need help with a hickory bow

[dameetrius1]

#6370

i am in the process of making an Eastern Style Indian bow and am having a bit of trouble figuring out schematics for it. I have some but im not sure if they’re correct. this is the first bow i’ve ever tried making and its not coming along as well as i’d hoped. so far for schematics i have a 59″ hickory stave that needs to be 9/16″ thick, 5″ handle that is 1 1/4″ thick,and thats it so far i need to know how long i should make each of the arms and what size the nocks need to be for my string and how thick it needs to be. if i am missing any other schematics or if the ones i have are incorrect i’d appreciate it if you helped me out a little. thanks!

[Stephen Graf]

#50999

I can’t give you any specific help. But I can make the observation that you’ve picked a very challenging project for your first bow. Getting a 59″ selfbow to behave is more than most people could do on their first try.

That said, if it were me, I’d break out the bowyers bibles and start reading them over. They are all about making bows from natural materials. They also have a bunch of sketches of indian style bows you may find helpful.

Don’t give up!

That’s all I got 😥

[William Warren]

#51342

The shortest hickory selfbow I have made was 66″ and it eventually broke. But it was fast although it had some stack to it.
I have not made any period specific Native designs but I have seen the collection at the Smithsonian and have seen the great drawings by Jim Hamm in publications. From what I have seen these bows are mostly simple flat bow design with a primitive handle which might work with that 59″ length. Using the primitive approach would allow the bow to flex through the handle. I think now that my short bow would not have broken had I used that design rather than building in a “riser” type handle as I did. The riser caused a sort of hinge effect that was destined for failure.

One thing to consider is if your stave has checked on the ends it will need to be trimmed and if so your bow is now shorter than 59″.
I can offer some suggestions on dimensions. A shorter selfbow needs to be wider near the handle. A minimum of 2″ wide side to side. I use 8″ as rule of thumb for my handle width. The 1-1/4″ measurement you have is the girth of the handle. The 9/16″ measurement is the minimum average thickness of the limbs (arms as you described them)front to back. Keep in mind the limbs must taper down from the handle to the tips and may need to be thicker near the handle and thinner near the tips. The knocks can be “post” style, simply notched 3/4″ by 1/4″ on either side leaving a post at least 1/2″ thick in the middle that can be rounded out somewhat.
Like Steve said, the bowyers Bible series has illustrations of this type of bow and it is a good source of information.
Good luck with your project and let us know how it goes.

Duncan

[wildkatt]

#7959

😀 Im new here but most of the bows i make are plains Indian style.Short bows are a bit harder to tiller. the rule of thumb is draw length will be half the length of the working parts of the bow. S/A 59″- 5″ for handle if you make it non bending gives you 54″ of working limb, you should be able to get a 27″ draw. Hickory is very forgiving shouldnt have problems making a short bow. I would go with a 5″ handle 1 1/4″ at the fades and 1/2″ on the tips.get it shaped then start by floor tillering it so you can get it on long string and go from there. Thickness of limbs will depend on the piece of wood but most of the time i end up with 1 1/4″ handle and taper down to around 3/8″ at the tips. Hope this helps.

Katt

[Author]

Posts