dipping my feet in new water

[jmace427]

Hi all,  Im new to th pa scene I shoot longbow but want to make my own bow i would like something simple at 1st so any tips and pointers r welcome thanx to all

[Dano]

If I was starting over again, I'd get this book and read it a few times. "Hunting the Osage Bow"

[FlintWalker]

Welcome! Tips and pointers are free here.  Tell us what kind of wood you have available and we'll go from there
 I also recommend The Traditional Bowyers Bibles.  Saw Filer

[George Tsoukalas]

My site may help you get started. Jawge
http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/

[radius]

my advice is to spend a few hours browsing this site...there must be hundreds of bows posted and lots of how-to's...then when you decide what you want to make, you'll have a good idea what wood to use and how to go about it.

What kind of tools do you have?

Scott

[Justin Snyder]

"Horsefeathers Ranch" has a lot of books. http://www.horsefeathersranch.com/archery.htm If I was starting over again I would do it just like I did.  Read Traditional Bowyers Bible volume 1 front to back. There is a ton of info here and please feel free to ask all the questions you want.  And read George's site.  Justin

[Pappy]

Good advice above,and welcome you will feel at home here,Great bunch of folks that really love to help.
   Pappy

[lowell]

I'm where you are about 12 years ago.  Bought some books and wanted to make a bow but felt intimidated...at least by osage.  Maybe 8 years later I found a how-to to build a board bow.  That is also where George can help you!!

 I built several boardbows from red oak, made several from elm staves.... then made the leap to osage and now it is my favorite.

  Just wish I had found this site sooner.  Good for you that you did!!

             Welcome and don't plan on making just one , Lowell

[Justin Snyder]

I don't understand why everyone always tries to scare the new guy from osage.  I think it is an incredible starter wood.  It is fairly tough which makes it more forgiving of slight mess ups.  I read enough to be intimidated by it when I started.  My first selfbow (3rd bow) was osage and it was much easier/nicer to work with than I expected.  Just make sure you get a good stave. Justin

[Badger]

   I agree with you Justin, only thing about osage is that it has gotten incredibly expensive unless you have a source for it. I know when I was getting started my biggest challenge was that I had very little skill with hand tools. I was pretty good with power tools. I actually started just taking old branches and running rings on them. I had my first osage stave set around for a month before I touched it. I think my first 100 bows were probably board bows. Once I did a stave finaly I was hooked. I have to thank Jawge for my first successful unbacked bow. Once I found his web sight there was no looking back. Steve