Hope you guys are newbie friendly

[banoch]

Because I am going to ask some basic questions here.
First of all an introduction. My name is Bill and I am new here. I live in Charleston WV. I love to build wooden boats and am a woodcarver, mainly large doughbowls. I make kayaks the way the Inuit and Aleut peoples of the Arctic did, no glue, screws or nails. Save for the dacron or nylon "skin" they are very traditionally built kayaks. I do hunt occasionally but can not call myself a hunter. I have a deeply encoded need to build things and get a profound satisfaction from doing so.   
My daughter and I are going to try to start shooting bows. She is 13 and really liked the archery portion of her gym class last year and I have always had an interest in bows and especially the people who used them for survival, I thought hey, here is a new hobby my daughter and I can do together. 
I may contradict myself here but I BOUGHT a bow only because I need something to learn what I want and/or don't want/like. An example if you will to go on. I am going to buy my daughter one too but don't really know what to get her. The bow I bought is a self bow, very primitive looking, has a hole in one limb and wavy limbs made of Osage Orange. 40# draw @ 28". I plan to put on some Eastern diamondback skins. It is just what I envisioned when I think of primitive bows. I am excited and anxious to get it.
My real problem is my daughters bow. I need help. She is 13yo, 5' 2" tall and quite athletic. She has helped me buils mor the a few boats and kayaks and shows an apptitude for building things. Maybe in the future we will build a few bows together but for now I would feel more comfortable buying but would like for her to have some investment in the "building" so was looking at some U-finish bows out there. I don't know if we are some sort of mutants or what but our draw lengths seem to be a little longer than the lengths offered on many of these types of bows. I measured hers at 26" and mine is 30" and I am not a tall man but we seem to have long arms. Any suggestions? Help?
I am also in a quandry about arrows. Cedar, bamboo, carbonfibre or aluminum?
Lastly, what are the must haves and what can we do without as far as accessories go. If anyone here has what we need for sale speak up. I have found that in tight knit communities such as these people are generally very honest and if they are not someone will tell on them. I have always had good luck buying thing from individuals on forums like this.
Sorry if I am rambling. Just wanted to say hey mostly and introduce myself, but I do need some help.     

[Marc St Louis]

What draw weight would she be looking for?

If you have a 30" draw then the bow you bought will be overdrawn a bit

[Pappy]

First Welcome,you will like it here.We don't talk buy much,but there is a trade forum you can go to and usually get what you need. Slow down a little and look around,there will be plenty of help to get you started,I promise you that.Enjoy.
   Pappy

[Traxx]

banoch,
Can you give us an indication as to how you measure your draw length?You may be overdrawing.I help  alot of people get started in our shop here and see it happen often that newbies have a tendency to either under or over draw.When useing the common style most used in archery today,there is usually a anchor point that gives a person,the best allignment of the shoulders and arms to best use back tension to draw the bow.As for the draw weight of the bow for your daughter,i cant stress how important,it is,not to overbow a newbie archer.I allways say,its best to Err on the side of too light than heavy.My son is 13 and a bit bigger than your daughter.He can shoot a 40 lber but his best shooting comes with a 25 to 30 lber at his 25" draw length.He can hold it comfortably as long as he needs to develop good form and enjoy the shooting all day.Keepin it fun for the youngsters is very important.It is for adults as well.In my experience and observation,I see most people start out with too much weight,causeing the development of poor form and bad habbits that are hard to fix down the road.As for the arrow choices,the Material is not as important right now,as getting them matched to the bow for accurate shooting.Missing all the time is no fun at all.My suggestions are to use the wood or Allum,to start.they are fairly easy to tune,with standard point weights.Being that this is a Primitive site and seems to be your focus,you will probably end up with the cane and or shoot shafts eventually.They are a bit more work and require a bit of knowledge and experience to make well.Lets get ya started shootin first.LOL

[Pat B]

Welcome Banoch. You will like it around here. Lots of helpful folks around. Actually we have one guy, David Tiller from Widby Is. WA that also builds Inuit kayaks, at least he built one this past summer.
  As a wood worker you probably have the tools needed to build bows and being familiar with bending wood will be helpful to you also. You should have plenty of local woods in WV for bow building or you can buy store bought lumber for building bows. For good info about board bows and bow building and arrow building check out George Tsoukalas' website.
  Ask any questions related to building bows, arrows or other archery stuff of natural materials. Check out the "Trading Post" section for anyone that might have bows to trade or ask on there about trading for bows for you and your daughter. We don't alloy money talk on our trading post.  In the "Anything Else"section you can discuss fiber glass, carbon fibers, etc and almost anything else but not on the threads.
Pat

[woodstick]

welcome to yall. you will learn all you need to know on here bout building a bow. just ask and you will learn. good to see you and your girl working together.

[bigcountry]

I grew up in Mingo/pike county and lived in Charleston for 5 years. 

Wished I lived closer, I would love to learn how to make kayak, and could show you the ropes on bows.  What little I know.

Starting out, you just need a scraper, hatchet, drawknife and rasp.  Some like vises to hold the bow, I made a bowhorse bench vise, not sure what you call it.

[radius]

have fun building bows, man...if you wanna buy one for your girl, send me a pm, i've got too many around here...

[venisonburger]

Glad to meet you banoch, you came to the right place.
I admire your kayak building interest, I tried that once, built a wood frame canvas covered, with screws and glue however, I do admire the tied frame inuit style too.
Good to hear that your daughter has an interest in archery, my son did  then he found that he liked girls more, I'm waiting for him to come back around.
Anyways, welcome.
VB

[NTD]

Praises for the PA forum!  I am a forum whore for all my hobbies/addictions and you folks are the most welcoming and encouraging to noobs by a long shot.  No elitist attitudes here!!!

[banoch]

banoch,
Can you give us an indication as to how you measure your draw length?You may be overdrawing.I help  alot of people get started in our shop here and see it happen often that newbies have a tendency to either under or over draw.When useing the common style most used in archery today,there is usually a anchor point that gives a person,the best allignment of the shoulders and arms to best use back tension to draw the bow.As for the draw weight of the bow for your daughter,i cant stress how important,it is,not to overbow a newbie archer.I allways say,its best to Err on the side of too light than heavy.My son is 13 and a bit bigger than your daughter.He can shoot a 40 lber but his best shooting comes with a 25 to 30 lber at his 25" draw length.He can hold it comfortably as long as he needs to develop good form and enjoy the shooting all day.Keepin it fun for the youngsters is very important.It is for adults as well.In my experience and observation,I see most people start out with too much weight,causeing the development of poor form and bad habbits that are hard to fix down the road.As for the arrow choices,the Material is not as important right now,as getting them matched to the bow for accurate shooting.Missing all the time is no fun at all.My suggestions are to use the wood or Allum,to start.they are fairly easy to tune,with standard point weights.Being that this is a Primitive site and seems to be your focus,you will probably end up with the cane and or shoot shafts eventually.They are a bit more work and require a bit of knowledge and experience to make well.Lets get ya started shootin first.LOL

Traxx, I measured my arm span and divided by 2.5 and came up w/ 29.?. it was close to 30 and I misspoke myself earlier my bow does indeed have a 30" draw length. I much appreciate all of your advice and insights. I am not quite 6' (5' 11 3/4"), does this seem like an unusually long draw length for a person of my stature? Are cedar arrows tough enough to take novice abuse? what are standard weight points? Thanks again and nice to meet you.

[radius]

i think the "correct" way to measure draw length is with a bow and arrow.  You extend your bow hand fully, keeping the elbow only very slightly bent.  Then you draw an arrow and anchor the back of your thumb to your cheekbone.  Use of an anchor point gives consistency, and consistency brings accuracy.  With the bow drawn like this, have your daughter mark the arrow where it intersects the back (away from you part) of the bow.  The distance from that mark to the inside of the string nock is your draw length.

[banoch]

 Guess I will have to read up on the rules of the board(sorry PatB). I assumed, like many here already know, that a light draw weight would be best for my daughter and was figuring on something between 20 and 30 pounds.
BigCountry, where do you live now? I have all of the needed tools and then some and do have a shaving horse as we call them, very handy. I use mine mainly for shaping oars and paddles among other things.All of my wood bending has been with steam which does not seem to be applicable here. I do have a killer setup for steaming wood.
"No elitists here" sounds like a welcome omission. The boating, and in particular the sailing, gangs are full of it and frankly I've grown very tired of it.
I want to extend a thank you to you all and I look forward to becoming a "member" of the group.

[sailordad]

im gonna go out on a limb here (pun intended)
but i think you have it in you,your daughter also,to start on your first self bows.
be it either board or from a stave.you sound like a latented person,with lots of wood working abilities.
so making a bow should be a piece of cake.
you could go with a simple board bow first,which is a good way to start and learn tillering.
you can go to Goerge's website,sorry i dont have the link anymore as my hard drive was replaced and i lost all data,i had no back up.dumb ass
but some will chime in with it.
his site has lots of great knowledge and not just for newbies.
you can get started and just post pics and ask questions and these guys will guide ya thru it.
good luck on your journey

                                                                           peace,
                                                                                tim

[Little John]

If you want to start making bows get the first two volumes of traditional bowyers bibles. All the info to get started and make good bows. Welcome aboard and have fun.       Kenneth