Help with my first bow

[bluegill]

I'm making a selfbow out of osage and the pieces I have have a natural curve in them. Should I construct the bow so that I will pull against the curve, or should I make the bow so I pull with the curve? Is there an easy way to straighten out the wood? It is drying right now and I havent started carving into it much.

This is my first ever attempt at making a bow and i'm not expecting anything fancy, just trying to get all the help I can get.

[Pat B]

Can you show us a pic of your stave. Normally you would want the curve going away from the shooter before strung but that would depend on the stave you have.   The wood can be straightened with heat, either steam, boiling or dry heat, a form and a few clamps.    Pat

[Justin Snyder]

The part of the bow closest to you when shooting is the belly.  The part away from you is the back.  You want the part of the tree that was closest to the outside, to be the back, and the part closest to the middle of the tree to be the belly.  Hopefully the curve will go away from you. But it is not as important as the growth ring orientation.

I strongly suggest you take some time to read George's page before you get to carried away.  http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/archer.html  This is Georges site.

 Justin

[GregB]

How long has the tree been cut? Are you sure the stave is well seasoned (dry)?

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Suggestion:

before you start on a stave with any kind of curves for your first bow, I would go by a couple of 2X1"s of RED OAK and tiller them,get yourself aqquinted with your tools and the tillering process, all the readyng and tips in the world can substitute for the hands down work, it's a very visual and feel thing

[Coo-wah-chobee]

..................Listen ta Manny(northshore longbow)..good advice there ! ...........bob

[George Tsoukalas]

Pics  would be nice. There's info on my site about boards, etc. Thanks Justin for posting it. Jawge

[bluegill]

Thanks for all the info. Unfortunately I dont have a digital camera at the moment. I'm beginning to realize that building a bow isn't as easy as some people make it look. As far as the wood goes, they are 2-3" limbs that I just cut last week, so I'm assuming that it will be a while before I can start cutting into it. The wood is on a rack that has weight on the outside of the curve in an effort to reduce the amount of curve as the drying progresses.  I'll continue gathering info from this site and others. Also, I like the idea of the red oak board. Cant think of any other questions right now but i'm sure there will be more to come.


Please feel free to point out any obvious points I've missed and/or mistakes that I might make.