Wanting to make hunting weight bow. Self or laminate.

[ionicmuffin]

I am looking to make a fast shooting bow mainly used for hunting and target practice. I have a bit of experience with bow making, mainly with board bows. I made 2 board bows one 30 lbs at 28 and one at 40 at 28. I had started a third that would have been 60 at 32 if i had not removed wood from the back of the handle area. I had tillered a stave of i think some locus tree. it failed because i removed too much wood in the wrong areas and im not too surprised since that was my first attempt at any bow. I am willing to buy a relatively cheap stave (i.e. 30-100$) or purchase 2 or 3 different woods (i.e. bamboo slat, hickory board, ipe board...) for about the same price range. I will take suggestions into consideration and would welcome advice.

[AJMag]

Man if $100 bucks is a relatively cheap price for you, then throw in a few more bucks and buy a shaped and floor tillered stave. Then the only thing you really have to do is scrap the belly for tillering, and finish out the handle. 

[ionicmuffin]

Well, 100$ is pushing it. i would rather spend like 30 but thats just my very maximum range.

[tattoo dave]

If you're not stuck on the idea of a stave bow, then why not spend a few bucks on a decent board and make one at a higher draw weight? My first board bow was over 60#. Today I bought an ash board for 25$, and I'll probably get 6-8 bows out of it. Just a thought.

Tattoo Dave

[ionicmuffin]

Yes that makes sense to me. I am not a stave person yet, therefor i would be willing to purchase a hickory or ipe or some other board that i can use to make bows, i will most likely back them with some very strait grained wood or something.

[Pat B]

Check out our sponsors like Pine Hollow, Huntworthy Productions or 3Rivers. They all have board staves and boo or hickory backing strips.

[Bryce]

This site is called "primitive" archer. I say go selfbow. What woods do you Have available to you?
I'm sure if you ask noptioning of the nice gentlemen on this site will provide you with a Osage stave, or something that can take a lot of abuse.
All I have left to hand out is vinemaple of your interested give me a PM.

[Justin Snyder]

This site is called "primitive" archer. I say go selfbow. What woods do you Have available to you?
I'm sure if you ask noptioning of the nice gentlemen on this site will provide you with a Osage stave, or something that can take a lot of abuse.
All I have left to hand out is vinemaple of your interested give me a PM.

Do you make your "primitive" bows with stone tools?

Nothing wrong with building laminated bows. Sounds like tillering is still a little bit of a concern so go with what you can do the cheapest. Maybe a couple of board bows shooting for a higher weight for practice tillering. I find Ipe and Osage very forgiving and great to work with a scraper, just take your time.

[Bryce]

[/quote]
Do you make your "primitive" bows with stone tools?

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I have.

[blackhawk]

I am looking to make a fast shooting bow mainly used for hunting and target practice. I have a bit of experience with bow making, mainly with board bows. I made 2 board bows one 30 lbs at 28 and one at 40 at 28. I had started a third that would have been 60 at 32 if i had not removed wood from the back of the handle area. I had tillered a stave of i think some locus tree. it failed because i removed too much wood in the wrong areas and im not too surprised since that was my first attempt at any bow

Over on pp you said you've made selfbows,and now want to move onto something more complex. Not to be a jerk,but it doesn't sound like it to me. Ill say it again over here. You need to learn how to properly tiller a bow. Doing a glue up isn't gonna make it indestructable and not fail just cus its a glue up. It'll fail as well to poor tiller,if not more so than a selfbow because there's more chance of error with a composite overall. Stick to selfbows for now and learn how to tiller. Learn how not to overstress it during tillering,and learn to see the subtlest of flat spots and hinges and never pull any further when you do see them,and never pull any further till they are corrected no matter what weight your intending to hit. And never pull past your intended weight. And then when you can do all this you will hit within 5 pounds easy of your intended weight everytime. Much more volumnes can be written on how to tiller,and this is just a simple laymans explanation. Knowing these things from reading,and knowing them from doing them are not the same in bowmaking. Experience comes from making.

[DarkSoul]

Exactly what Blackhawk said! The fact that you didn't get the answer you'd hoped for on PaleoPlanet, doesn't mean you have to make the same topic here on Primitive Archer. Information on message boards is often presented in an extremely un-organized fashion and can be overwhelming for a beginner. It's not a great place to start really. You're better off buying the first volumn of The Traditional Bowyers Bible, and just follow what is suggested there. Then, if something is unclear, you can come to message boards online to ask for specific questions. Not something as general as "how do I make a hunting weight bow under 100 dollars?". Do you think cavemen spent a hundred bucks on a deer killing weapon?

[scp]

I would start with a 72" long board and make a pyramid style bow #40@32. Then you can start shortening it to increase the draw weight and to decrease the draw length.

[Dictionary]

Do you make your "primitive" bows with stone tools?

[/quote]

I have.
[/quote]

  

[bubby]

blackhawk's got it pegged, it's practice, practice, practice, and the best bang for your buck is boards, get ya some hickory, white oak or hard maple and make more bows, i've built lot's of board self bows @ 60# and up, just gotta get the design and the tiller down, and your skill level up, but i'll say that there have been lot's of game killed with 40-45# bows, Bub

[ionicmuffin]

sounds good then, ill buy some board and maybe get some staves too, thanks all.