Author Topic: Maple Board bow design  (Read 8209 times)

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Offline kylerprochaska

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Maple Board bow design
« on: November 04, 2009, 10:06:39 pm »
Just seeing what you guys think....Ive got a maple board with good grain and no run off...Im just wanting to see if anyone has any design input on what type of bow i should make....I was thinking about a 66" flatbow design with a heat tempered belly and maybe flipping the tips an inch or so....i wasn't planning on backing it either...just straight up wood.  Im looking to get around 50lbs out of it and use it as my bowfishing bow next summer...any suggestions are welcome.

-Ky
GBR!

Offline tronman

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2009, 11:10:32 pm »
I made a flat bow out of maple board from Home Depot. I backed with linen and is 66 inches long. It has a  4.5 inch handle with 1-3/4 inch long fades. The bow is 2 inches wide at the fades and it remains 2 inches wide until the last 11 inches where it taper to 3/8 of an inch at the tips. I was not sure what type of maple it was so backed it and maybe over built it a little. I did not heat treat this bow and it pulls about 60 lbs at 28 inches. A little under 1.5 inches of set on each side at rest.  It shoots an arrow fast and straight. This was the third bow I made and I like this bow a lot.

Offline kylerprochaska

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2009, 11:10:56 am »
thanks tronman....maybe I will put some linen on the back...just for some added protection

-Ky
GBR!

Offline Canoe

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2009, 12:44:27 pm »
Howdy Ky,

Tronman's suggested design sounds good to me.  (I have made about eight bows with dimensions similar to those provided by Troman.)

Heat treating, flipping the tips, or backing the bow is not necessary.  But, if you want to give these things a try - then go for it.  However, be sure to apply the backing after you're done heating the bow.

Pictures, (even of boards), are always welcomed and are usually helpful.
 
How big is your board?  Can you make more than one bow from it?  If so, perhaps you could make two bows from the same board, with the same dimensions and poundage, and then heat treat, flip, and back only one of the two bows, so you can do a side-by-side comparison of efficiency / cast.  You could also draw up an F/D curve for each bow for comparison. 

Any way, Best of Luck to you,
Canoe

"Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same."  - R. W. Emerson

"Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit."    -Edward Abbey

Offline kylerprochaska

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2009, 12:54:37 pm »
I broke it.....  :-\  Ive come to believe that after osage....I "can't" make a board bow....

-Ky
GBR!

Offline NTProf

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2009, 01:56:31 pm »
My primary hunting weapon this year is a maple board bow of similar dimensions to those mentioned above. It is backed with burlap and has several hundred shots through it. Still has only about 1/4 inch of set at rest. I love maple boards.

Offline Canoe

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  • Progress - Not Perfection
Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2009, 03:47:27 pm »
Pictures!!!!    ;D
"Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same."  - R. W. Emerson

"Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit."    -Edward Abbey

VenomBOWslinger

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2009, 05:03:15 pm »
yes pictures please!!!! Also like to mention by some means u dont reach ur target draw weight a good backing like sinew would bring it up a little!!!

CHEERS!!!

Offline George Tsoukalas

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    • Traditional and Primitive Archers
Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2009, 07:31:17 pm »
Sorry to hear that. But it's all about the grain. There's more on my site. Jawge
Set Happens!
If you ain't breakin' you ain't makin!

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2009, 06:21:46 pm »
I used to think Jawge was shamelessly merchandising his own site until I went there and read his stuff.  Holy osage, Bowman, that guy has a lot of stuff to say!  Jawge knows boardbows, and I will humbly submit to his overwhelming experience. 

Don't give up on making boards into bows, they may not be as sexy as a stave bow, but they can be deadly weapons when built correctly. 
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline sailordad

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Re: Maple Board bow design
« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2009, 06:27:14 pm »
I used to think Jawge was shamelessly merchandising his own site until I went there and read his stuff.  Holy osage, Bowman, that guy has a lot of stuff to say!  Jawge knows boardbows, and I will humbly submit to his overwhelming experience. 

Don't give up on making boards into bows, they may not be as sexy as a stave bow, but they can be deadly weapons when built correctly. 

i disargree. a board bow can be just as or more sexy than a stave bow.
its all in the attention given it during the making process.
i have made some ass ugy stave bows and a few super sweet board bows

yes Jawge knows his shiznit
i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd