I need some suggestions for about as un-primitive a bow one could make...

[makenzie71]

I made a thread like this a while back...it got sucked out with the Anything Else/Campfire switch...there were some good suggestions, hope some of you guys voice up again because I can't remember there.

I whipped up a couple of hungarian~ish horsebows...two fiberglass quickies and a bamboo/ipe/ash one.  While showing them off I got sucked into a contest...I got to make a bow without using fiberglass, wood, horn, or metal for the limbs.  Wood/horn/fiberglass/metal/etc can be used for non-working parts like the handle.

I have no idea what to use lol

[Hillbilly]

Sinew-backed PVC pipe?

[makenzie71]

lol I don't know if we can use sinew.

However...can you get PVC sheeting?  Pipe would suck to try and make work, but I do know PVC in general pretty resilient/bendy.

[JackCrafty]

Some of those plastic rulers are really springy.  Is there a minimum size limit?

[knightd]

Get you one of the plastic 2x4 they sell for decking..

[makenzie71]

Their rules only have a really long list of things you can't use (like horsehair and tobacco) and that it has to be "fully functioning".  I want to make something that has at least a 35~45lb draw.

David...I've never dealt with those plastic boards.  Are they springy?  I might check them out...

[KShip85]

lol I don't know if we can use sinew.

However...can you get PVC sheeting?  Pipe would suck to try and make work, but I do know PVC in general pretty resilient/bendy.

Not sure about PVC sheeting but I have seen some 1/8" sheets of lexan for use as window guards.  If I recall that's what nalgene water bottles are made of and is supposed to be tough stuff.  Sticker said it's 250 times stronger than glass.  I'd imagine it would bend with a bit of heat.  I'd like to try laminating strips together recurving and bolting onto a solid handle riser.  Not sure about tension strength though, wonder if tyvek gives enough for a backing strip?

Kip

[jonathan creason]

You can buy PVC sheeting, but it's pretty thin stuff.  I know they have it in the Home Depot here, it's in the plumbing section.

[makenzie71]

I've seen certain kinds of bead board...looks like tile...but it has fiberglass in it.

[knightd]

I ain't never cut any of the plastic boards thin but in 2x6 it seems stout.. If you like the PVC idea. You could cut a strip out of a thick walled 12" diameter or larger pipe that would be more than enough to get the # you are looking for.. And it would be almost flat..

[makenzie71]

I think I've decided...I have a lot of formica strips and I have access to garlock tubing at work.  I shaved some garlock down to the rough shape I wanted and glued it up between a couple pieces of formica in my fiberglass magyar mold.  Lashed some poplar sayahs on the ends and it pulled and stretched okay but I made the limbs too thin on both axis.  Pull was only maybe 15~20lbs, and the limbs want to twist under pressure so I had a hard time drawing it and when it went back the limbs would twist around to basically make the thing "inside out".

I'm going to shave the garlock down into three or four strips and stack them this time, and put two strips side by side to make the thing 2.5" wide at the widest.  See how that holds together.  Then I'll have to find something else for sayahs...a couple of the other competitors are having fits over it.

[bowstring]

   Hello, just a thought, as an old machinist,,, How about using free floating Lexan, similar to the way car rear springs are stacked? poundage could be adjusted by adding or removing "leaves". Also, if I understand the rules, a cable back would help hold everything together,,, Just a thought  "bowstring"

[mullet]

 One thing to keep in mind for backing is that Gorilla Duc Tape. That is some tough stuff.

[bryan irwin]

they didn't say nothing about carbon fiber

[makenzie71]

they didn't say nothing about carbon fiber

It's implied lol...plus it's a good-natured no prize competition.

I haven't thought about cable bows...that'll make things a bit less complicated.