Made my First Bow

[bowhunter15]

Just put the finishing coats on it today. I think it turned out alright; it is bamboo backed ipe, 68" tip to tip, 64" string, and it is 64# @ 28". I plan on hunting black bear and whitetails with it this year, but saving elk, mule deer, and turkey for my compound when I'll likely need longer shots.

 

[muleman]

Nice looking bow.

 

[SHTF]

Very cool man. Would love to get into bow making. That would take about 3 times the garage space I currently have though.

 

[steve anderson]

that's nice. good work.

 

[Shawn Hultquist]

That's awesome work bud. All I can say is be careful because it's very addicting.

 

[bowhunter15]

Very cool man. Would love to get into bow making. That would take about 3 times the garage space I currently have though.

I built the entire thing in my bedroom with hand tools. I videoed the entire process and will post a how-to. The only thing is I started with a ready to glue kit. Had to build a form for the reflex-deflex and a tillering tree. That's what took the most work... Rasping, scraping and sanding it from probably a 100 pound bow to 64# with equal limb timing.

 

[SHTF]

Can't wait to see the video man that would be a cool process making the bow to shooting it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[goldenarrow]

Really cool! I would love to do that. Looking forward to the video.

 

[Ryan K Sanpei]

Sweet!!! Nice looking longbow!!! Well done!!!

 

[Rizzy]

Looks great!
I'm looking forward to the video. I built a Hickory selfbow last season and hunted Elk with it. There is nothing more gratifying, give it a try. I was not "under gunned" nearly as much as I though I would be with rutting Elk.

 

[bowhunter15]

Here's the video finally! It was actually pretty challenging condensing all of the info to around 35 minutes.

[video=youtube;xljOvsexlkg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xljOvsexlkg&feature=gp-n-y&google_comment_id=z124cvzjaz3mzri5x04ciluoglydcbgg 4mk0k[/video]

 

[Kebler]

Impressive wow

 

[Muledeernv]

Awesome it looks great

 

[goldenarrow]

Love the video! I am already subscribed to your YouTube channel so I found it on you tube first.

Did you already have experience with a trad bow? I am trying to decide if I want to buy one first or build one. I guess if I buy a entry level recurve I can always use it for bow fishing when I graduate to building my own longbow.

Why did you decide to use a rest instead of making a shelf? What are the pros and cons?

 

[bowhunter15]

Love the video! I am already subscribed to your YouTube channel so I found it on you tube first.

Did you already have experience with a trad bow? I am trying to decide if I want to buy one first or build one. I guess if I buy a entry level recurve I can always use it for bow fishing when I graduate to building my own longbow.

Why did you decide to use a rest instead of making a shelf? What are the pros and cons?

This is my first real experience with a traditional bow. I've shot them before, but never more than a couple shots from someone else's at the range. I watched a lot of videos on shooting form on Youtube from "Hitting them like Howard Hill" to Jimmy Blackmon, Jeff Kavanagh, Grey Archer, and probably others while building.

I didn't cut a shelf for three reasons: 1) Some of the guys giving me pointers on tradgang were like "Ah you don't need on of them things cut into it! Keep it like a real stick bow for aesthetics!" 2) I'd read lots of posts where guys switching from shooting off the shelf to an elevated rest improved accuracy. 3) Making the arrow travel around a thick riser makes it bend more, meaning it needs a weaker spine. With the extreme front of center idea, loading a bunch of weight up front already weakens the dynamic spine. This way I could shoot 400 spine arrows with heavy points, further increasing FOC because of the lighter shaft. With a shelf cut in, I'd probably need 340 spine arrows for this bow. Not a huge deal though. Down the road I might experiment with narrowing out the grip, and maybe doing the golf tee arrow shelf.

 

[bowhunter15]

I decided to cut a shelf in after all. After putting hundreds of shots through the bow and honing in on my consistency at close range, a couple things became apparent. 1) The rubber elevated rest was showing massive signs of wear from the shaft rubbing against it. 2) No matter what point weight I chose, the arrows always showed "weak" when shot without fletchings, even when they should have been dynamically stiff. I think that was a false weak from the nock end of my arrows hitting the riser and bouncing off. Slow motion video strengthened that argument.

So I cut the shelf in. So far, the same exact arrows fly better (no change in spine needed), and I bought some 350 spine Victory VForce HV arrows to try out. They shot nearly perfect with 250 grain tips bare shaft. One concern is that they are thinner walled than advertised. The spec says .287OD and 6.8gpi, but my measurements show .281OD and 6.0gpi. On the bright side, I can shoot a 550 grain arrow at 30% FOC no problem. I could also shoot a 600 grain arrow at 34% FOC by using 300 grain points. My old GT Traditional 400's weigh the same with 200 grain points, and would mean I should be able to shoot either or without much difference in trajectory, at least at hunting ranges.

I also ordered some Point Oxford Cedar shafts to use for stumping and small game hunting. I'll spiral flu-flu them, and adjust length and point weight to more or less match the carbons.

One other thing, I shot a 600.6 grain arrow through the chronograph, and it averaged 175fps. I'm pretty happy with that number.

 

[RedRidge]

Great thread. Love the video and finished product. Hope to see some harvest pics in the future.

 

[swink1]

I have always had good luck with 2018 alum arrow shafts out of wooden bows. Its harder to get carbons to fly good for me in these type of bows. I love the wooden arrows. They work great. I only shoot around 50 # at my draw so little harder to get a good working arrow spine than you will have in the 60 # range. By the way the bow looks great I have made a few of the Bamboo and Ipe.

 

[Felix40]

Sweet action!

 

[sandhillhunter]

Very impressive work! The detail in the video was just right for me (enough to convince me that buying a custom made bow for $750+++ is worth it due to all the time and skill involved!)