Hi Guys
I joined the board recently to learn a more about making a bow. My aim was to make a primitive/historical bow for my eldest son. I have just finished my first try; thanks in no small part to the advice that many of you have so kindly shared with others in a variety of other message strings. I appreciate it.
I'm attaching a couple of pics of my boys trying it out a couple of days ago. I made lots of mistakes along the way, but the bow did make it to the shooting stage and is firing quite well. But for the shared knowledge on this site, I don't think it would have made it to this point.
Given that I am in Ireland, I had access to few if any appropriate bow woods. Ultimately, I managed to produce an ash bow, backed with linen for safety, with bone nock overlays. It is approx. 20# at 20" - just about right for my little men. The white markings on the back are Ogham script (effectively an ancient Irish code).
Thanks again.