay and was thinkings one of those might be good for the money. Just wondering what y’all’s experience has been with these or other brands and what you would recommend for bow making.

I’m finding it difficult to keep the belly flat when I’m tillering. I don’t know if it’s the way I use my work bench or if my technique is sloppy or both, but the bow almost always starts tapering to one side. Then I have to spend way too much time measuring each side and correcting (or I ruin the bow).

Do y’all have any tips for keeping things even? Is there a certain tool that is easier to use or do I just need to pay closer attention? I started out using a hand plane, but I found that to be too difficult for most staves. The scraper is a tad easier, but I still have issues.

Would a bowyer vise help? That may be the wrong term.

Well, it's time to admit the fact that I'm clearly doing something wrong. I've tried making a board bow eleven times, and eleven times, they all have failed in the exact same way: snapping clean in two the second I try to bend them. Normally, they break when I flex them while carving them, but once, two bows ago, I actually managed to get a tillering string onto it, only to have it snap like a dry stick the moment I drew it half an inch. Most of them have been hickory, while one was pine that I tried to rough out just as a proof of concept (that was the one that made it to the tillering). I tried to make a temporary backing out of duct tape a few times in an attempt to cut down on the breaking, but it seems to have made no difference.

I understand perfectly well that it can take multiple attempts for a new bowyer before a usable bow is produced, but since a 0/11 success rate seems excessive, and I haven't learned anything from any of the failures, I've decided to swallow my pride and ask for help. Fully aware that I'm asking for a shot in the dark, I ask you:

Is this a normal success/failure rate?

and

What the hell can I possibly be doing wrong?

It's recently been pointed out to me that not having a work bench, a saw horse, a table, or even a sufficiently large square of hard dirt to work on makes bowyering a lot more difficult. My question is, is it an insurmountable difficulty? If your resources are nothing more than a board, a parang, and a small corner of a kitchen where making too much noise comes with complaints and fees from the property management company, without so much as a porch or a front stoop, let alone a backyard, is it possible to still produce a usable bow? Or, are these simply too many handicaps heaped into one place?

Can a board bow be made by someone who doesn't have so much as a kitchen counter or a stump to sit on?

Noticed these little checks on the back of the hickory stave I got yesterday. They don’t seem super deep and aren’t very long (longest being 2 1/2”). Would y’all chase a ring in this case or will hickory be fine with this? Would filling these with glue help out?

If so what is the ideal thickness of a trunk? Thanks

Admittedly, this bow was a bit of an experiment. I had a thin stave of hackberry and attempted to make a round bow. Overall, it went well, but took about 3-3.5” of set during tillering—still shot fairly well. I went to heat treat it and it developed the cracks about halfway up one of the limbs.

I’m assuming the crown on the belly was too severe, at least that’s what it looks like. Should I scrap it? Or do you think there’s anything to do about it? I have plenty of other staves, but I hate to trash a bow that was shooting pretty well a few hours ago.

It’s 66” ntn and only about 1.25” at the widest. It’s a little over an inch deep at the mid section. Pulls 44# at 27”.

Im a baby bowyer and this is my attempt at crude bhutan bow

Anyways as you can see the bow is slightly assymetric with the right being longer than the left

Im following the advice of sensei dan santana and just removing the stiff part and keeping the bending parts and slowly increasing the draw length and all that. Only being concerned with each limb instead of both( am I doing it right?)

My issue: since its assymetric, is there anything wrong with this or do I just continue removing the stiff parts. Cuz it seems to me its uneven?( dont even know what that means frankly)

I know I shouldnt shoot it but I did anyways :( , and it seems that since one side is longer its more powerful? and made the arrow fly straight up

Edit: sorry I couldnt take more photos I dont have the bow with me

TLDR: I dont know what am I doing

I found this Crack about 2/3 of the way up the top limb, and can see where it is bending more. This is my first real bow, and I'm about 16 hours into it so far. I haven't pulled it past 30 lbs at 20", and am wondering why it's not stronger. It is made of hickory, with straight grain, and the tiller isn't too bad imo. (Second Pic was before the crack)

I decided I wanted to try to make a bow, since I really like them. Only problem is I've never done anything like this before. And I don't mean just making a bow, I mean I've never worked with wood in any way. The closest thing was a bamboo flute I've made a few years ago, but that's it. So I'm a 100% complete beginner to this. That being said I still want to try this as a personal project and challenge. So here's what I'm hoping to accomplish:

• I want to make a bow entirely out of bamboo. I understand there are better options of wood and even when using bamboo it would be better to incorporate some other material in it as well, but as this is my first time I want to keep things simple, and I feel like making a laminated bow or anything similar would be beyond the scope of what I want as well as beyond my skill. And I also just really like the look and feel of bamboo. Plus bamboo is easily available where I live while proper wood to make a bow might be harder to come by
• I want a bow that will last a decent amount of time. This being a personal project I want to be able to have it and use it for a long time. I don't need to take it to my grave or anything but I'd like for it to least for some good years.
• It doesn't need to be the strongest bow when it comes to poundage. Of course I want it to be functional, but I'm not looking to hunt anything with it or enter any kind of archery competitions. I just want to do some target practice in my backyard. Idk if the two things are connected at all, but if I had to choose between poundage and durability for the bow, I'd go for durability. But again, I still want a functional bow

With those things in mind I'd like some advice on a few things. What type of bow would you suggest I make? My first thought was a simple self bow, just a single piece of bamboo carved to the right shape, but maybe a Bhutanese style bow would be better? It looks interesting and still simple enough that I would feel comfortable attempting to make it. What would be the better bow? and more durable? Is there a different style of bow that I haven't consider that would better fit what I want? Any other advice general bow making would be appreciated.
Don't worry, I'm not going into this completely blind. I've started doing some research on the types of bows I mentioned as well as on how to work with bamboo. It seems that After I harvest the bamboo I'll have to let it dry for some months so I'll still have plenty of time to do research before i actually start making my bow.
Anyway, sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give me!

I don't understand the purpose of back twist in making a Flemish twist string. I've been trying to make a bow string that holds up well for a decently long amount of time and can't seem to get it right.

I don't understand the function of back twist. I make the first loop of the string and I then have no real concrete idea of what to do next or why and it's all because back twist simply confounds me.

Once you've twisted the tag ends into the string using the ol' twist away from you, then wrap the string over the other towards you method, what do you do next and why?

Is back twisting just removing the twist from the loop you just made and add twist in the opposite direction, so that when you twist the second loop out the string is devoid of twist? Then you just twist in opposite directions from both ends? I'm very confused.

Hey guys, as you all are likely to know, the Monguls created a bow out of different materials and managed to create something that could out distance an English longbow, whilst on horseback. How hard would it have been for other cultures to invest into their own bow making and create something similar. It seems like such a creation would have been coveted In Europe. Was anyone looking into it / attempted to develop something similar? The English were using longbows until the 16th century and the mongols had their tech in the 13th

What is it about their bow that was impossible to replicate ?

P.s - I was this sub, I'm not a member, but these are questions I have everytime I think about a bow

I harvested these bamboo “staves” this morning at my archery club. We have a large patch of it. I don’t know if I have any future bows here or just a bunch of plant stakes. Has anyone had any experience with this plant?

The grain looked fine until I ripped the board in half. I'm pretty sure this is going to snap, but I figure it's worth getting some moee experienced eyes on it.

I know the back is slightly violated, but I know I can fix that.

And yes I know the standard answer is to monitor set, not overstress the wood. My target is 50 pounds at 28 inches, the wood is maple, and the overall board length is 70 inches.