Introducing myself

[benp]

I wish I could but don't have enough time to make it across the state right now. Already got a trip planned for August for the eclipse and fly fishing (I mentioned I had a lot of hobbies already, right?)

Okay so the dogwood I worked on tonight and got it split and debarked and put sealer on the ends. It's about 66" long so should make a good length from my understanding but just have to wait for it to dry.

The hickory I have should be about dry enough to use. It is probably about 5 inches in diameter and at least 72 inches long with the bark still on it. I don't believe it had any noticeable knots but I haven't looked at it in months.

What is the next step for making it into a bow, and from what I gather there are several types of bows so what is a good one to start with and a little brief explanation to what it is like.
Thank y'all

[Morgan]

Be careful debarking. The first layer of wood under the bark is your back unless you chase a growth ring. Hickory likes to hold onto moisture like crazy.  For your first, with the hickory, id say a pyramid bow bout as long as you are tall. I don't like more than 1 3/4" wide but I'll let others chime in with the width.  The length makes it more forgiving, and with a long pyramid design of clean hickory your chances of success on first go is increased.

[Marc St Louis]

You may find this thread useful as well http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,45923.0.html

[upstatenybowyer]

Welcome Ben! Morgan's right about a pyramid design being a good one to start with. You're probably wondering what that means. Well, it's just about the simplest design for a bow with a static (not bending) handle.

A D-bow (bends through the handle giving it a D shape when braced and drawn) would be another option. The reason why a pyramid bow would be a good bet it cause it tapers in width rather than thickness.

This means the width from handle to tip progressively decreases. You just draw straight lines on either side from the end of the fades (area out of the static handle where the bow starts to bend) to the tips.

Since it's tapering in width, it does not taper in thickness. So it stays at the same thickness from the end of the fades to the tip. Tapering thickness takes a bit more skill and experience.

Do a search for pyramid bow on this site and you'll see many great examples. Good luck and don't get discouraged. I've broken WAY more bows than I've made. 

[Bob W.]

Everything you need to know is right here, these guys are the best, welcome,  I look forward to seeing your work! Bob

[DuBois]

Glad you're here Ben. If you search on here you'll find a lot of info but careful, you may get waaaay off topic before you get to what you were looking for 
Read a lot of neat stuff that way

[bjrogg]

Ben if I understand you correctly you remove Bark from green Dogwood stave and sealed ends. If you removed Bark you have to seal that surface to. It'll be where the back of your bow comes from and once you remove the bark it can get drying cracks (checks) in it. We want the stave to dry out from the belly side to avoid this. Put some shellac or some type of sealer on that back as soon as you can. Might need more than one coat even I'm not sure about Dogwood. The only Dogwood I have is Red Osier that I use for arrows. It will check really easy
Bjrogg

[mullet]

Welcome, Ben, looks like you are getting good advice.