Broke my first 3, then my 4th broke and so did my 5th..

[boomhowzer]

Hello friends! This here is my first post on the esteemed "Bows" section of the Primitive Archer forum. There are some absolutely amazing bows and bowyers on this site, and this seems to be the most expert place on the internet to seek advice and share stories about bow making and I'm excited to be part of your community

I'm new to the craft, and someday I hope to post pictures of my masterpieces like airkah and SebastianArc have recently, but for now I wallow in the debris of broken limbs and hearts. Here is an account of my tribulations thus far:

Bow #1: Umbrella pole of unknown wood, 66" N2N, 1 1/4" wide to 5/8" tips.
   Accidentally cut the arrow shelf into the back of the bow before tillering began.

Bow #2: Cedar with hickory backing, 65" N2N, 1 1/4" wide to 3/4" tips.
   Followed instructions outlined by Saxton Pope in 'Hunting with the Bow and Arrow'.  Bow chrysaled immediately upon bracing.

Bow #3: Cedar with thicker hickory backing 68" N2N, 1 3/8" wide to 5/8" tips.
   This time followed instructions described by Howard Hill in 'Hunting the Hard Way'. Exploded on the tillering tree, nearly killing my cat.

Bow #4: Osage orange, god bless it, 59" N2N, 1 1/4" wide to 3/4" tips.
   Someone finally gave me Gary Davis' movie and explained the concept of chasing a single growth ring on the back of a bow. It was going to be 68" long, just like Gary says. I carved the back out real nice, then I took it to my uncle's shop and it was a 59" bow before I could utter the first syllable of the word 'bandsaw' (which is now a curse word for me). Tillered it with tears in my eyes into a whip-ended half-moon with 2" of set (see photos), but it still pulled #53 at 26".
      I will admit, I was not very proud of that bow at first, but over time I grew to love it, shot 200+ arrows with it, all of them in the bullseye, until one day I drew one back and heard a horrible cracking noise. A splinter raised up on the back of the bow. I couldn't save it. More tears, then on to the next one.

Bow #5: I just messed this one up yesterday. Red oak board backed with wild cherry bark. 66" N2N, 2" wide to 3/8" at the tips.
      I got all hopped up on Marc St. Louis' article on heat treating (TBB IV), so I made a fire, stuck the limb over it, and scorched it into 3" of set. Even worse, while the limb was hot, I decided to try and bend it straight, so I wedged it between the slats of an old pallet and torqued her until I heard something crack. Not sure if it was the bow or the pallet. Either way, the limb was still crooked. There was no choice but to back the bow and hope.

    I glued strips of wild cherry bark on with Titebond III wrapped with bicycle tire innertubes. After curing, I pulled the tubing off, looked pretty good, but there were some ripples, which I proceeded to sand into oblivion, breaking through the cherry bark and revealing the wood underneath, most likely rendering the bark useless and giving it a strange Persian rug appearnace. I decided to continue the tillering process anyway, and eventually I was able to brace the bow. It didn't take any more set than the 3" I scorched into it, but I didn't like the looks of it, so I cold bent it onto the form and then (carefully this time), roasted it over a fire. And success! It was now even slightly reflexed in the handle!

I was excited to finally get some positive results, but after all the abuse I put this board through, I took to tillering in a helmet, ski goggles, and medieval chain mail. I was hoping for 50#, so I worked it down to 55#, then 50#, then 45#, then #40. Every time I got close to my draw length, I heard a little crack, so I scraped off more wood and tried again. Still crackling. Scraped off more wood. Crackling getting worse. Finally I said screw it, there was no way this bow was going to survive, and if it did it was going to be 15#, so I pulled it back to my 26" and KABLOOEY, it exploded out of my tillering rig. I figured the break point would be where I scorched the limb over the fire and tried to torque it back to straight, but that was not the case. I was interested to find it was the other limb that broke (I am becoming the Sherlock Holmes of broken bow diagnostics).

There always seems to be one mistake that I make during the process that ends up defining the shape and tiller of the bow. This time it was an innocuous clamp mark on the belly of the top limb. I didn't think it was anything to worry about. Gary Davis doesn't use scrap wood to protect the belly of his bows when he clamps them. I remember it was mentioned once in the TBB, but only if the back of the bow was to be clamped. The mark was barely visible and I completely forgot about it until I was inspecting the splinters, and then it all made sense. Even though the mark was almost gone, the damage had already been done. The wood fibers were already compressed. The helter-skelter cherry bark backing didn't have the tension strength to hold up the crushed fibers underneath it, and kaboom. That was it. What I should have done, if I'd known it was going to be a problem, would be to treat it like a knot and leave more wood around it to compensate for the crushed wood fibers. Or maybe lighten up on the clamping pressure a little bit. Oh well. On to the next one.

Bow #6: Burlap backed live edge elm slab I plan on turning into splinters and broken hearts tomorrow…

Thanks for reading. I'm so glad there's a friendly place on the internet to exchange ideas, stories, and knowledge about building bows. I look forward to many fruitful and lively conversations in the future.

[bownarra]

Get yourself a quality stave to start with.
Then post pictures on here as you progress. Like every stage!
You should be able to get enough guidance along the way to help you be sucessful.
Remember it is hard enough to make a decent bow but without a decent stave to start with you are asking a lot Trade somebody on here for a good piece of osage or hickory etc...
The cherry bark wouldn't have been protecting the back even if it was one piece. Always protect the stave with wood/leather scraps when clamping.

[BowEd]

+1.The cases with your cedars is your design width was not wide enough or too thick of backing used.Some woods mostly [denser woods] can stand narrower limbs.A guideline of widths for different woods is in TBB 1.It can take a while to get to understand what some woods like and what others don't.
Hang in there.

[boomhowzer]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys!

+1.The cases with your cedars is your design width was not wide enough or too thick of backing used.Some woods mostly [denser woods] can stand narrower limbs.A guideline of widths for different woods is in TBB 1.

Yeah, the 'flatbow' design was only revealed to me by someone who sold me a few osage staves. None of the older texts I was referencing mention it. Same with following one growth ring. Its amazing any of us modern cavemen ever built a bow without Gary Davis or the TBB!

Get yourself a quality stave to start with.

I agree that's probably most of my problem. I have 2 more osage staves left, but I'm holding out on them because they're beautiful and I want to know what I'm doing before I start hacking into them.

The cherry bark wouldn't have been protecting the back even if it was one piece.

You're saying the cherry bark has not benefit to the back of the bow besides looking nice?

[Del the cat]

Sounds a bit like you are trying to make a bow... then brace and tiller it.
It doesn't work like that, you rough out a stave, then tiller it until its bending enough to brace it, then carry on tillering until it becomes a bow.
You need to see the how it bends as it develops... there shouldn't really be any surprises when you brace it.
Bow

[Yooper Bowyer]

Are you sure you can't save the Osage?  Glue and sinew wraps are very strong.

[Marc St Louis]

So....are you having fun yet 

[Eric Krewson]

Gizmo, Gizmo, Gizmo, you need one, go slower.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,61422.0.html

You tillered to the nocks on your osage bow, stop about 6" in from the tips. Like was said, start with quality wood, ERC is hard to pull off, even for me, my one attempt at a hickory backed ERC bow failed but not from the cedar but the backing.



 

[airkah]

I'm new to the craft, and someday I hope to post pictures of my masterpieces like airkah and SebastianArc have recently, but for now I wallow in the debris of broken limbs and hearts. Here is an account of my tribulations thus far:

I know some people on here start out with just the raw talent that they can just sit down and their first attempt comes out beautiful - that wasn't me. I broke at least my first 5 attempts before I ever got to shoot an arrow. It was about a year of constantly learning and failing before I sent an arrow towards a target. Even that one broke after 100-200 arrows. Just because it isn't working now, doesn't mean down the road you won't see someone posting how they want to post masterpieces like boomhowzer.

I think what is making the learning curve even steeper for you is changing the design with every failure. What I did is I kept making attempts at just doing a basic 67inch stiff handled pyramid style red oak flat bow over and over until I could eventually do it. Once I knew how to take a board and turn it into a bow, then I started experimenting from there- changing the width or making it shorter or adding recurves and built out a basic skill set from one basic shape and one wood that I got to know really well and I could easily source. It allowed me to really find what works for me and how I like to go about the craft.

Good luck, stick with it! The learning curve is very very steep before success, but if you stick with it, it'll be worth it in the end.

[hoosierf]

You’re making good progress and learning a lot.  I’d suggest you get a hickory board 72” long.  You’ll get a shooter out of it as long as you follow the wealth of information here on selecting a good board. 

Keep us posted.  For me, first bows = hickory unless you’re working side by side with an experienced bowyer.  You’ll get it.  Keep making shavings.   Good luck and the guys here will help all they can.     

[boomhowzer]

Man, so much good advice on here!

Sounds a bit like you are trying to make a bow... then brace and tiller it.

That's exactly what I'm doing! You should have seen me today. Floor tillered an elm stave right down to #35 before I even got it on the tillering tree.

I think what is making the learning curve even steeper for you is changing the design with every failure.

Right on the money. I should be sticking to one material and layout. I will say though, that most of my design alterations come as a result of a mistake I make in the process. Actually, I would say that every bow I've made thus far is a series of compounding mistakes that end in shattered dreams. But yeah, one wood, one design, get it down.

I’d suggest you get a hickory board 72” long.

Yup. That'll be what I pick up tomorrow.

Gizmo, Gizmo, Gizmo, you need one, go slower.

Gizmo? What a sweet little thingamajig! I do the Gary Davis run a ruler down the belly, but the threaded golf pencil is a whole 'nother level. Thanks

So....are you having fun yet 

This is awesome. I love making bows. And breaking bows. Couldn't be happier with the progress I've made so far. For some reason, the ones that explode are my favorites. The shooters always seem to fail me eventually, but the exploders are the ones I remember.

Thanks for all the friendly words of encouragement and advice.