Newbie First Self Bow~HELP PLEASE

[adams89]

my advice would be, just get a good osage stave as clean and straight as you can get it, get the 1st volume of the bowyers bible theres a whole chapter called " building an osage selfbow" , with that you'll have a a lot of good advice plus the measurements, plus a lot of tipps while building step for step, you gain experience and you'll have a great book to read !

[Orben]

Im ordering the book as we speak. Found it for $12.09 s&h included on amazon. Very enthusiastic about its arival. I will keep you all updated with my progress on everything and include pictures. Thank you all so much for the help and im sure I will have many more brain teasing questions in the near future.

[JW_Halverson]

Sending you a private message, Orben.  Nothing like turkey feathers for fletching arrows, and I have a few laying around that you are welcome to use.

[Joec123able]

Wood you cut down now will take some time to dry, perhaps an inch a year.  So unless you have some thats been cut for awhile it may be hard to use freshly cut wood in your timeframe.  So I suggest getting a seasoned osage stave off of someone on here or get a nice hickory board or red oak if necessary from your local lumber yard or home improvement store for red oak.  You can check out poor folk bow's read oak build along online for a great guide and youtube for some video in addition to this site of course. 

Here are some arrows I made from bamboo from K-mart.  Not very hard once you get the hang of heating them over a heat gun.  You could do the same with some saplings you cut locally.  Just give them some time to dry some in a warm location.  Wet wood will crack and warp. 
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,32152.msg424957.html#msg424957

Here is my first osage (not first bow).  If you scroll you will see some pics of the process I went through. 
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,32365.msg427907.html#msg427907

Hope some of that helps!  Good luck man and thanks for your service!!

Wow what a fine looking bow ya got there

[4dog]

you have just received a bunch of great advice from what i just read in this thread...you wont find a better bumch to learn from...and its all free,, good luck on your first bow  and ...welcome.

[Orben]

Thanks once again for all the helpful tips everyone.
   I just killed a raccoon last night and skinned him today. actually made a trigger snare for the first time and it worked like a charm. its amazing what youtube will teach you right! anyways, the hide looks great! the only problem is that i don't know what to do with it now that i have it stripped down. any help? P.s. a few strands of picture frame wire braided together makes for a VERY strong homemade snare.

[Thesquirrelslinger]

get multiple red oak boards.
you don't actually need a vice, my first was done without a vice. I just set it on the concrete garage floor, and sat on it.
Made that sucker entirely with a hand plane.
Don't do that.
It takes forever.

[AH]

get multiple red oak boards.
you don't actually need a vice, my first was done without a vice. I just set it on the concrete garage floor, and sat on it.
Made that sucker entirely with a hand plane.
Don't do that.
It takes forever.

I find that a sturdy bench and a few clamps does the job well. I still don't have a vise.

[mikekeswick]

Get an engineers vice and the first volume of the traditioanal bowyers bible.