Cold Day Tasks: Making my FIRST LONGBOW (Part 1)
When it first started getting cold outside, I asked what many of you fellow homesteaders did when it was really really cold outside. People gave many different indoor options: reading, cooking, baking, or doing some sort of hobby. Certainly the most unique idea was making tomahawks out of jaw bones (thanks @therightsideofup!). Well, this inspired me to do something that I had been wanting to do for a long time: make a bow.
This past summer, I cut down a few trees. Some of those trees were hickory trees. Before I had fallen a single one, I knew that I would be making some bows out of that wood. So when I cut them down, I cut the trees into sections of appropriate length and then used my wedges to split it up into staves. I painted the ends to prevent checking, and then put them in the garage to dry out.
Fast forward many months, and here we are. Today the weather was too cold to do anything outside, and I needed something to do. So, I went out to my garage and picked out a stave. Here it is as I got it:
You can see that the bark was still attached, and I needed to get that off. I started off with a draw knife, but that turned out to be way too difficult, so I ended up just using my hatchet for the initial debarking. After the thick outer bark was removed, I picked back up my draw knife to get the inner bark removed. Now, the draw knife was king.
Since I was in my house and not in my garage where my shavehorse is, I had to come up with other ways to hold the stave as I shaved off the bark. You can see here that I used my knees to hold it face-up and I had a wall right behind me to give me something to resist the backwards pushing of the draw knife.
After a good bit of time, and a lot of elbow grease, I finally had a nice smooth back for my bow. It is really important to note that when making a self bow like I am, you cannot violate a growth ring on the back. I took off just the outer and inner bark. The back is now one continuous growth ring.
Now that the back was ready, I returned to my axe to do the rough shaping. It really made quick work of turning this stave of wood into what actually resembled a bow.
When you are making the cuts, it really helps to draw some lines on the bow itself to help you know how far in you need to cut.
At the end of the day, I ended up with something that actually looks quite respectable and is able to be bent (ever so slightly).
But this is where I had to end for the day. I do not have a tillering stick, so I need to make one of those before I can go any further and actually do the fine tuning. However, this really is a dream that is beginning to be realized. Michelle knows how much I have been wanting to learn how to do this, and she can attest to my great excitement over this. What a wonderful skill to learn!
What about you all? Is there any hobby or task that you have been putting off for just a time as this (super cold days where you are cooped up inside)? Let me know in the comments below.
It looks like you're off to a really good start with the bow. I've made a couple of straight self bows using oak for the wood. Finding an oak 1X2 or 1X3 at the local big box store that has the proper grain pattern is a bigger challenge than making the bow is. LOL
There's no hickory in this area and oak is available, so that's why I used it. Oak is not as good as hickory for a bow, but it will work up to a certain draw weight. It does tend to take a bit of a set though. Hopefully hickory is not as bad for taking a set.
I look forward to seeing your progress on this project.
I was actually going to try oak on another bow, too. According to the Bowyer's Bible, all sorts of white woods (like hickory, maple, and oak) will work. From what those bowyers say, hickory is the best of the white woods. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on some Osage (but not until I get more skills).
And I have thought about using the store bought wood, but I am still not totally confident I would be able to choose a good board. Like you said, it is not a simple task!
If you're looking at an oak board for a bow, you really have to examine the end grain and the way the grain follows the length of the wood. Finding a board where the ring travels the length of the board is difficult.
Another wood that I would like to try for a bow is ash, it's supposed to be pretty strong and flexible.
COOOOL!!
Right?!? I have been waiting for years to do this!
How cool. I’m anxious to see how this turns out. I’ve seen some really nice hand made bows, but I’ve never seen the process. Thanks for sharing. :)
I hope it turns out okay. There is a slight curve in the bow, which is not ideal. However, I know that master bowyers are able to work all sorts of "characteristic" staves, so I figured if nothing else, I could learn from working this stave.
I didn't realize that hickory was good bow material. I plan on making a long bow out of Osage Orange in the future. Thanks for sharing.
Osage is top notch, but I didn't have any yet. Still working on growing my Osage hedge! Maybe one day. But from what I have read, many white woods will make great bows, and hickory is the best of those white woods.
Very neat post! Let's see this thing throw some arrows.
That will certainly be an exciting day! Still a few steps between now and then, though!
Nice work! Will be looking forward to the whole process.
Thanks, @aunt-deb! I am, too. :)