Help a new and young bowyer please.

[PrimitiveSkills]

BTW I know that the length hasn't anything to do with the power it's the stiffness of the limbs .

That's incorrect......do some more reading and researching before you go making incorrect statements...and better yet make some bows....you can read, read, read, and do lots of research,but until you actually get your hands dirty you really don't have a clue......how many real bows have you made?

Stick with a simple flatbow...no recurves yet...pearl drums gave you the best dimensions,and research how to heat treat,and heat treat it

Don't worry I'll use his dimensions and of course I'm sticking to a flatbow this is my second bow, but i have quite some experience in re curve and compound shooting and i always though the poundage comes from the limbs, can you give me you're answer of where the power comes from then?

-PrimitiveSkills

[blackhawk]

The energy that goes into an arrow is not just due to the "stiffness" of the limbs...in short theres several factors at play like proper mass placement in your limbs(if you had "stiff" limbs but baseball bat sized tips you wood have a crappy bow even tho the working limbs are "stiff"),the front and side view profiles,and matching your tiller to those profiles,how much set your limbs take,and string follow......much can be written on each of those...

[JW_Halverson]

There is a fantastic book called "The Traditional Bowyers Bible".  It's a compilation of chapters written by a number of legendary bow makers.  The chapter on design is more physics that you will be able to choke down in a year's worth of study.  I have had that book on my nitestand for 8 years now.  I am still going back to the chapter on bow design and learning new stuff on a regular basis. 

It's the building of the bows that help me understand what I'm reading in that book.  You don't learn near as much from shooting a bow as you do making one.  Heck, I have been driving cars and trucks for 35 years, but I don't know squat about making one, much less making one that is a good performing and well designed model!!! 

Same could be said about my experience with women.      I'll leave understanding them to the One that made them. 

[PrimitiveSkills]

Don't got the money for the Bowyer's Bible yet, though I might ask it for my birthday as it seems like a requirement to be a good bowyer .
LOL are you seriously considering even trying to understand those complicated creatures we call women .

-PrimitiveSkills

[JW_Halverson]

It's hardwired into me, can't help m'self.

[Jodocus]

I am a beginner myself. So not much experience in my words, but some knowledge bout people and beginners in general:

Build whatever bow you want to.

Nothing will give you joy and perseverance like doing what you want to do. It may go wrong, but that's when you learn something. All beginners in any trade have that, the sense of what is doable and what not cannot be taught.

Everyday I warn my kids: don't run so fast, you'll slip. Don't climb up there, you'll fall. Oh, you fell? didn't I tell you? You could have listened, why did you think I was saying this? Absolutely futile 

But one advice still, though I am not sure this one's better than all the others: go SLOW! look at my buildalong, I am making a recurve and it is my second bow. It took me over 40 hours so far, and it'll be some more till I'm done. Patience is ever helpful, but you'll only have it when you do what you want to.

[blackhawk]

go to your local library and ask for them...if they dont have it on hand they usually can get it for you from another library within a few days

[PrimitiveSkills]

I downloaded the first volume in PDF format .

-PrimitiveSkills

[paulsemp]

I started making bows around 12 years old and with no outside help it is hard. There a lot of really good bow makers on this site and I wish I had it when I started. The bowyer's bible are good but for the real beginner Jim hamms "bows and arrows of the native americans" is great. Information is spelled out in plain english and covers all basic bow making knowledge. That was the first book I had and still have it 20 years later. Not saying anything bad about the "bibles" but this book is a little cheaper and will get you off to a good start and when you can afford the bibles get them. I also have to say the BIGGEST mistake I made when I was younger was trying to make a bow out of wet wood. Watching wood season is the first thing you need to learn!

[Sidewinder]

When I first got started in this thing about 5 yrs ago, I read everything I could get my hands on. I harvested wood and processed it to cure, began assembling the tools I needed and bought a couple hickory boards from a local cabinet maker so I could start making shavings. When I finally made the plunge and started making shavings, the thing I learned the most was that we learn from our failures. Yes, sucess encourages us that we CAN do it, but it is the looking back at our failures and making adjustments so that we don't make the same mistakes, that helps us grow in our craft. So, start making some shavings.

One other thought,  simple design to start with is a pyramid because it tapers from the fades to the tips and the belly thickness is the same throughout. Not real complicated there.  I don't recall what draw weight you were shooting for, but I am sure that Pearlies dimensions will work because his stuff is well documented and I am sure he figured in a little safety measure so that its a bit over built to start with.   Danny