My son wants to make a bow! 4-H FAIR RESULTS!

[osage outlaw]

Last fall I made a bow for my son.  We went to a couple of shoots together this year and he started to get interested in traditional archery.  He told me the other day that he wants to make a bow as a 4-H woodworking project next year.  "Well, we better get started" was my reply.  Luckily, I have a few osage logs on hand.  We picked out the straightest one, which also happened to be the biggest, and started splitting.





I cut this log last summer after it fell in a dry creek bed.  It seemed dry and split fairly easy.





After we got it in half, we had to stop for dinner.



From a half to a quarter.



From a quarter to a stave.



And finally the finished product.  There is a knot on each end, but it is plenty long enough to cut them off.  Now we need to remove the bark and sapwood and let it dry.  We might rough it out, and wait until winter to finish it.

[Gordon]

You outa get a few nice bows out of that log. Good luck!

[HoBow]

Good luck- there should be some bows in that log!

[elk country rp]

ok- others have pointed out the good bows in the wood already- i'd like to point out all the kid calories that that log will eat! ought to be enough to wear him out real good quite a few times!

that's some family time for ya!
Rob

[Pat B]

Looks like a good 4H project. I'm looking forward to your son's progress in this project. 
  Being that you kept the log intact the wood probably needs some more drying time. If you remove the bark and sapwood be sure to seal the back very well or it will check(crack). You can take the bow down to floor tiller stage, seal the back well and clamp it to a form to dry. By this winter it will be well on it's way to being seasoned.

[15yearold.archer]

looks good ! i just turned 15 an built my first bow just a boardbow although it turned out pretty good. if i figure out how to upload pictures an post topics maybe someone can give me some feedback on how it looks an how i should finish it

[osage outlaw]

He was doing all of the work and didn't even break a sweat.  I was just talking him through it and handing him tools and I was soaked when we were done. 

We are going to take pictures of each step and make a log book with the amount of time it takes him to make the bow.  If the woodworking judge doesn't know anything about bows, he might not know how much effort it takes to make one. 

We are going to remove the bark and sapwood this week and seal it.  After a week or two, we will probably rough it out and wait until winter.  Should we make the bow about as tall as he is or a little longer?  He has hit a growing spurt.  The bow I made for him last year looks like a toy to him now.

[Pat B]

How tall is your son? If he made it his height by the time he has outgrown it he will have made another. With all that nice osage  how could he resist!
 What is his draw length?

[osage outlaw]

He is about 5'3 or so.  Fairly skinny, he turned 11 in May.  I was thinking 35-40 lbs.  He tried pulling my 50 lb bow back and couldn't get it to full draw.  By next year, he should fill out a little more.  I haven't checked his drawlength yet.  If I had to guess, probably around 23 or 24".

[Pat B]

Make it 66", 1 3/8" at the fades and out 4" to 6" then a straight taper to 1/2" tips (to be narrowed more later). At 40#@24" you can tiller it out to 46#@26" then out to 52#@28". That should take him a few years to grow into.

[osage outlaw]

Thanks Pat.  Those sound like some good measurements.

[osage outlaw]

We got some more done over the last couple of days.  I set him up on the bench and got him started removing the bark and sapwood.  The bark kind of peeled right off.  We didn't even need the draw knife to remove it.  He sealed the back after he was done.



We took it inside that night and used PatB's measurements to lay out the bow.  We layed it out just a tad bit wider just in case he had problems cutting it out. 



He split the bottom of the stave off so it would be easier to cut.



Next I turned him loose on the bandsaw. 



This was a great stave for him to start on.  It doesn't have any knots or twist at all, and only a very small bend in one limb.  He used the heatgun to straighten it out.  I did have to get on him once.  I caught him trying to catch a business card on fire with the heatgun.





The bow is straight as an arrow now.  I put it on top of the TV cabinet in our living room to dry.  We have a little over 5 hours in the bow so far.  He is really enjoying working on it.  Hopefully he doesn't loose interest while it is drying.

[medicinewheel]

Cooool...!

[Pappy]

That a way to pass it on,very cool.It is looking good so far,can't wait to see the end results.
The hard work part is done, now all he needs is patients.    
   Pappy

[madmax46]

Tried to catch a business card on fire, huh?  Well, he had to add a little "spark" to the project, now didn't he?