Are there any Bowyers or fellow fletchers on UKW ?

[johnny]

I am an Instinctive Archer and shoot 3D with a Traditional wooden barebow . I am constantly building arrows to test with different woods and techniques and experimenting with bow tuning . I haven't yet constructed my own bow but my neighbour has now made two, which work surprisingly well.
Are there any other Archers on here that make their own Bows and arrows ?

 

[--Tom--]

Think @stuckinthemud has posted a few build threads

 

[SLM]

I’m neither, but my nephew aspires to be! I recently picked up a simple bow from a charity shop, which I intend stringing for him, then helping him to make some arrows. He lives in Norfolk, whilst I’m in Cheshire, and work all over the world, so it may be more a case of me making shafts, buying tips and he making flights… and giving assembly instructions from afar. So any tips are most welcome!

 

[Sideways]

Back around 2003 I belonged to a field archery club and shot a fairly trad style of recurve bow. The one on the R was made by an American bowyer who still made occasional bows in his retirement for his pocket money.
The one on the L is a Samick Equus (Korean). A commercial model similar is size and style but lacking the personal touches.
All my arrows were hand assembled from mail order components. The shafts are port orford cedar. It was quite interesting learning the basics and putting together a couple of dozen shafts. You need to make a batch every so often as with field archery, shooting among (and sometimes into) trees, you gradually lose them or shatter them.

 

[Sideways]

For those who have never made a "modern" wooden arrow like the ones above, the feathers are set at a very slight angle, just 3 degrees or so from memory, to induce a spin in flight. The points and nocks are made with a taper socket and each end of the arrow is sharpened with a specialist "pencil sharpener" to match. The fletchings and other parts are glued on with a fast setting glue similar to balsa cement.
The best shafts are made from cedar, and Port Orford is famed for growing tall trees with close, straight grain.
The arrows have to be made to length to suit the archer. We all have a natural "draw length" - the distance from whatever point on the face we pull back end of the arrow back to, to the pile or point. This wants to be a little beyond the front of the bow so you never overdraw the bow and get the point stuck in the back of the bow. Cue the risk of an explosion of splinters that could impale your hand, arm, face or eye :-(
Lastly, the flex of the arrow needs to be matched to the power of the bow, allowing it to bend around the bow as it accelerates and then flex back and forth, settling down in flight. A higher poundage bow needs stiffer arrows or they may flex enough to break. The flex is different depending on the orientation of the grain so the grain has to be kept in the correct orientation when you measure and batch your shafts into matched sets and when you assemble the arrows (they are always used the same way, with one feather different from the other two to orient you).

 

[steve66]

Doing medieval reenactment many years ago and buying my first bow, I be made a few ash and yew bows. Couldn’t get long pieces of yew so I spliced shorter lengths of yew in the handle to make some bows, this is a couple I made during lockdown

 

[Orraloon]

I used to shoot and make traditional bows. Have made traditional self bows and few laminated bows. Done some wooden arrows and fletching too. Been about 15 years since I did my last build but happy to offer advice where I can. While there looks like a few on here that can help you a bit it may also be good to look at archery forums, especially those building traditional gear.
Regards
John

 

[johnny]

For those who have never made a "modern" wooden arrow like the ones above, the feathers are set at a very slight angle, just 3 degrees or so from memory, to induce a spin in flight. The points and nocks are made with a taper socket and each end of the arrow is sharpened with a specialist "pencil sharpener" to match. The fletchings and other parts are glued on with a fast setting glue similar to balsa cement.
The best shafts are made from cedar, and Port Orford is famed for growing tall trees with close, straight grain.
The arrows have to be made to length to suit the archer. We all have a natural "draw length" - the distance from whatever point on the face we pull back end of the arrow back to, to the pile or point. This wants to be a little beyond the front of the bow so you never overdraw the bow and get the point stuck in the back of the bow. Cue the risk of an explosion of splinters that could impale your hand, arm, face or eye :-(
Lastly, the flex of the arrow needs to be matched to the power of the bow, allowing it to bend around the bow as it accelerates and then flex back and forth, settling down in flight. A higher poundage bow needs stiffer arrows or they may flex enough to break. The flex is different depending on the orientation of the grain so the grain has to be kept in the correct orientation when you measure and batch your shafts into matched sets and when you assemble the arrows (they are always used the same way, with one feather different from the other two to orient you).

an excellent, concise explanation of the basics ..... the actual process of constructing and tuning arrows to a particular bow and shooting disciple can be a frustrating journey at times ,as can be developing one's form and shot cycle to improve repeatable and consistent accuracy when starting out as a novice but the research and experimentation is a wonderful journey of discovery and Traditional Archery is a diverse and absorbing sport .

As a retiree it has given me so much and helped to keep me sane this past 2x Covid years.
I belong to the NFAS Trad Archery Society and a local 3D Archery club so i shoot under their rules . Our course is is very hilly dense woodland in South Somerset .We shoot 45x 3D and 2D animal targets laid out in the woods with some very demanding and tricky shots up and down steep hills between trees and dense vegetation from 10 yards up to 70 yards . Perhaps the best bit for me is to be able to go the the woods at any time throughout the year and spend an hour or several on my own with no people, no noise or other distractions but the wind , birds and other wildlife . Its meditative and it can sometimes feel quite primeval and there is always the constant challenge of improving your score and accuracy . Other times its fun to go round the course with friends and neighbours and things can get quite competitive at times....

 

[johnny]

Back around 2003 I belonged to a field archery club and shot a fairly trad style of recurve bow. The one on the R was made by an American bowyer who still made occasional bows in his retirement for his pocket money.
The one on the L is a Samick Equus (Korean). A commercial model similar is size and style but lacking the personal touches.
All my arrows were hand assembled from mail order components. The shafts are port orford cedar. It was quite interesting learning the basics and putting together a couple of dozen shafts. You need to make a batch every so often as with field archery, shooting among (and sometimes into) trees, you gradually lose them or shatter them.


View attachment 161809

View attachment 161811
View attachment 161810

Beautiful bows a real work of art .

 

[johnny]

I used to shoot and make traditional bows. Have made traditional self bows and few laminated bows. Done some wooden arrows and fletching too. Been about 15 years since I did my last build but happy to offer advice where I can. While there looks like a few on here that can help you a bit it may also be good to look at archery forums, especially those building traditional gear. View attachment 161822View attachment 161823View attachment 161824
Regards
John

A beautiful selfbow John . I love the simplicity of flatbows ,Close to a traditional longbow but with the addition of a arrow shelf ..practical but still simple unfussy and traditional.

 

[johnny]

Doing medieval reenactment many years ago and buying my first bow, I be made a few ash and yew bows. Couldn’t get long pieces of yew so I spliced shorter lengths of yew in the handle to make some bows, this is a couple I made during lockdown

Very pretty longbows Steve they are about as primitive a bow you can make and very challenging to shoot accurately . reminds me of my childhood , making bows and arrows from the Hazel tree in our garden. My Sister still sports a scar in her forehead where I accidentally shot her . One day I would like to try longbow

 

[John Brown]

Steve's sister beware! He's after you with a longbow next!

Fascinating stuff!

 

[Sideways]

Just for interest, here's what it looks like after a recurve bow lets go.
It's rated 40lbs draw at 28" and though this isn't much especially compared to say a longbow, it made quite a bang.
The post morten suggested that the glue may have been near the end of it's recommended life. With the investment in nice wood for the handle and time spent shaping it, I guess fresh glue is worth it.
I liked this (my first) one for the few weeks use I got from it but the replacement shown in my earlier post was equally fine and has been trouble free.

Sorry the next two randomly imported upside down but you get the point ...

 

[Orraloon]

When I did a few laminated bows I read that only use fresh glue and the glueup had to be cured in a hot box at over 40*C. All the wood lams were also heated up before the glueup. The heat cure was to ensure the joint stayed flexible. When you think about it there is nothing more demanding of a glue joint than being in a laminated bow.
I had a 60lb yew bow go on me on the shooting range. Big bang and the top limb blew into shower of big splinters. There I was holding half a bow with everyone looking at me. I smile about it now but at the time I may have let slip the odd bad word. The pleasures of archery.
Regards
John.

 

[Linus]

I am an Instinctive Archer and shoot 3D with a Traditional wooden barebow . I am constantly building arrows to test with different woods and techniques and experimenting with bow tuning . I haven't yet constructed my own bow but my neighbour has now made two, which work surprisingly well.
Are there any other Archers on here that make their own Bows and arrows ?

I think @Lefley might know a few who do?

 

[eric123]

What a shame it broke, such a good looking bow. In my opinion it was nothing to do with glue I think you faded to sharply into the very thin limbs. Hope this is helpful. Kind regards

 

[Sideways]

@eric123 I bought this -from a retired professional maker - I don't have the skill to build it - and he was successful back in the day so the design is likely to be proven; but comparing with the Samick in the first photo I do see what you mean about the transition. Good observation !

 

[steve66]

delved through my computer and found some photos, the bows I made were all spliced the handle {it gives a 12 inch gluing joint} the Yew I picked up was all cut at about 5foot in length, so the process was to cut it into sections to maximise what I had . You use timber from the same log so the two sections [limbs] have the same strength, sap wood is shaped and then the belly was rough cut before shaping and tillering

 

[Orraloon]

delved through my computer and found some photos, the bows I made were all spliced the handle {it gives a 12 inch gluing joint} the Yew I picked up was all cut at about 5foot in length, so the process was to cut it into sections to maximise what I had . You use timber from the same log so the two sections [limbs] have the same strength, sap wood is shaped and then the belly was rough cut before shaping and tillering

The good old Z splice lets you create good staves from short lengths. Makes a lot more wood available for bow making. You also get the option to give your stave a little reflex. Most of the selfbows I did were also spliced that way. Yew in Australia is rare as rocking horse poo so I had to get some bits from west coast USA. Shipping on 6' lengths would have been way too expensive so it was billets not staves.
Regards
John