Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: JoJoDapyro on August 24, 2014, 04:45:22 pm
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Here are my 2nd and 3rd bows ever built. For my 2 nephews, ages 5 and 7. Made from Red oak 1/2 X2's. 48 inches long, 47 knock to knock. Artificial sinew strings. Dyed with Rit dye, and sealed with rattle can polyurethane. Cedar used in the handle. Handle wraps are tennis racket handle wraps, with a leather flipper rest. The blue one pulls about 30# at 22, and the red one pulls about 25# at 22. They both really shoot smooth and fast.
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Nice work - I bet they are happy! (The nephews, that is...maybe the bows too.)
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They wont get them until they get to the cabin. I am thinking Friday. I'll have more photos to add then.
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Nice bows jojo, they remind me alot of west coast Indian style bows. I bet they're fun to shoot.
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Cool looking bows. How old are your nephews? It might be that those bows are a little strong for them, depending on their age and strength of course. I enjoy making kids bows. The look on their faces when you give it to them is priceless. Josh
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Cool looking bows. I enjoy making kids bows. The look on their faces when you give it to them is priceless. Josh
what he said.
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They may be a bit too heavy yet. They are around 30# for the blue one, and around 25# for the red. I plan on taking a scraper with me just in case. LOL, They try to pull back mine every time they come over. They are fun little guys. Tough as nails too. The only thing that slows them down is stepping on sticker weeds. They are 5 and 7.
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Nephews are a blast for sure! If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion? I can just about guarantee those are too heavy for boys that age. For the 5 yr old you would be better off with 10 to 12 lbs @ 18" and no more than 20#@22" for the 7 yr old. The last thing you want to do is over bow them when there learning the basics. Also, count on making them new bows every couple yrs for a while and stock up on straight grained 1/4" dowels for making them arrows. They will go through dozens of them in short order. You can get 1/4" nocks and drawn steel points for a little of nothing from 3rivers. Once they get over 20# you'll want to switch to 5/16" dowels though. Josh
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Lotsa good info, Josh. If my grandgirls are typical of 10-yr-old kids, 17-18 lb @ 20" is aplenty.
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Thanks Josh. I figured that I would have to take them down a bit (or by half) :o. I have made some bamboo arrows from Depot garden stakes. They are far too small for me. As long as they are interested, I will build them more. The real trouble is there little sister. I make them stuff all the time, or bring them neat new things to play with. As soon as I see her she has one question "Where is my present?". She is a little stinker.
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Lol! We musn't neglect our nieces! I started all four of my kids and most of my nieces and nephews at four. Six to eight pounds@15" worked about right. However, at four they require ALOT of supervision! When my son turned four I gave him a little osage selfbow that was 6#@15" and a dozen 1/4" dowel arrows. He didn't give a hoot about hitting a target. He just wanted to see how far they'd fly! Well...I was in the backyard with him for an hour or so just watching him shoot them out in the field. Then we would walk out, gather arrows and walk back to do it again. He was doing pretty good. Really catchin on fast. So...in a moment of stupidity, I decided to get a little work done in the bow shop and just sort of keep an eye on him. I checked on him a few times and he was doing good so I went on doing my thing. Shortly there after, I heard the unmistakable sound of a projectile shattering glass. Apparently my son decided to double his shooting pleasure by shooting out into the field, gather his arrows and then shoot them back towards the yard instead of walking back and shooting them into the field. The problem was that when he shot out towards the field, he was shooting into the wind. When he turned around to shoot at the yard, he was shooting with the wind. That little arrow carried a lot further with the wind as you might expect. His first arrow towards the yard went right through the bathroom window just as easy as you please. I still hear about that 2 1/2 yrs later. Momma was not impressed! Anyway, back to the point I intended to make before I got sidetracked. There's no reason uncle Joe couldn't make a nice little bow for his niece as well as the nephews. You can even go to Wally world or some other place that sells cloth and glue on some girly pattern cloth to make it more feminine for her. Sorry about the ramble there. :-[ Josh
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After my wife shot one of them on Friday, she told me she wants one as well. I picked up some pink and black zebra print fabric and a pack of hot pink racket wraps. Hers is next.
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Is there going to be enough fabric left when your done with yours to do hers? :laugh:
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After my wife shot one of them on Friday, she told me she wants one as well. I picked up some pink and black zebra print fabric and a pack of hot pink racket wraps. Hers is next.
Wonder what the checkout person was thinking ........
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I'm safe, it was Wal Mart after all!
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One of my nephews ended up breaking his arm on thursday. He still wanted to shoot his bow all the time. Was a little tough for him. No shooting, no riding his motorcycle. Here is the other shooting his. They are hitting a target at 10 yards.
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cool bows for cool kids
Always a pleasure a bow give away for youngsters!