Red Oak Longbow Build-A-Long

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

I guess this is the right place to post....

Here recently, I have been getting into building traditional wooden bows. I figured I would share the process I go through when making one.

This bow is going to be for my Uncle. Going for 31"draw at 50ish pounds. It is Red Oak. Red Oak is a tough wood to get bows from, especially if is not backed.

 (Backing a bow = gluing a different types of material onto the back of the bow to keep splinters from starting)

This piece came from Home Depot. RO is about the only good bow wood you can get at Home Depot. The grain is extremely important when making these. I went through 50 + boards and came back with 3.

This piece was cut to 2" wide and 72" long. Red oak likes a wide bow, and with such a long draw length the wood needs to be long.



I will post more and more pics as progress goes on. Hopefully this will turn into a complete bow, and not a broken one. Lol

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

Here I have the handle area laid out. The grip portion is 5" and the fades (angled parts) are 2 " long.

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

I also have the limbs laid out. This is a pyramid style. It tapers straight from the ends of the fades to the tips. 2" (fades) to 1/2" (tips)

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

I also glued another piece of Red Oak on to thicken the handle portion.



This is as far as I have gotten so far. I am waiting for the glue to dry...

[B Hoover]

Out of curiosity, David, are you making a laminated or selfbow?

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

"A selfbow is one that is whittled out of a single piece of wood, generally a stave split out of a tree trunk or large limb. A board bow is also a selfbow, but made from a board instead of a stave."
That's a quote I found.
I guess this is considered a selfbow. Most times when people are talking about  "laminated bows", they are talking about multiple thin strips of wood glued together.

[B Hoover]

   Hope you'll post the final results.  If you haven't built one already, build a tillering jig!  Two of my bows went flying during the tillering process.  A jig keeps you out of harms way.

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

I will be posting pics as I go along.

I built a tillering jig when I first started. Lol. They are a must have! :D

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

I got the profile cut out. It's a little rough, but nothing a rasp won't fix.

[HaMeR]

Looks good David!! You sure found a piece of VERY straight grain Red Oak!!

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

Hahaha. It isn't perfect, but I'm hoping it will work. You can see some of the run off in that last picture.

[jcz]

Any progress on the bow build?

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

Nope, been busy doing work on our yard. Hopeing to get back to work on it soon!

[lazyMlazyK]

Awesome topic and build!  How's it coming along?

[David @ Mad Duck Game Calls]

Haven't done anything with it... I'm building a different one and lost interest in this one. I should probably finish it.