Build A Bow With Wood From Home Depot! Step By Step Instructions | Skill Tree
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- Learn how to make a bow!
What up, Fam! Today we are going to learn how to make A bow out of wood from the hardware store. I LOVED this build. Building a bow is a fun and challenging project. So follow along and join me in Sherwood Forest when you're done!
Steps
Step 1. Choosing The Wood 00:38
Step 2. Marking The Bow 01:51
Step 3. Rough Out The Shape 03:41
Step 4. Backing The Bow 04:48
Step 5. Tillering! 07:13
Special thanks to the following Skill Monkeys for the request:
Nomadic Chaos
Tom egnaczyk
David 35945
Tiller Tree (not my design but the pland I used to make mine)
www.tradgang.com/stuff_bin/til...
(I found it in this forum sawmillcreek.org/showthread.p...)
All Gifs are from giphy.com
All sounds are from epidemicsounds.com - Jak na to + styl
Hey man, saw your post on the Bowyer Subreddit. Finally got a chance to check it out.
I've been building bows for years (anything from English longbows to Turkish horn bows). I've also physically taught a good few people how to build bows just like you're building here. I've got to say, I think you've really nailed this video!
You've managed to achieve something tough here - and that's accurately describing the subtlety that's required to be a bowyer. The vast majority of people fail at their first bows. The main reason for this is a lack of patience and knowing when to go really slowly. As I'm sure you know - the difference between a 50lb bow and a 30lb bow is an almost invisibly small amount of wood. It's this subtlety that makes the difference between an explosion of splinters towards your face and a lethal hunting weapon.
A bow isn't a stick that you quickly chop here and there in a few minutes. You need to *know* your stave. I think you've got that across nicely.
Good job! Take a like and a sub!
Matt from South Africa
Thanks for watching and welcome to the family! I am glad you liked the video and that you think I did this particular art some justice. This was one of the most satisfying builds for me. That feeling of taking a shot with something you made is special. Thank you for the kind words!
Any chance we can talk on Reddit? I'm in the middle of my first project and I'm trying not to junk my bow trying to tiller it.
It's so weird to watch his older videos.
Not because they're bad.
But because there's a lot less energy. And this video goes into that how it's made type of video. But a bit of a uncanny valley how it's made video😂
Love this man.
If you Google a tillering gizmo you will find it is an invaluable tool for easily getting the proper bend on your limbs, it is especially good for beginners who haven't developed an eye for tillering yet. I invented it so am a little biased about its use. They are simple and very easy to make. The bottom line is an adjustable pencil will mark every stiff spot on your limbs with one quick swipe.
for draw weight you can use your shelf and buy like a $20 hanging scale if you're willing to drop the extra money for a one time thing. if you decide to make more bows then its a great investment to get consistent draw weights
Great tip! I will 100% pick one up. I am hoping to try my hand at a recurve next so it would be a good investment. Cheers!
tiller tree i used, had notches and no pulley You flex the bow a little and hook the string on a notch that feels right adjust the limbs then try again. each time pull the bow down to another notch keep going until you reach your draw length.
Great,informative video
Bow making is really easy with modern bows, with some research everyone can do it.
I started with bow making from a couple of years and I always started from the tree, that's a way more complicated and you need to have a better knowledge. A week ago I have completed a 50 lbs black locust bow, it took me 1 day to cut down the tree, 8 months to make the stave dry out and 3 days with simple hand tools to cut it in shape. I'm pretty happy with the result and its really funny to shoot
I just had to thank for this as i have contemplated making simple light pull bows en masse for our LARP recently and THIS was the answer i needed for it! Seriously good stuff and very succinct tutelage for the project.
Thank you so much! I am glad it helped. I hope your bows come out well! Thanks for watching!
I'm an amateur bushman. I'm in the process of learning to make Indian arrowheads out of rock and glass. This is the next step! 😎
I thought people like you were a meme
@@elskaalfhollr4743you are the Reddit final boss aren’t you
This was awesome! Most bow making videos give a lot of vague instructions and questionable advice but this was blueprint precise.
Now I can start making the piece of poplar that I have ( it’s got a really good grain) into an ambidextrous bow. I shoot left and right handed with various hold techniques.
Thank you.
Poplar doesn’t work so well. It’s “softer” than oak and maple and gets stress fractures even with a composite backing. It’s very unforgiving of too much tillering. Trying the red oak and will be making it the length of a longbow rather than a horse bow.
Great video, Boss.
Awesomeness
Very cool bow, you broke down the steps very simply so they're easy to follow, great build🤘
Ok brother.... took me a bit of doing but I finally made a viable bow. Took me four tries but this bow is THE best bow I’ve ever had. The raw hide is a real mind settler as I’m not stressed about this bow folding up on me. It’s more accurate than my professional made recurve bow. Thank you for your invaluable video.
I love my bow... the bow that I made 😁
It’s not a heavy bow (draw weight) but it is fast and hits hard.
Thanks 👍
thanks , that was very easy to understand
Very well done!!
Gonna have to put this on my project list. I have been "drawn" to archery in the past and have been wanting to revisit. I also watch a channel called Primitive Technology and that guy made bow and arrows with only things you can find in a forest. Not very instructional but brought me back to the days when I use to make them for fishing. Cut a branch, whittle it down and string it with fishing line. Cut some smaller branches, whittle them down and sharpen them. Go stand in the stream and shoot the fish as they swim by. A lot more fun then sitting around with a rod.
Level up the range weaponry and go for the crossbow.
Lol, "drawn". I see what you did there 🤣. Crossbow to come very soon. Lots of requests for that one! Thank you so much for watching!
I come from a family of loggers, and wood workers. I'm trying to get more into it, and thought hey a vow would b awesome. Not only r u informative. U r the right kind of funny. I will definitely watch more of ur videos
Nice job😀
Thanks for sharing this video brother! I truly learned a lot! God bless you!
Very good!!!
I like the way you explain , good job,!!!!
Nice job!
Thank you!😁👍
awesome love this tutorial.... oneday I might make one
Years late to this video, but I love bow building. A fun similar project could be to built a pin and lever style crossbow. A wheel based medieval crossbow is a whole mess of a project, but a crossbow with a wooden prod in a lower draw weight (I usually aim for 60-80 lbs on about a 12' draw) with a wooden pin pushing up from the bottom to force the string out of a groove, is a reasonably easy project, and can cook really cool.
This was really cool!! I really like your delivery on the instructions. Great video!!
Hey! Thanks for watching man! Cool of you. Cheers!
The best bow tutorial ever
Thank you so much! Glad you found it useful!
This is the best how to build a bow I've seen so far. I so want to do this. Thank you!
I started. I'm using maple. The grain is so so but I'll see what happens. I've decided to use fibreglass for the back. I don't have a garage or a basement to work in so it's slow going
JJ B my bow stave is ready. My tiller tree is ready. Now I have to get a planer
Let's be real. You won't.
@@dr.lexwinter8604 let's be real, don't be a dick
Check out Kramer Ammons as well
Very well done video , I made a long bow out of red oak wood it took me a while being my first one ever done but so far so good thanks .
Awesome! Let me know how it fires.
I am so glad that my search was so specific that your video, even though your channel was small, was right at the top. I am so happy you explain this so well, and your style is so fun I will probably be watching a lot of your videos.
my search was "make a bow from store bought wood" btw :b
Thanks for letting me know the search term used! It's actually pretty helpful😁👍. I am glad you enjoyed the show! Thanks for watching!
Great video i just started building a bow today first one. You answered a couple questions i had. I found a hickory 8ft 1x2 with near perfect grain at menards for like 9 bucks. Thanks again
Glad I could be helpful! Let us know how it comes out!
Nice
Thanks this is the best tutorial for making a bow I wanted to make one for a school project:)
Glad you found it useful! Good luck on the build!
Glad to see you made this! :D it's amazing!
Was a near thing but I couldn't be happier with how it came out. Gonna stain it today. Thanks for watching!
@@SkillTree It really looks great man! This goes on my bucket list!
Yup! Good, entertaining video! Very nice result. One can hear this is a zippy bow. Your final tiller looks excellent. Better than any bows I have built, (around 15 or so; board bows and self bows).
This is awesome, I want to make a bow one day!
His instruction is the best that I’ve found. Wouldn’t have been able to make mine without this video
You could also use an archery glove or an arm guard arm protection to stop the bow string slapping / bruiseing your arm and finger tabs
Loved this and finally I can get some Hawkeye action in for the Summer.
Another Skill request I'd like is to learn how to make a wallet, because hey it never hurts to be able to learn to make one for the fact that its both real practical and that way you won't have to shell out cash to buy a new one when your old one gets worn down.
I shall add that to the list, my good man!
I'm actually thinking of trying to create my first homemade bow. This seems to be one of the most informative videos I found so far I'm curious though what if it was wrapped with fiberglass instead of Rawhide
Working on my second self now right now, first one broke in the last sta he’s of tillering, definitely pushed it to far to fast, was rushing the tillering. That was maple, apparently more difficult to work with, this next one is red oak. But thinking of buying a stave from a guy online, I have heard natura staves produce a better bow and are much easier to work with the grain, the only issue is it’s more difficult when you encounter impurities
I just reached this video and must say: still a awesome video but man your videos improved A LOT! Keep levelling up! Me and my Ferrets await you at the next Conquest.
Could you make leather archery arm protectors to complete the archery set?
Awesome video man I'm about to start on mine I got some red oak from Lowe's today
I tried maple and poplar before going to red oak and the red oak is the only wood that held up. Even reinforced the other woods snapped
Very well done, sir! I've subscribed and I'm looking forward to more videos!
Thanks for watching! Hope you enjoy the rest of the channel!
Are you the real Jonathan Rigsby?
Nice job! And, you are right about picking your board carefully, my first one exploded almost at the end of the tillering process. My second bow was much better, I used red oak and chose a piece called flat sawn. I was able to "chase" the growth rings for a very safe bow. Also backed with raw hide I got from dog chew bones from the dollar store. A fun little project I did with all the raw hide scraps was to make my own hide glue. Hint hint.
I saw someone use the rawhide from dog bones. It worked well, then? I was unsure how it would go. I AM intrigued about the hide glue. Do you boil it?
@@SkillTree It worked very well. And yes, you do boil the hide. what you are essentially doing is reducing the hide into collegian (sp?) . It is then poured out onto waxed paper and allowed to dry. It will remind you of jello, which it is the main ingredient of. Then you allow it to dry fully. Lots on you tube on how it is done. Give it a go.
@@David35445 thanks! I will!
Excellent skill! The Skill Gremlin approves. U can make arrow heads with a foundry and cast them. TKOR has some great foundry builds for info.
Good idea and a good way to merge skills. I have been wanting to make a foundry and to test it, I can make the arrow heads for the arrow build. Good call, Sir!
Oh! @Bearded Gremlin , before I forget! Did the shirts make it to you OK?
They did and they are great! Thank you again
Level up. Legend? 1 mil. Wow
How do you add an arrow rest and guide for those of us who don't like having the arrow slide along our hand's skin?
Great video :-)
love the video I would of add leather to mack the handel
Woah
Yo, how did you know
I wanted to build a bow
with parts from the home depot
Nice. One thing, ideally you would chase a growth ring for the back of the bow, rather than looking for the 'nicest' side.
hey man, you inspired me to try this, i however tried it with a peice of wood and two peices of metal cut down to size. it was aluminum which didn't work haha. and it had a draw weight of like 150 pounds X-X but its got me inspired now to actually make one out of wood. aluminum is hard to cut. and i wouldnt be sure what steel to use to do it so theres that but an ywayst anks and good video
150? That's a war bow
Awesome video. I added a bow to my project list months ago, and now this build will help me complete it!!
What did you use for your bow string?
Let me know how it turns out! I actually bought a bow string from 3riversarchery.com. It's also where I got the rawhide strips from. I will have to learn how to make my own soon, though. Thanks for watching!
I'm here for that sweet thumbnail ;D xD
It's my sexy archer look. If pale dudes with little to no muscle tone is what you're into 🤣
👍👍👍
I will share all your videos
Thank you! I really appreciate that! And thanks for watching. Let me know if you have any skills you want to see covered!
hmm bow helmet arrow ... sounds like you need a hand made leather quiver for the standard assault load of arrows ... yes 60 arrows to the quiver
Good job 👌 please make one for me🙏
To the list:
1) spear
2) kote gloves
3) leather boots (the most dificult part I think) next to armguards and spaulders.
Great Ideas! Added to the list! Thank you for watching!
@@SkillTree after spear, theres cool thing in japanese weapons - naginata. It's a sword on a spear handle.
@@temurnariashvili7526 a character from The Wheel Of Time books uses one, though they call it something different. I would LOVE to make one in homage to that series and my favorite character. Great request 😁👌!
@@SkillTree Go on mate. Love your videos. Especialy when you explain those little nuances, how are you doing things(and how u drink). What should men expect when using an instrument and how actually it works. Instead of: take this, do that.
@@temurnariashvili7526 thanks! It means a lot to hear that. I love making them, so when sombody enjoys it too it makes my day. Thanks !
Ok... getting into the building and figured something out. To get the grip and limbs correct you might try , after some shaping, to draw one side on a board or paper ( preferably something that doesn’t change shape) and check the symmetry from side to side and top to bottom. The grain can fool the eye but a line on plywood doesn’t lie
Oooh good idea! Nice way to make sure everything stays even. Thanks for the tip!
Skill Tree
I did R&D for experimental aircraft and that was one of the ways to make a go-no go gage.
Can I use heat to bend poplar? I’m looking to put a slight reflex into it, among other items
Can you do a smaller recurve bow?
loved this, have made a few (Bows) by watching video,all good, but this was so easy to follow as it is not an easy craft to master, thanks so much, by the way, I want to make one from English Yew but they are only found (The trees i mean) in Churchyards, Can you suggest a way of getting hold of a yew branch other than asking the Vicar an embarassing Question, ? Loved it man! m ike fom Uk
Yo, I challenge you to make a recurve bow. If I were to make a custom bow, I want it to be a recurve. I enjoyed the video.
Been a while since this video.
Would be cool to make a wood recurve bow or revisit and add decorations to this one (if it still exists)
Bro You should do the transfer of pictures into wood with polycrylic, mod podge and acetone.
👍👍👍👍
I’d love to see you make a sword, either through stock removal or forging.
This was an amazing build. If youre interested in getting more into bow making, sorry to plug another channel, but kramer ammons has a great channel about that.
Once finished. Having built the exact bow in this video. Can you seal it with polyurethane or is this something you should not do?
Now do a Leather Back Quiver for holding Arrows 🏹
Would I be able to apply stain without damaging the rawhide?
So simplified. I've seen other how to's that showed the same info but with a lot of complication fluff.
Great video! Question, where can I get the rawhide?
I used a dog bone rawhide and it worked great 👍
Need more on the string
Can I ask what you used for the string? I just found your channel and Im loving it.
For another skill can you brew some mead?
Sure! I actually ordered a bow string from a site called 3 rivers archery.
I will for sure make some mead!
Thanks for watching!
Would it be possible to wood burn the front facing side of the bow without compromising its integrity?
Do you have a pdf for the bow design
what material exactly did you use for backing? thanks
Rawhide from 3 rivers archery. 3riversarchery.resultspage.com/search?p=R&lot=json&lbc=3riversarchery&uid=304070840&ts=json-full&w=Rawhide&method=and&isort=score&url=www.3riversarchery.com/bow-building-rawhide-backings.html&cip=174.196.209.255&ref=www.3riversarchery.com&ua=Mozilla/5.0%20(Linux;%20Android%2010;%20SM-N960U)%20AppleWebKit/537.36%20(KHTML,%20like%20Gecko)%20Chrome/80.0.3987.132%20Mobile%20Safari/537.36&rk=1&lgkey=6121
@@SkillTree thank you!
how do you tiller an asymmetrical bow?
I haven’t read all the comments, but my dad wants a crossbow, well what better crossbow than one I make for him. I can’t find a video worth watching for the build so maybe you can make one.
Yes. You may have to wait a couple of episodes. But I will do this thing😁
Finally made my own weapon
How was the string made
Hey since you've made a bow and some arrows, how about making a forearm guard out of leather (or whatever material you see fit)?
Sounds fun! Maybe I will bundle it up with a quiver too! Thanks for watching!
@@SkillTree Definitely! I don't know why I didn't think of a quiver but a matching guard and quiver would be really cool. I'm going to do a similar project for my son, and your bow video is the core of that, so thanks!
@@overload889 I love hearing that! Hope you have fun leveling up this skill!
we have Spotted gum here in Australia. NONE of the timbers you mentioned.
Can I ask sir .. when u tillering that bow how to decide top and bottom ? .. or You use center to tillering? .. sorry my English so bad
Hello! Thank you for watching! The bow showed here is a symmetrical bow, so either side can be considered top or bottom. Just make sure when you are tillering to have the side with the rawhide backing facing up and only remove material from the belly of the bow. You don't want to cut into the rawhide. Happy making!😁👍
Hi again. Just made a bow out of walnut. It looks nice and sturdy but I see some small microfractures on the bottom leg of the bow on the face with the handle. Is this a sign that it will break?
Hmmm. I personally wouldn't trust it. Those limbs are under a lot of pressure when the bow is drawn. If it fails, those limbs are being pulled towards you. It could just be some of the grain lifting but sight unseen, I would rather err on the side of caution.
I definitely like the way give directions and the amount of detail just out of curiosity how how accurate is the bow
Nice. Now i know what i will do once i finish my wooden sword.
Sweet! Show off that sword when your done! Whit kind of wood and what style of sword?
@@SkillTree old kitchen wood. I wanted a witcher longsword but i ended up customizing it a bit more to my liking so now it is chicken sword ( i have chicken in my blazon)
@@depussythemusiccat7798 that's awesome! Now I really want to see it!
I found your channel today. I gotta say, I'm kind of pissed at how good you are at doing things on the first go-around. I've made two dozen bows and over a hundred arrows, but your first attempts were MILES ahead of my first attempts. The tillering tree setup you made is great -- it's way better than a stick with notches in it and I recommend your setup highly. And your explanations about the grain and the tillering process are succinct but good enough for purposes. Your arrow is awesome for a first arrow (the fletching job particularly) and you do a good job of mentioning how choosing a dowel with bad grain could be dangerous. Your blowing horn video made me regret buying a blowing horn like two years ago when I could have just made one.
There are a few nuanced things missing in this bowmaking video (and others), and some more in-depth explanations could be useful in places, but it's only the kind of stuff you would learn after you make a bunch of bows and arrows, or have spent time tying knots on a sailing ship or something. And that kind of in-depth mastery of these subjects would be more time-consuming and require more experience, and that isn't what your channel is about. Your channel is about documenting your first attempts at things, and encouraging others to attempt said things for the first time.
Basically, all this to say that you are totally acing the jack-of-all-trades approach. You are doing balanced research on stuff that is new to you (but not wasting too much time in research -- avoiding the paralysis of analysis) and getting started into things with a good foundation. If you wanted to master a particular skill it is clear that you could do so. I'm jealous of your breadth of skills. I've been much more focused on a limited skillset. I guess each approach is rewarding in its own way.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for such kind words! I am normally the "analysis paralysis" kind of person, but the tight schedule of releasing these videos force me to just do it, lol. It isn't always perfect but it has been cool to see how quickly you can get the hang of something by just attempting it. You should pop on our discord at some point! I would love to see your work!😁
Amazing skills, I can't wait to see what else thou can make
If there is one skill request I have, I would love to see you make a pair of pants
Thanks for watching! What kind if pants were you thinking? That would be fun to try out! I shall add it to the list. Let me know if you have anything specific in mind and I will try to accommodate. Also, welcome to the fam!
@@SkillTree a pair of martial Arts kicking jeans would be good, gives legs great mobility
@@soap_scum cool! I shall research and plan it out! Thanks for the request! Hope you enjoy the channel!
is there a way to make the bow shorter? say for a wooden crossbow bream?
Sure! The same process would be used with tillering and all that. That being said, the force would be spread over a MUCH smaller area so, I would imagine, breaks would be more common while learning how to do it.
@@SkillTree
I broke 3 staves trying to make a shorter bow. You have to have near perfect material and be very good at woodworking. My last bow is 68 inches and it fires great. Awesome diy video 👍
Can u make a bow string pls.
Arrow making next?
It was indeed! If you look at the episodes after that one I forge and arrow head and makea shaft😁
what is the tool you use for taking off that wood on the sides in 4:08 mins
That's called a draw knife!😁
How about a bow STRING? Maybe a Flemish Twist???
Can I stain it?
If you want to level up on woodworking some more, try carving a spatula!
That sounds interesting. I bet bamboo would be nice for that. Would you recommend making it straight and bending it with moisture and heat after the fact?
@@SkillTree That would work very well. If you want an extra challenge, you can try carving it from piece of wood trying to follow the grain without bending. I have a video on doing that.
@@BravermanDesign I'll give it a look. Sounds damn tricky. Love a good challenge!
Where did you get cheap rawhide? I can only find it for $14 on etsy.
I’m wondering the same. I saw another video where they used a raw hide dog bone for the backing strips.
You also go on LARPs?
Not yet. I am planning on either doing Bicolline or Witcher School next year, tho!😁
Use that forge you made to make and axe!
Great idea! Consider it added to the list! Thanks for watching!
Anytime keep up the good Skill!!!
@5.31.. you should have said...I am a poet and i didnt even know it🤣🤣🤣. Amazing vid though....
🤣 that was the joke. Glad you liked the vid!