I've been interested in archery since I was a young lad watching Richard Greene play Robin Hood. My first "bow" was two sections of 1" X 1/4" moulding material sandwiched together with tape, and a bowstring made from cheap fly-casting line. We used to be able to buy arrows at a local hobby shop for 50 cents each.
Amazingly, I got so I could actually hit things with this jury-rigged item.
Later, I got a solid-fiberglass recurve that pulled at about 30 pounds, as I recall. Still bought arrows as needed from the hobby shop!
When I got out of the army, I broke down and bought a very nice full-recurve bow from Herter's. (anybody remember those great catalogues?) These bows were produced to spec by one of the big companies back then. It pulled at 63 pounds. This was along about 1972, when compound bows were just beginning to show up on the market.
I was getting pretty handy with this item when my archery career was interupted by my motocross racing career. Essentially, I fell down and broke my shoulder. The little tip of bone that keeps your shoulder joint from rising too high. A very minor injury, really, but I was quite unable to draw the bow for at least two years. By that time, I had aquired other interests (as in getting married) and decided to sell the archery gear.
I kept thinking of getting back into archery, or maybe making a crossbow, but never quite got around to it. Lately, I've completed a number of little projects that worked out well; my recumbent bike, my cigar-box guitar, etc.
I decided to see what sort of information was available on the web. I had read Howard Hill's fine archery book, Hunting The Hard Way many years ago, and he had pretty good instructions in there. Still, I recalled he wanted you to use a bunch of pro-grade woodworking tools that I didn't have and couldn't afford.
There are lots of good sites on the net, anything from building a very traditional English longbow to modern laminated jobs.
I found this site:
http://residents.bowhunting.net/sticknstring/brdbows.html
Which gives excellent information on making a "board bow". This seemed about ideal for my level of woodworking skills. Basically, you take a decently-grained hardwood board, glue up a handle, and start cutting away everything that doesn't look like a bow...
Should end up with a straight "self" bow that pulls around 45-50 pounds; within the capabilities of my long-healed shoulder.
Not much to take pics of now, just a blank stave with the handle glued-up and roughly cut out. Lots of work with the Sureform rasp and then gentle cutting and scraping (tillering) as the stave nears completion.
I'll keep posting.
Amazingly, I got so I could actually hit things with this jury-rigged item.
Later, I got a solid-fiberglass recurve that pulled at about 30 pounds, as I recall. Still bought arrows as needed from the hobby shop!
When I got out of the army, I broke down and bought a very nice full-recurve bow from Herter's. (anybody remember those great catalogues?) These bows were produced to spec by one of the big companies back then. It pulled at 63 pounds. This was along about 1972, when compound bows were just beginning to show up on the market.
I was getting pretty handy with this item when my archery career was interupted by my motocross racing career. Essentially, I fell down and broke my shoulder. The little tip of bone that keeps your shoulder joint from rising too high. A very minor injury, really, but I was quite unable to draw the bow for at least two years. By that time, I had aquired other interests (as in getting married) and decided to sell the archery gear.
I kept thinking of getting back into archery, or maybe making a crossbow, but never quite got around to it. Lately, I've completed a number of little projects that worked out well; my recumbent bike, my cigar-box guitar, etc.
I decided to see what sort of information was available on the web. I had read Howard Hill's fine archery book, Hunting The Hard Way many years ago, and he had pretty good instructions in there. Still, I recalled he wanted you to use a bunch of pro-grade woodworking tools that I didn't have and couldn't afford.
There are lots of good sites on the net, anything from building a very traditional English longbow to modern laminated jobs.
I found this site:
http://residents.bowhunting.net/sticknstring/brdbows.html
Which gives excellent information on making a "board bow". This seemed about ideal for my level of woodworking skills. Basically, you take a decently-grained hardwood board, glue up a handle, and start cutting away everything that doesn't look like a bow...
Should end up with a straight "self" bow that pulls around 45-50 pounds; within the capabilities of my long-healed shoulder.
Not much to take pics of now, just a blank stave with the handle glued-up and roughly cut out. Lots of work with the Sureform rasp and then gentle cutting and scraping (tillering) as the stave nears completion.
I'll keep posting.
