FIRST BOW SHOT AMAZING!!!

[chriss880]

MY first wooden bow i ever made shot like 50 to 70 feet!!!! i am sooo happy!!!

[Kegan]

I bet it'll shoot alot farther if you give it the chance. Were you shooting at a target, or flight shooting?

[chriss880]

flight shooting but it's still green will it not shoot good when it's dead?

[Hillbilly]

Chris, it will shoot much farther and faster if made from seasoned wood. Green wood is definitely not what you want to build your bow from. You want to cut green wood, let it season until the wood is dry, then build your bow. A well-designed wooden bow of average poundage should shoot close to 500 feet or more.

[chriss880]

how long does seasoning take?

[Kegan]

how long does seasoning take?

Depends on the temperature, relative humidity, air flow, and size of the wood. A roughed out bow should dry in three months of so, where as a full sized stave is best left for a year or so.

[nickf]

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/6222

this is a great tutorial for making your first wooden bow, at 50pounds it will porbably cast 350feet further

[George Tsoukalas]

That's awesome. I know that feeling. Anytime you get an arrow coming out of the bow, it's an accomplishment. There's info on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Kitsu]

MY first wooden bow i ever made shot like 50 to 70 feet!!!! i am sooo happy!!!

my first wooden bow kinda had problems, i seasoned the stave *cut tree myself* and just got a rough shape and it SEEMED to bend evenly and i liked the poundage... i COMPLETELY forgot to seal it and i shot about 4 arrows through it just fine then 5th i heard it crack and 6th i ended up breaking it (it broke into 5 even pieces o.o)
i really got upset so atleast it shoots eh...

if it isnt a good shooter keep it as decoration, and though you MAY have made a bad mistake, restring it on opposite side and turn it into a recurve bow, for my second one i whittled it down too much and for fun i turned to a recurve, though like many, i couldnt get a TRUE seal so i used what i had, o.o my cousin said to try Crisco and it just was wierd feeling and stuff so i gave to cousin, it had more power than it normally would of had but it just fealt gross

=3 just a few of my bow stories the 2nd section of this post MAY be of some good use to you considering your problem, but if you follow that, be sure to build in a little flexibility because your bending against natural curve of the wood here... but dont overdo it, youll end up with it losing power and it'd just be about as useful as a piece of cloth

[Kegan]

MY first wooden bow i ever made shot like 50 to 70 feet!!!! i am sooo happy!!!

my first wooden bow kinda had problems, i seasoned the stave *cut tree myself* and just got a rough shape and it SEEMED to bend evenly and i liked the poundage... i COMPLETELY forgot to seal it and i shot about 4 arrows through it just fine then 5th i heard it crack and 6th i ended up breaking it (it broke into 5 even pieces o.o)
i really got upset so atleast it shoots eh...

if it isnt a good shooter keep it as decoration, and though you MAY have made a bad mistake, restring it on opposite side and turn it into a recurve bow, for my second one i whittled it down too much and for fun i turned to a recurve, though like many, i couldnt get a TRUE seal so i used what i had, o.o my cousin said to try Crisco and it just was wierd feeling and stuff so i gave to cousin, it had more power than it normally would of had but it just fealt gross

=3 just a few of my bow stories the 2nd section of this post MAY be of some good use to you considering your problem, but if you follow that, be sure to build in a little flexibility because your bending against natural curve of the wood here... but dont overdo it, youll end up with it losing power and it'd just be about as useful as a piece of cloth

Making a badly deflexed bow into a reflexed bow by turning it around is a BAD idea. It's already overstressed, and therfore willing to break, and also it won't follow a growth ring.

Try spar urethane, it's a great finish (and it might not be that your bws are getting too dry, as they have other flaws).