Hickory Self Bows

[Stephen Graf]

#43272

Beautiful! Where do you get the cotton camo cloth? And what do you finish over the cloth with?

[William Warren]

#44058

steve graf wrote: Beautiful! Where do you get the cotton camo cloth? And what do you finish over the cloth with?

One of my old hunting partners got that cloth directly from a mill back in the 1980’s. We were very fond of the Trebark camo and we personally knew, and have hunted with, Jim Crumley, the inventor of that pattern when he was just beginning to market it. I still have a few yards of it left. I would not sell one of the bows with that camo without Jim’s endorsement but I have built and given a couple to friends.
Any cotton cloth will work. I bring the bow’s back down to the shape I want. I use a good wood glue for adhesive. After gluing down the strips allow it to dry for an hour. Then brush on a coat of polyurethane and let that harden. The poly makes it easier to trim the excess cloth. I use a very sharp knife blade to trim the cloth. Then I check the egdes and glue down any areas needing glue. Now you can run the edge lightly along a small belt sander. I usually put the backing on before staining so the stain will get the white edges after sanding. I use walnut hulls in water for stain. After the stain is dry I begin putting on coats of polyurethane sanding lightly between coats. I put on 5 to 7 coats. The last coat gets buffed lightly with steel wool to take of the shine.
If you can’t find this cloth by the yard you can always sacrifice a pants leg. You might find a pair on E-bay or at a swap meet. Some hunter might have outgrown their britches and they could wind up on your self bow as backing:).

[Rocks]

#44150

Very nice! Great looking bows, and beautiful quiver. That’s some good work you do there.

[Mark Turton]

#44614

Hi Snuff

Those are extremley nice looking bows, keep up the good work.

Mark.

[William Warren]

#44739

Thanks Guys,

It started out as one of those things where you just have make one to say you did, but it has turned into a quest for the perfect one. I make about one a year. The last one was the one with the burned stripes. It is actually my favorite one and probably the straightest one I’ve built. But it is a heavy bow drawing about 68# at 28″ I don’t shoot it well these days so I’m going to start a new one this winter and try to make it about 45# or 50#. I have a couple a three staves curing in the shed. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Duncan

[David Petersen]

#44943

Snuffornot — I really like the snakeskin look you get by burning. Wish I’d thought of that a long time ago. I’ve built about three dozen wood bows and some of the longest-lasting and all around best have been of hickory. I switched mostly to osage because it’s so much easier to work. By slicing a 1/8″ lam of a hickory board, reversing it and gluing back on as a backing, I was able to up the speed a bit, get shorter bows and a lot better survival rate. But when it works there’s nothing more satisfying than a true self bow. Scrape on! Dave

[William Warren]

#45145

David Petersen wrote: Snuffornot — I really like the snakeskin look you get by burning. Wish I’d thought of that a long time ago. I’ve built about three dozen wood bows and some of the longest-lasting and all around best have been of hickory. I switched mostly to osage because it’s so much easier to work. By slicing a 1/8″ lam of a hickory board, reversing it and gluing back on as a backing, I was able to up the speed a bit, get shorter bows and a lot better survival rate. But when it works there’s nothing more satisfying than a true self bow. Scrape on! Dave

Thanks Dave,
I just run a propane torch over it very quickly. Another neat trick is to rub charcoal into the grain before staining to bring out the grain. Looks sort of like zebrawood.
I’ve actually wanted to do one with some snakeskin. I’ve also wanted to try laminating one layer as you mentioned either with hickory or bamboo. I will one day when I can come by some hickory boards. I might have to just get some cut locally. so far I’ve only had one hickory bow fail. The backing held it together as it broke probably saving my noggin.

Duncan

[Treetopflier]

#45863

Fellers, for what it’s worth my experience is that boo makes a great backing that’s extremely resistant to break, as opposed to wood backings like hicory or osage lams. However, boo tends to take a set and makes for a slower bow. But they last! Snuffy

[William Warren]

#46085

Anybody use any native bamboo? I have some that I harvested at my Dads place. The largest stalks are about 3-1/2″ in diameter. The problem with it is the radius. Is it possible to flatten it any?
Duncan

[David Petersen]

#59653

I didn’t know such a thing as America bamboo existed! But then, when I lived in NC it was in the mountains, so what do I know anyhow. Are the walls thick enough that you can cut flat lams that are wide enough? dave

[William Warren]

#59738

Dave,
I should have said “native grown”. This plant was imported but escaped from a neighbors yard where a Japanese garden was built back in the 1930’s. Now there are 2 or 3 acres of it. It is about 3/8″ thick and gets almost 4″ in diameter at the base. If it could be steamed and flattened it would be easier to get a lam out of it. Otherwise it would have a crown on it from the outside radius.
Duncan

[rayborbon]

#60265

Nice looking bows. I have always had a liking for hickory. If it was more plentiful around here I would have to try and make a self bow from it.

Those are some interesting designs on the back.

[Daniel]

#62647

I don’t know if you wonderful people noticed but there is a wealth of knowledge and talent on this site……I am completely blown away !!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous bows 🙂

[William Warren]

#63034

Thanks Standing Bear,

In another month it will be time to harvest a few more staves. 😀

[Author]

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