The Heart of Bow Making

As a young boy in the foothills of North Carolina I was tirelessly playing cowboys and Indians. Making rough replicas of thier weapons sparked my interest in woodworking. My first functional bow was made at the age of 16. After 45 years in the business world, I retired to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia in the Cohutta Wildeness Area to trout fish and revive my love of wood working. The archery itch struck again so I decided to try making my own bow. After nearly a year I had a nice supply of firewood. More reading and firewood finally brought forth a nice Hickory bow I could claim as my own. The purpose of this blog is for my own entertainment and that of anyone who might enjoy seeing a bow evolve from a tree. We will select the best wood for the bow, shape it, test it's draw weight, finish it with tung oil and shoot it. I hope you will enjoy the experience and flood me with comments and questions . Maybe I can even make a bow for you.

Black Locust bow

This is the hardest wood I have ever seen ! The first settlers prized this tree because it's near rot and insect proof. Bows have been made from fenceposts of Black Locust which have been in the ground for 100 years ! It's also near tool proof and most saw millers won't touch it. I use no power tools so this was a slow process. Drawlade, plane, hatchet must be sharpened often to shave off the thinnest sliver from it.The grain inside is a unique two tone green and yellow and makes a beautiful finish. The photos show how thin it had to be to even draw an arrow back because the wood is so dense. It also has a bend at the grip area which makes a natural grip. It looks like a kids bow but I believe it's the fastest shooter I've made. This little thin bow draws 45 pounds at my 25 " draw. That will kill a deer at 25 yards.

Black Cherry bow

Some say Black Cherry is too easy to break but this one has been easy to work and a very strong shooter. The tree was about 4" thick and one photo shows the tree before working and the near finished bow beside it. As the bark was removed I saw that there were two distinct layers of bark. The rough protective layer and the inner living bark which :has a snakeskin look to it. I left some of that on for a unique skin backed appearance. It will come off as it's used since it's cracking .The final photos show that I removed most of that bark and it shoots better due to less weight. I added antler tip overlays and recurved the tips. Nice finish.

Dogwood rescue bow

This was planned to be a one piece dogwood bow but I made a bad cut in the grip area and it broke. Having done all the work shaping the limbs and steaming in the recurves, I had to make a bow of it . Joining the two limbs with a long v joint and Titebond glue, I wrapped the joint with two layers of light fiberglass. Made a grip from a nice piece of scrap oak and bonded the limbs and the grip with Titebond . Added a little rawhide trim as might be used on Comanche horse bows. It would be a great bow for a child or beginner to target shoot.

Pear wood bow

Limbs of a pear tree loaded with fruit will bend nearly to the ground, but still not break. I acquired a 7 ', 3 " thick limb from a friend. I figured if it bends so much with all that fruit it might be good for a bow. It was a very clean limb and what a surprise it turned out to be. The photos just can't show the opaque colors of  pale yellows, greens and lavender. It came out as the strongest I have made yet. It's draw weight is 55 pounds at my draw of 25 inches. With surgery on both shoulders, it's all I can manage .

White Oak bow

White oak has  a reddish heartwood with white sapwood which makes a beautiful contrast when shaped just right by having both in the finished work. Again there are knots to be worked in this one. Knots on the outside of the bow must be worked so as not to cut through one. This will likely cause the bow to break by creating a weak area. I try to make knots a part of natures plan for the bow. A working bow which has knots or other defects in it is called a character bow. This bow shows just how stunning a bow can be.

Hickory bow

Hickory is an excellent wood for a beginning boyer because it's tough, forgiving and near unbreakable. It can be smooth and  knot free or have a few knots as the one shown. This one was the first that I decided was a useable bow, even with it's rough looks so I kept it as my own. After four years I shoot it several times a week. It's still fast and accurate. Wood with some knots or worm holes will still make a bow if properly worked.The handle wrap and limb bindings were added to make it a plains horse bow.