new bowyer needs help

[johnmichael]

#4317

I am new at this game and I want to build my own bow be it longbow or a recurve I would like help on materials and what wood to use:?:

[TimZeigler]

#29773

If your talking about building glass bows, get familiar with Binghams website. Everything to get started is located there including plans, and parts lists. Elmont will more than likely respond to you personally regarding any questions you might have if you email him your quesitons about his plans and parts. I think 90% of all bowyers have started with him. Its a one stop shop. Good luck. 🙂

http://www.binghamprojects.com/

[Clay Hayes]

#30193

If your talking wood bows then I can help. I don’t know nuttin about glass!

What part of the country are you in?

ch

[Clay Hayes]

#35416

South Africa you say! Well, if I was you and you was me, I’d research the materials and designs the natives from that area used for their bows. That’s just me though. I’m sure there are some great woods in that part of the world, I’m just not familiar with any of them.

You could also order a piece of osage from the states, but I wouldn’t recomend sinking a bunch of $$ in a piece of wood for your first bow. Bowyers learn from their mistakes, and I wouldn’t want to learn on a piece of wood that cost an arm and leg to ship halfway round the world. Better to start with something you can get cheap and local.

Do a little research and get back to us. Let us know what you find out and we’ll go from there.

ch

[Pointer]

#40866

John…if you mean a laminated bow then do what Tim said. I just built my second Bingham bow and it came out real nice. It’s a shooter and I’ve already got some ideas for another set of limbs for it. Best of all is that ElMont’s staff can work with you on what to order. I had purchased their plan for a 68″ take down longbow but I wanted it to be 64″ instead. They told me exactly how to modify the design and when I told them the draw weight I wanted they provided the correct laminations. In fact, by following the Bingham design I got the exact weight I asked for.

Good Luck!!

[shosier]

#26196

Those of you that have built your own bows, have you been pleased with the finished product(s)? I bot a hickory blank a while back and want to start working on it. It was listed as 40 at 28″. It didn’t cost me much ($25) so I don’t mind playing around with a few things. Do you generally get a bow you can shoot after your first one (assuming you are careful and diligent) or do you need to build 2 or 3 before you get the idea??
Interested in your thoughts.
Steve

[Clay Hayes]

#26216

I’ve been building bows for about 10 years and I still learn something with every new one I make.

You could get a shooter on your first or second bow, but it’s probably not going to be the best one you’ll ever make. A fault, or blessing, depending on how you look at it, of all bowyers is that we’re never satisfied. In our own minds, we can always make the next one a little better. Once we get past just building a working bow, we’re always tinkering. Weather it be with different designs, woods, or whatever.

Good luck!

ch

[aeronut]

#55924

Some links that may be helpful.

http://bowyersworkshop.com/

http://www.bowyersedge.com/articles.html

Dennis

[Author]

Posts