Traditional Bowyers?

HomeBru

HomeBru

Joined
Nov 9, 2006
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I've heard a few guys mention that they have made bows. I have a longbow that my dad made for me about ten years ago. Fiberglass over maple limbs, cherry riser. It's WAY too heavy a draw for me (70# at 30"), so I've never been able to get good with it.

How can I reduce the draw weight of this bow? Sand down the sides of the limbs? The faces?

I have a LOT of woodworking experience as well as some experience with fiberglass, so I'm not a basement hacker...

Thanks!

J-
 
I haven't had any experience with working on fibreglass bows, but I would be inclined to leave it alone.

If you do decide to experiment with sanding it down, I would suggest that you do not scratch the back of the bow at all (the side facing the target). The back will be under extreme tension and you dont want to sand through any fibres there....although you might get away with it.

Taking a little bit off the belly of the bow will reduce the poundage much more than taking an equivalent amount off the sides, but you'd have to be careful to remove the belly material in such a way to keep the bend of the bow even all the way down. If you get a weak spot you could have a disaster. Removing material from the sides might be a safer option, but it would be a good idea to remove just a little at a time and keep checking that the bow still has a nice fair bend at each stage....with each portion of the limb taking its share of the load.

30 inches is a heck of a long draw. You don't have to draw it all the way back, and of course the 'weight' will be less at a shorter draw....even though the bow might be slightly less efficient. It should still be perfectly accurate though, provided that the archer is consistent with the draw and release.

Maybe you should use another bow and slowly work up to using the heavy one. In time you might find that 70 pounds is what you want for some purposes (although I would have a hard time drawing it myself after many years of bow shooting....50 pounds is more than enough for my purposes).

I'll be interested to see what other folks think.
 
Hey Homebru,

I thought more experienced bowmakers than I, would have jumped in by now, but since they haven't......... Picture shooting the bow. The side of the bow that faces you (the closest side) is the belly. The side farthest away from you (the side the target's on) is the back. To reduce weight, and the way you tiller a bow, is to remove wood from the belly.

A WARNING! Go very slowly removing wood from the belly. Use a scraper, not a rasp nor a blade - or you will remove more wood than you need. The bow pulls 70# now. You don't have to remove a lot of wood to drop the weight, in fact, you could do it with sandpaper, it would just take you awhile.

Remove a very small amount and check to see how the limbs bend. Repeat until you get to the poundage you want. You don't want to create 'hinges' (weak spots where the limb bends more than other places). This is where the bow can break.

I can't emphasize too strongly about going slow. 'First time bowyer's mistake' is making a bow with too low a draw weight. The first bow I made went from a 200# draw to 32# by breathing on it!!! OK, I'm exagerrating a bit, but you get the idea.

Actually, I just thought of an idea- check this out. Scroll down the page to Archery Archives - you will find more information than you could possibly use.

Alternatively, spend some money and buy Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 1. This will tell you all you need to know and a lot more. The 3 volumes of Traditional Bowyer's Bible are unparalleled in bow making instruction (from a book). They also have sections on glue making (primitive), flintknapping, arrowmaking, and an excellent section on cordage making.

Tillering is the absolute most difficult part in bowmaking, so be very careful. The fact your father made it for you means it has tons of sentimental value. You wouldn't want to blow it up. :( In fact, in view of this I would suggest you make a bow, or maybe bows to learn the technique and then you could more confidently retiller your dad's bow.

My 2 cents - don't change anything. Keep it just the way he made it. I bet down the road you would be glad you did.

Doc
 
Hey coote,

That "more experienced bowmakers" was not directed at you. :D You hadn't posted when I started to type my post.

Doc
 
Thanks guys! I had to switch over to shooting left handed about eight years ago because of shoulder problems from a dislocation back in high school. Long story, but I'm actually left handed and left eyed, but started shooting right handed. The bow has a small shelf on the left side so I'll either shoot of the hand or "wrong side" of the riser.

Coote, I'm 6' 3" and a 30" draw gets my thumb just under my chin.

Doc, it's actually fiberglass on the belly and back, so I'm hesitant to start scraping away at that...

I think I'll just leave it alone, maybe build myself a lighter bow for now. Suggestions on materials supplier? I'll definitely look into the "bible" books!

Thanks!

J-
 
No worries Monsieur Doc..... I don't really consider myself a bowmaker experienced with nicely made symmetrical traditional bows anyway... especially if they have fibreglass attached. Mine are more bits of tree trunk that have been hacked into shape quickly with a tomahawk. They work though.

I second Doc's advice on the usefulness of Volume 1 of the Traditional Bowyer's Bible. If I had to choose one book on making simple bows and arrows, this would be the book.

I've been thinking more about altering that bow....and I think that it should be OK. But if you don't have a clear picture in your mind of what a well-tillered bow should look like when drawn, you might want to think about this first before you get out your scraper and sandpaper.

Tillering is the jargon term for getting the right bend in the bow. There is a ton of information around on it. But I find no matter how much I read about it, it is still quite a challenge to get a good tiller (ie: a nice curve in the limbs). Some bows have limbs of an unequal length, and they should be specially tillered to allow for this. I've never done it. My handles always are placed right in the middle of the bow.... or I make a bow that bends through the handle.

Maybe you could make yourself a primitive bow from a branch or sapling...or a plank meanwhile. Actually it might even be simpler to pick up a solid fibreglass one on Ebay until you are ready to use the 70 pounder. But... it is your decision.
Follow your instincts....and if you ever feel like posting a photo that would be good too.
 
OK Homebru.... it has fibreglass on the belly.... I'd definitely be careful of that. Maybe it is best left alone. although you could scrape a bit off the sides. I think that by halving the width of the bow you theoretically reduce the draw by half....but you only need to scrape a fine shaving off the belly to get a similar result.

6'3"....dang....your Dad probably made the bow just right then.

If I wanted to get good advice and on-going help with making a bow I would go to Paleoplanet as my first port of call. Heaps of nice, enthusiastic, helpful dudes hang out there. There are tutorials/instructions around on the net for making bows from straight-grained planks which you might find with Google, but if you go to Paleoplanet you should be able to find these instructions along with heaps of other good stuff. Here's the link:

http://b16.ezboard.com/bpaleoplanet69529

Best wishes with the quest..... Stephen Coote, Nelson, New Zealand.
 
I'm not a bowmaker by any stretch of anyone's imagination but I will say if I had a bow that was MADE by my father I would not try to lighten it or alter it in anyway. I know my dad had bows & made his tackle (doubt he made his bows though) but I haven't seen any of that since before he died and if I'd know I'd be involved in archery myself 8-10 years later I would have given anything to keep & maybe be able to use his gear when I started shooting.

As has already been said it takes next to nothing to mess up a bow when tillering, I've seen friends do it. I'd be tempted to look for an inexpensive bow from a local bowyer with a 45-55lb draw weight & work my way up to dad's bow. Or if so inclined, follow Coote & Doc's suggestion to try your hand at making your own. I knew a fella that used to make hickory longbows by fishtailing together two $6 sledge hammer handles he hand picked from local hardware stores & then working them down. They shot well too. Doesn't have to be expensive & doesn't have to risk what could be a future piece of family history. Just my $0.02...
 
Leave the bow alone. Use it to exercise with ie. pull it to 30 inches and hold for as long as you can x 3, 2 times a week. This has helped my strength. use a lighter bow for the time being.
 
Fiber glass bows normally should be worked from the sides only. IF the bow is well tillered you could reduce the width by 20% and end up with a 56 Lbs bow. This is well with in the possibility's of most glass laminated bows. I would not recommend going narrower than 1 inch, although I have made bows only 7/8" wide with good results.
Even though you are a tall man you may still want to consider learning to shorten your draw. I have a reach of 76" , used to draw 32" arrows. After years of frustration making arrows for my heavy bows, I finally re-taught my self to shoot a 28" arrow. Howard Hill (the greatest archer who ever lived) was a tall man 6'3" I believe, and he drew 28" arrows.
 
If you look at Hill drawing the bow his bow arm has a heavy bend in the elbow(allowed him to shoot 28's) , where as I don't agree with that kind of bend who am I to argue with Hill's style, yes the greatest bar none...
 
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