Board bow questions

[E.H.]

I have shaped the backs of many board bows to get the arch of a stave bow. It does not need to be a whole lot. I would recommend you draw a pencil line down the center line of the bow and use a block plane with the blade set very shallow and tilted at an angle to take a few swipes down each side. Sand down all ridges and angles.  Then sand the corners between the back and the sides of the bow. At that point you are ready to start tillering.

by not a whole lot you mean how much? 1/8''? all i have is a mini hand plane, files and three rasps of different grades.

[E.H.]

first problem... my board has one big runoff so i have to either find a way to bypass it on the 6' plank or cut it to 61''...

[willie]

can you post a pic of face, side and end view?
if the ring lines are hard to see being maple, you will probably have to high-light them

[E.H.]

i don't know if it's noticable enough

[E.H.]

forgot the end grain...

[willie]

can you take one more ?

straight on, showing the two marks with measurements and the swirl?
the lines are at 60 and 61 inches?

thanks

[E.H.]

there you go, actually the lines were at 61'' and 62''

[willie]

you might be able to go something like 64 ntn as there is not much stress at the tips.

on the last pic, trace a ring line that is on the left near the swirl towards the good end, does it go down and to the right? 

I should also ask if you have ever shot a bendy handle NA style bow before, and do you use a broken wrist grip?, the reason I ask is that unless you have quite long arms, there might be a good chance you don't actually need to pull  28".

[E.H.]

that's good news for the bow lenght.

for the picture did you mean like this?

the only bow i ever shot was a takedown recurve so it would actually be my first time both at making a bow and shooting a NA style bow.

i had the new year resolution to start archery as well as making my own bow and arrows 

[willie]

for the picture did you mean like this?

Hmm, I would call that up and to the right, but anyways, if the ring lines are down and to the right on the part of the board you hope to use, maybe you can sneak a little past that spot by cutting so that the bow follows the lines the best.

Good resolution BTW.
basically, if you multiply your draw length times 2.25 for a bendy handle bow, you can determine what length it needs to be. an experienced tillerer with a good stave can go shorter, but you should be able to get a workable bow out of that board as a first timer, unless you are a taller than average. Getting #50 with a shorter bow means you might want to look at a more retangular style NA bow. Are there others that strike your fancy in that book?  Most bows illustrated are shorter because the archers liked shorter bows and could have preferred a different style of shooting with shorter draws, but that doesn't mean you can't stretch out any bow that is too short in the illustration.

[E.H.]

well i do like the california tribes bows and making them longer would probably make for a monster looking bow  other than that i have no idea, i don't have the book per se... i just saw the pictures on google and took a few as references.

[JW_Halverson]

I have shaped the backs of many board bows to get the arch of a stave bow. It does not need to be a whole lot. I would recommend you draw a pencil line down the center line of the bow and use a block plane with the blade set very shallow and tilted at an angle to take a few swipes down each side. Sand down all ridges and angles.  Then sand the corners between the back and the sides of the bow. At that point you are ready to start tillering.

by not a whole lot you mean how much? 1/8''? all i have is a mini hand plane, files and three rasps of different grades.

A little less than an 1/8th

[willie]

some here...

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,58067.0.html

the book you took the photo from is

 Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows & Quivers: Volume 1: Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest
by Steve Allely,
Jim Hamm

 of course, if you were liking the idea of a rounded back, a 2" or 3'' Dia. sapling of hickory or other hardwood is the best way to go.

[E.H.]

true that but for now i don't have access of a tree ^^' so i'll probably try making this one but as a board bow with some differences if i don't change my idea ^^' but it should be wide enough to allow longer draws i imagine.

[willie]

a wider bow will help you make more draw weight, but you still need an adequate bow length to draw length ratio.