/r/Bowyer
Reddit's friendly bow making community. Talk bows and archery, share your creations, and get help from fellow bowyers. Topics include bows, archery, woodworking, woodcarving, artwork and finishing, DIY crafts, wood selection, tree identification, history, archeology, experimental archeology and much more.
All about the amateur bowyer's art
how to make a bow from a plank, a stave, horn, sinew, steel, plastic or fiberglass. Homemade crossbows and arrow topics are welcome too
RESOURCES:
ATARN (Asian Traditional Archery Research Network)
Sam Harper's Buildalong: Your first red oak bow
Can I make a bow from this wood?
How to make a flemish string jig
How to make a flemish twist bowstring
Related subreddits:
/r/Bowyer
34,785 Subscribers
Second tiller check
Hi all,
Here is my second tiller check. I've circled areas where I think I need to remove wood. I've made the tiller string as short as possible but I haven't braced the bow yet.
Thanks!
EDIT: sorry, don't know why the photos didn't upload. Added them now
17:22 UTC
Shooting the lemonwood
Per your request
17:09 UTC
My second and third bows
These two were made with Tim at Black Arrow Longbows a couple of Summers ago. Lemonwood laminate on the left and yew selfbow on the right.
15:40 UTC
I am interested in making bows as a hobby and have questions and need advice getting started
Firstly where do I even learn how to make bows? Do I find courses/classes near me or are books and videos enough? How much does it cost to buy everything needed like tools and such? Do I need to be a decent archer to make quality bows? I only shot with a bow couple times in my life but would love to practive and learn. How long does it take to master this if I have maybe 2-3 hours to spare daily? Thanks in advance for awnsering my questions and giving advice.
13:14 UTC
My First Bow!
Made with one tool, my Morakniv Garberg. The arrow here is just a simple piece of bamboo with rudimentary fletching. I hope to make or buy proper arrows for it soon as I am fairly confident the bow would perform well with them. Any tips welcomed for my next one, thank you.
13:08 UTC
Beech dimensions
I came across two nearly identical pieces of American Beech that are 78.5x4x2 inches. Bark is still on, and I'm planning to not back the bow after it's removed.
By my understanding, Beech is not the best bow wood and would benefit from being wider.
How wide is wide enough at the tips, handle, etc?
Are there any special considerations that anyone could make me aware of before I start removing too much material?
Thanks in advance!
01:11 UTC
Double bow made of willow
Just getting started with bow making. Willow is what I have access to here. Guessing this shoots around 30-40” made my own arrow too. It’s hard to draw but pretty happy with it.
19:26 UTC
Best draw knife available in UK
Looking to ask my wife for a good draw knife for Christmas, I’ve never built a bow but want to start and know that the most important tool is a decent draw knife.
Has to be available in the UK, budget flexible.
Thanks in advance
10:24 UTC
61" Ash bow round 2
I'm cutting the knocks for the string now. Then I'm going to clamp it into a deflex/recurve shape tomorrow after work and hit the belly with a bit of heat daily until the weekend. The oak handle/ fade I glued on needs some love yet aswell. Anyone have any tips or concerns for me moving forward. Also thinking about making this a penobscot bow. Tried to chase down some heartwood on an elm branch last night just to say i did and i like that nice deep brown but it was dark and kept going to far lol. Still have the other half.. lol
03:16 UTC
Traditional Bowyers Bible
Does anyone know where i could find tbb volume 1-4 for free online?
03:15 UTC
Self nocks
Found these tricky at first. Hope this helps someone!
00:36 UTC
Bad grain wood performance
So I am in a phase that I manage to do the right thing and somehow make it work. So the next phase is to experiment to see how further I can bend the rules. Breaking a bow is scary and frustrating at best, but I wish to have more experimental experience at my belt. I like to see people getting away with the no-nos and problematic staves or crafting stunning character bows also.
So I will kind of cheat by adding fiberglass to both back and belly. I think even the worst boards would work up to 50lbs by that. What are your opinions about this? Also would appreciate stories and insights about "bad boys". Can you fix them?
00:05 UTC
tree of heaven bow update
i did some forced drying today with a heatgun and am surprised by the results. still a ways to go but there may be a bow in here yet
23:27 UTC
Arrow Testing!
I actually managed to film my first shot with the new flare-nocked arrow as well as my last two shots of the day using these 30" "competition" arrows I'm building for a tournament later this month.
First shot is with a boo/ipe/hickory tri-lam ELB; 95# at 32" (Archeybowman). Last two are with my boo/purpleheart ELB; 110# at 32" (J.Gibbs/Hillbilly Bows).
The pinch nock definitely feels a little more... delicate? I think is the way I'd put it? They both shoot nicely though. Looking forward to finishing the set!
22:22 UTC
Purple Heart bow
Has any one made a bow using Purple Heart wood? It’s not the hardest wood but has great color that would stand out.
19:58 UTC
Long bow handle thickness
I started working on a longbow, and I messed up by not giving the handle enough thickness, is there anything I can do to make the handle stronger so it doesn't break? (Its like half the thickness of what it should be)
15:26 UTC
Flemish twist bow string questions
Hi all,
What kind of loop do you use for your Flemish twist bow strings? I have a Flemish twist loop that tapers back onto the string on one side, and a timber hitch knot on the other side. I see some people using another Flemish twist loop on both ends of the string. Is there an advantage with either option?
11:35 UTC