My first hazel bow

[Bristolbadger]

Hi all,

UK first builder here, first off gotta say what a treasure trove of inspiration and advice on all things archery, been great help so far!
So after working as a forest school leader with kids with behavioural problems and getting them making a rough and ready bow over a few sessions and it working great! (bamboo arrow, non tipped, with seagull flights) I decided to coppice some more of the hazel on the school site and found an ok looking bit for a stave so I could attempt to make myself my first bow...

After a lot of initial online research and head-scratching, then hours with a bill hook (as a drawknife), spoke shave and rasp I finally got to start the tillering process. I'm hoping for a bow about 5'8" with a draw weight of 40lb and draw length of 27"...

Pics attached of the bow resting and under first few pulls on the tree. Quite happy with the result so far, though I'm aware of a long way to go yet. The left limb has a hinge 3/4 along from handle and is the weak spot.. the handle is a bit too long so work needed to fade it down shorter... and the tips are quite stiff. I'm hoping that if I continue by taking wood off the belly evenly in relation to how it is at present I should start to get to my desired weight... anyway here's hoping!

Advice welcome and thanks for the inspiration so far y'all!

[Pat B]

Bristol, I'm going to move this to "BOWS" for better coverage.

[Del the cat]

Looks like a good start... remember to pull it 40# (as long as no problems are visible) if you want a 40# bow.
Del

[Bristolbadger]

Thanks Del, I think I'm getting somewhere slowly, not sure if I'm being too cautious (or wether a novice can be making a bow...) It's taking much more removal than I thought to get it bending, seems hazel is tougher than I thought!

[stuckinthemud]

How thick are the limbs at present?

[Bristolbadger]

Progress so far... I think a proper scraper might help now as my improvised knife scraper is catching. Not sure of where I need to work on now my eyes have gone, been looking to hard. Guess it's a case of full length scraping and some more on the 3/4 near tips...

[Bristolbadger]

How thick are the limbs at present?

I'll have a measure of them tomorrow and post the detail Stuckinthemud

[stuckinthemud]

No need, your well past that point.  Like Del says, you now need to chase the draw weight; the arc looks pretty good, I like to take a quick photo and hold a circular object up to it - a mug/plate/bowl/cd/whatever - you tilt the object to match its curve to the photo - anyway, the arc looks pretty even against my coffee mug but hopefully someone with a better eye than me will chime in.

[ohma2]

You got a good start there.

[simson]

Looks good so far.
Be patient!

2 Things:
First, I see you have to demolish some further items on your tiller wall, 
second, you have left on the bark. The bark will not stay on a hazel bow, when it dries out it will crack and split of with a loud tick. Be prepared.

[Del the cat]

Have you got it braced yet?
The tips are coming back far enough to brace it now.
Here's a Hazel bow on my blog (a wonky character one ), the 2nd post show some of the tillering issues as it progress.
It might help your eye.
https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/back-to-hazel.html
https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/hazel-on-tiller.html
Del

[GlisGlis]

The first picture (bow resting) show the bow is not perfectly straight and simmetrical.
You should aim to keep this difference in your tiller or you'lll end having a limb bending more than the other.
In the 3° picture the limbs are simmetrical. This could be a sign that the left limb is bending more in my opinion

[Bristolbadger]

Looks good so far.
Be patient!

2 Things:
First, I see you have to demolish some further items on your tiller wall, 
second, you have left on the bark. The bark will not stay on a hazel bow, when it dries out it will crack and split of with a loud tick. Be prepared.

Ha yes, patience alright, I working this at school where I work and only getting to spend an hour in the eve in my workshop/tip/old disabled loo, had planned to do it in my shed at home but it's too bloody cold to spend any longer in there so keeping it at school. Broken up now so hoping to spend more time on it next week!
That,s the cambium layer not the bark, I quite like the tiger stripped effect its left so planning on keeping it on there

[Bristolbadger]

Hey Del thanks for the links, the second does really help my cause. Love your bows. Funnily enough I stumbled across your work early on and it was your wonkey, snakey bow that gave me inspiration and motivation to have a crack at this bow making myself.
I have braced it now but only low 3-4" with a bit of paracord, I'm nowhere near 40lb yet and pulling about 17" I think. The left limb is straighter that the right at rest so lots of time went into getting that to bend the same distance as the right, thinned it down and working the fades.... until it is as now in the 3rd pic. Being cautious now and thinking that it a case of thinning both limbs until desired draw.
Should the tips have more bend in or should I be working on the first 1/3 more to get it working?
Thanks for the help and tips folks, much appreciated
N

[Del the cat]

You have to pull it to 40# at some point, but do it bit at a time so you can observer the bend. That's why I use video so extensively. I can pull it a bit review it, pull it a bit more review again etc with less risk to the bow than holding it at full weight with maybe dodgy tiller....
It's funny I still wince sometimes when I stop the video at full draw, 'cos I don't want to hold it there !

It's a catch 22 situation... if you don't pull it to weight, you can't see enough of the curve to see where the problems are.
You need to see the problems before you can fix 'em, but you have to develop your 'eye' so that you spot 'em as early as possible.
Sometimes it's good to just get a rough old off-cut and  do it very rough and pull it to full weigh to see what happens and build your confidence.
If you keep working at low weight trying to second guess the curve, you'll just end up with a 20# bow... we've all done it  !
Del