The hunting bow is one of the oldest human tools used by our ancestors. These devices reached their apogee of development in the Middle Ages - and the most powerful and accurate were not English ones (as it was for a long time presented in literature), but oriental bows: Arabic, Korean and Japanese. The aiming range of their shot, given the simplicity of design in comparison with modern high-tech products, reached 200-220 meters, the maximum range of the arrow was 870-880 meters, and the tension force was up to 80 kg! Hunting bows are used to this day, but the cost of some models is quite high. Therefore, we suggest that you make such a tool with your own hands.

What is a hunting bow and its varieties

Initially, hunting bows were made exclusively of wood and had a simple arched shape. Somewhat later, simple models were replaced by composite ones, which first used bone endings, and then more complex structures from separately assembled parts: a central handle, a pair of shoulders and endings. Now block compound (or Olympic) options have been added to them. However, they are not used for hunting.

Collapsible bow design

In general, the current classification of hunting bows is the following division:

  1. According to the material of manufacture:
    • traditional (made of wood);
    • composite (from several materials).
  2. According to the structure of the main part:
    • classic (D-shaped in a bent form, that is, with one bend);
    • recursive (M-shaped, with several bends).
  3. According to the number of components:
    • simple bows - from a single piece of material;
    • collapsible models - from several components.

Photo gallery: Modern hunting with industrial bows

Bow Mathews Compound bow VilingStore Compound bow Mathews CREED

Principle of operation

The principle of operation of classic bows (both traditional simple and recursive ones) is based on the creation of a pushing force that is imparted to the bowstring when the shoulders are straightened and provides the arrow with an initial speed that depends on the tension force. At the same time, the initial speed of the boom in a simple design also depends on these factors, while in block models, eccentrics located at the ends, synchronized with each other by a system of separate cables, are responsible for accuracy and speed.

A professional compound bow is made mainly from expensive and high-strength materials (carbon and fiberglass, magnesium and aluminum alloys, etc.) and contains a separate optical aiming system. In this regard, it is extremely difficult to make such a device on your own, and most importantly, very expensive. Therefore, further we will consider the assembly of hunting bows only of the classical type - both simple and complex recursive ones.

Photo gallery: Various designs of simple models


Materials and tools for manufacturing

To make a bow, you will need the following tools and materials:

  • hacksaw;
  • plane;
  • strong rope (for bowstring);
  • insulating tape;
  • plastic tube (for PVC bows) or wood (for traditional options).

As for wood, yew is considered the best - it was from this tree that the famous English bows were made in the old days. In the absence of this rare breed, you can use larch, mountain ash, ash, hazel, willow, cedar, juniper or elm. In other words, the material must be homogeneous, flexible and beautiful.

Believe it or not, this is a homemade compound bow!

Manufacturing instructions

simple model

When making a simple PVC hunting bow, you will need a piece of SCH 40 pipe about 2.5 cm thick and a length equal to the distance between the middle of the thigh and the fingertips of the outstretched hand. After measuring 1.5 cm from both sides, make cuts. Insert and fasten the bowstring into them so that the maximum tension is approximately equal to the length of the bow.

The length of a simple bow is longer than a compound bow.

Attach to the string so that the maximum tension is approximately equal to the length of the bow

Unfortunately, a simple plastic bow can hardly be called a full-fledged hunting weapon - this will require a much more complex composite structure, in which 2 short pieces of a thin tube (to strengthen the shoulders) about 10 cm long will be inserted into the main pipe. larger diameter.

Homemade bow made of PVC tube and wood. Bowstring - silk thread

When making a wooden structure, it will be necessary to cut (cut out) the main part of the bow about 5 cm wide in the central part and 1.5 cm in the side ones.

Photo gallery: Making onions in the forest from improvised means


Simple homemade bow design

Video: Homemade bow their PVC pipes

Composite

A real hunting bow should be composite, and in shape as close as possible to modern high-class sports products. As a base, it is better to use flexible and non-layered wood from the lower and dense layers of trees growing in dark areas of the forest. On the "horns" is good, for example, bird cherry, growing in open, dry, clearings far from the water.

The length of all three parts that form the kibit (base plus both horns) should not exceed 1.5 m - otherwise the bow can get more range, but much less accuracy.

The step-by-step manufacturing technology will be as follows:

  1. The cleaned blanks are dried (not in the sun!), All 3 parts are planed and dried again. Then the base and horns are given their final look and dried already in the bright sun.
  2. Kibiti elements are glued together with special store-bought glue or self-made fish glue (from digested bones or the swim bladder of large fish).
  3. Ready kibit is dipped into melted animal fat (or cedar resin) for impregnation.
  4. The joints are additionally pulled together with tendons or a dense flexible cord and impregnated again, after which the finished bow is processed to smoothness with a knife and, if desired, polished.

It is also possible to superficially glue the base with strips of birch bark, and the horns and ends with overlays made of natural horn (or metal). However, such strengthening and creation of layering is relevant only for weapons with a very high (more than 20 kg) pull force, which hardly makes sense when hunting birds and small animals with a bow - except in terms of decoration.

Photo gallery: DIY compound bows

Compound bows dried after gluing
Homemade compound bows

Video: How to make a compound bow at home

Accessories

Making all the components of the bow at home is even easier than the main structure.

bowstring

Can be spun from nylon cord, although real hunters prefer natural material. Which is usually blood-soaked and dried rawhide rolled into a tube 3-4 mm wide. Although it is inferior to modern, even inexpensive synthetic materials, in terms of performance. The skin should be replaced with tendons from the vertebral part of large animals - moose, cows, etc. Or a bunch of natural silk threads can be used.

The bowstring is put on simply - first with a loop on one horn, and then, bending the end of the bow resting on the ground, on the second. For a recurve bow, the distance between the string and the handle should be about 15 cm, and the string must be removed when storing the bow.

Video: How to make a bowstring

Arrows

The length of the arrows should be proportional to the length of the bow and the maximum amount of string tension. In practice, this means that with the bow drawn, the arrowhead must protrude at least a few centimeters beyond the bow.

The diameter is approximately 6 mm, and the entire axis of the arrow must be perfectly flat. For small game and poultry, light wood is taken - spruce, pine, birch. For a larger animal - heavy and dense species (ash, hornbeam, oak). Arrows, like a torch, are pricked from logs, after which they are shaped into long and thin round cylinders.

Make a bow with your own hands

Well at the end I add in full another instruction for making a bow with my own hands, which I could find.

For the manufacture of a simple bow, almost any tree that grows in the middle lane of our mother Russia is suitable. Recommended: maple, juniper, hazel, birch, ash, oak, elm, verest.

The proposed workpiece must be cut in winter, in frost ~ 10-15 degrees.

The workpiece should not have large knots (growths, mechanical and thermal damage). The length of the workpiece should be 30 cm longer than the length of your future bow (15 cm on each side for drying cracks, the occurrence of which is not excluded). DO NOT REMOVE the bark from the resulting "log"! Cover the ends of the workpiece with oil paint. Drying of wood should be even, in order to avoid the appearance of internal defects in the material. If this is not done, then the bow will not last long. Dry the processed workpiece in a vertical position at room temperature. The air should not be too dry, otherwise the wood will dry out and the labor will be wasted. Drying time 2–5 months, depending on conditions.

Primary processing

The resulting blank is a log "Figure 1". Our task is to get a board from this log. How to achieve this? There are several options, each of which is quite historical: processing, with an ax, with a saw, by splitting with wedges (from harder wood). The thickness of the board is equal to the width of the bow being made in the handle (for a Slavic bow, about 3 cm). After receiving the board we need, it is necessary to mark it. Visually check it for the presence of an oblique layer and other defects. According to the results of the inspection, make adjustments to the thickness of the bow at the site of the defect in the material (increase it). Further on "Figure 2" the markup scheme is shown. Please note that we did not remove the bark from the workpiece. Do not damage the outer part of your future bow!

Picture 1

Figure 2

The excess part is separated from the bow by means of an ax, and then a knife and a planer. With this treatment, you get the side profile of the bow. After separating the bow, begin the formation of its frontal profile "Figure 3". The ratio of the width of the handle to the width of the end of the shoulder is approximately 3/2. At these stages of work, be extremely careful. It depends on the accuracy and accuracy of your work whether the limbs of the bow will work equally evenly or one will be more elastic than the other. At these stages, the bow cannot be bent - this can lead to splitting of the workpiece and its damage. The section of your bow will depend on the thickness of the log you have prepared. It can vary from lentil to almost rectangular "Figure 4".

Figure 3

Figure 4

Steaming onions

At this stage, the bend of the bow is formed. Some manufacturers resort to soaking the workpiece in various infusions and solutions. The wood treated with water vapor has all the properties we need. Why steam onions? There are several reasons to be aware of the manufacturing process:

If the wood dries out during the drying process (therefore, it is not recommended to bend the onion before steaming).

In the case where your primary blank was not straight (which is not uncommon, and nothing to be afraid of. The frontal profile of your weapon does not have to be straight at all. This will not affect the effectiveness of shooting, unless it will be inconvenient for another person to use your weapon.)

If you are making a relatively short weapon (Slavic version 1 - 1.3 m).

If you intend to make a bow with a reverse bow.

In the case when you are making a "light" (for example, game) bow.

In order to give an aesthetic appearance.

At the beginning of the stage, your workpiece is the following: "Figure 5". You need, for example, to get such a bend: "Figure 6". To do this, you need to steam the shoulders of the bow (the element being steamed becomes plastic and easily takes the bend that you set. Steam the shoulder of the bow until you can easily bend it for captivity). The following parts are steamed, shown in white "Figure 7".

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

It is best to steam at the same time, so that then the onion shoulders dry out simultaneously and evenly. After steaming the shoulders, the bow is drawn into a special slipway “Figure 8” prepared in advance for this particular bow. Black color shows wooden bars, between which a “hot” bow is forced. The number, shape and location of the clamping bars depends on the shape of the bow you need. In such a slipway, the onion dries up to 1 week. After that, it is removed from the slipway, the ends of the bow are formed for the subsequent putting on of the bowstring (a place is being prepared for horn / bone tips or a “step” is simply cut out under the bowstring loop).

Figure 8

Note that we did not remove the bark from the “back” of the onion! When steaming and captivating in the slipway, part of the bark will peel off from the back of the onion. Separate it with a fingernail or wooden knife. ATTENTION! Do not damage the fibers on the back of the bow! If part of the bark remains, do not worry, gently sand it with sandpaper to a smooth state and your bow will take on a decent appearance.

The bow is almost ready. For the longevity of the bow, it must be protected from drying out or moisture. If you adhere to the historical and reconstructive direction in your work, then it is recommended to impregnate the onion with hot wax or melted fat (do not overdo it! The impregnation should be no more than 3 mm in depth, otherwise the onion will lose its elasticity). Otherwise, you can use varnish, modern paints or mastics.

Making a bowstring

For a bowstring, threads made from strong artificial fibers, such as Kevlar (very strong, but also expensive), nylon, lavsan, are best suited, and silk is also suitable. A good bowstring is obtained from a thin fishing cord in reels (not a fishing line, but a cord). The main thing is that the thread does not stretch and is very strong and resistant to chafing. The thickness of the threads does not really matter, just depending on this, the number of turns will change. The string is made as follows:

Step 1. First you need to make a "winding machine", that is, a simple device with two or four pins, where the bowstring will be wound. L3 (string length) = L1 + L2, with L1 = 15x20 cm. "Figure 9". But there is a simpler way out - to wind the thread around the legs of the stool. With various winding options, almost any length can be achieved, although it may be slightly inaccurate. The ends of the thread are tied with an Achilles knot.

Figure 9

Step 2. On the ears of the bowstring, that is, in the place where it is put on the bow, it is necessary to make a protective winding. This will prevent abrasion. For this, the option with four pins is convenient. Well, in other cases, you can use a spacer. You need to wind it tightly, lay the turns as tightly as possible arcs to each other.

“Figure 10” The winding is done from both ends of the bowstring, approximately 15 cm each. Moreover, on one side, the turns begin in such a way as to hide the knot obtained after step 1.

Figure 10

Step 3. Now we make an eye loop, tightly rewinding its base “Figure 11”.

Figure 11

Step 4. Next, approximately in the middle of the bowstring, you should also make a winding 10 × 15 cm long. This is the place where the fingers will lie. It is also useful to make a “saddle” - a thickening under the arrow shank so that it does not move out “Figure 12”.

Figure 12

Arrow making

Let's start with the manufacture of the shaft. The shaft for an arrow can be made from wood, this is the easiest way. You can go into the forest and cut down a tree, cut boards, etc. You can buy a board and cut an arrow. You can use ready-made square-section wooden slats or even a regular bead, processing them to a round section with a diameter of 8-9 mm. The main thing is to choose the slats as straight as possible and without knots (and hitches J). Now we need to make the sticks round, I did it with a planer. Next, the workpiece must be sanded, first with large, and then with fine sandpaper. To do this, you can use a drill at low speeds, holding the workpiece in its chuck.

Please note that the more even the shaft of the arrow turns out, the more accurate its flight will be. And even better if you manage to find ready-made round slats. For example, used for chopiks (wooden nails) in carpentry.

Arrow Length Determination: (See "Table" and "Figure 13")

Table

Figure 13

Now we need a tip. You can do it simply: hammer in a nail and wrap that place with copper wire. But this is not a very good design. It is better to make such a tip: "Figure 14". It can be cut from steel with a thickness of 1.5 - 2 mm. You can cut it with a knife. At the end of the bow, you need to make a slot, and attach the tip to the glue there, then wrap it with thread.

Next you need to make a shank. For example, like this: "Figure 15". You need to insert a bowstring into the slot, notches - so that your hands do not slip off.

Figure 14

Figure 15

Now you need to make plumage. It can be made from bird feathers. Two or three plumages can be cut from one bird feather (depending on its length). The length of the plumage is in the range from 5.0 to 9.0 cm. The best feathers for arrows are from the wings of a turkey, swan, eagle and goose. The feather is cut with scissors along the trunk, and then pieces of a given size are cut from it.

For plumage, the best part of the feather, closer to the base of the trunk, should be used. Feathers can be dyed in desired colors before gluing. The plumage trimmed with scissors has a barrel that is uneven in structure, which must be processed so that it can be glued to the arrow. Processing of the plumage barrel is carried out either on an emery wheel (when it rotates), grinding the core of the barrel, or by grinding with sandpaper. The latter method is simpler and more guaranteed against errors.

Grinding is done as follows: the plumage is compressed between two metal plates with a thickness of about 0.5 × 0.7 mm. The part of the pen barrel remaining outside is sanded along the emery cloth, which is located on a flat board. Since the plates are held perpendicular to the board, after grinding the end of the plumage will be pressed against the arrow evenly. The side faces of the plumage rod are also polished. The feathers made in this way are glued to the arrow.

The selection and sticker of plumage on one set of arrows must be made from feathers of the wing of the same name. Incorrectly glued feathers (for example, taken from different wings) can lead to differences in the flight of the arrow compared to other arrows. The feathers glued to the arrows are fired with hot wire to give them a certain shape, for which a special machine is used. Currently, archers use feathers purchased from various companies, which are of high quality made for any arrows and various types of shooting. Feathers can be wound with strong threads (silk, nylon, etc.) "Figure 16"

Figure 16

Put on the string shortly before shooting, and take it off immediately after.

Sew a cover for the bow so as not to damage it during transportation and storage.

Store onions in a room with room temperature and moderate humidity in an upright position.

Shoot your bow at least once a month so that he doesn't get used to shooting.

From the book Finishing and repair for a thrifty owner author Blaze Iosif Samuilovich

Do-it-yourself furniture Stained-glass windows in the doors Doors with glass inserts - stained-glass windows look spectacular in the apartment. For such stained-glass windows you will need colored glass. There are several ways to color them. Glass can be painted with conventional oil paints, varnishes, enamels or

From the book 3000 practical tips for the home author Baturina Anna Evgenievna

From the book Decoration of Bottles, Glasses and Candles author Preobrazhenskaya Vera Nikolaevna

Making candles with your own hands Oval candle You will need Cinders of old candles or ordinary household candles, wax crayons, 100% cotton threads, a candle mold with a small hole in the middle for the wick, a stick for stirring wax, a stick for

From the book Fence, fence, gate at their summer cottage [We build with our own hands] author Nikitko Ivan

Chapter 2 We make a fence with our own hands Preparatory work Most fences are a structure based on supporting pillars, logs and a crate attached to the logs (Fig. 2.1). The most maintainable fencing option is the presence of blocks

From the book We sew soft toys, pillows and bean bags author Ivanovskaya Tatyana Vladimirovna

OWN HANDS BAG CHAIR Making a pear-shaped bean bag will not be particularly difficult, but the interior of the room will change significantly with such a comfortable and beautiful accessory. You can not deny yourself the pleasure of becoming a designer of your own furniture,

From the book DIY furniture author Onishchenko Vladimir

Do-it-yourself furniture You can learn how to make furniture with your own hands in a short time and at any age, for this it is not necessary to have any special training. The main thing is desire and patience. Where to start, what should be the first steps? For example, first

From the book How to make a country house cozy and comfortable author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

1.22. Installing do-it-yourself double-glazed windows in a village house It may be that installing double-glazed windows instead of old frames seems like a difficult task, but I assure you that anyone can solve it. And such a seemingly unbearable thing is available today even to a housewife

From the book Country Encyclopedia of Experienced Advice author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

From the book Country House Design author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

2.1. Do-it-yourself creative design, or laying out paths with your own hands In order for the summer cottage in front of the house to “look” or play with new colors, they try to give its landscape an original, or, as it is now fashionable to say, creative design. There is also a "special"

From the book Modern Apartment Plumber, Builder and Electrician author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

From the book Do it before the child grows up. Adventure, games, experiences author Rizo Elena Alexandrovna

From the book Repair. Right! Cheap! Fast! author Kriksunova Inna Abramovna

From the book Wardrobes, hallways, slides, walls, shelves, chests of drawers and other prefabricated furniture author Podolsky Yuriy Fedorovich

Do-it-yourself wardrobe room A wardrobe room is the dream of every housewife. This is a spacious wardrobe for outerwear, and comfortable shelves for underwear, and a place to store many household items, and additional mezzanines for backpacks and suitcases. And also this

From the book Entertaining Electronics [Non-template encyclopedia of useful circuits] author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

1.4. Do-it-yourself sensitive audio and video amplifier This material will be useful to those who are involved in the use of video monitoring circuits in a limited area. Regarding the possible options for providing protection in enclosed spaces, I noticed that it is not always cost-effective

From the book Cosmetics and handmade soap author Zgurskaya Maria Pavlovna

Rules for making cosmetics with your own hands 1. Prepare a separate dish that you will use only for the manufacture of cosmetic preparations. These should be enameled, glass and plastic bowls of different sizes and pans with a double bottom.

From the book Managing and configuring Wi-Fi in your home author Kashkarov Andrey Petrovich

Making onions is a process that requires precise adherence to technology. Only in this case, you can count on a good result. With a well-made bow, you can send arrows straight to the target, while it must be powerful enough to hit the game, which as a result will become the prey of the hunter.

Taking on its manufacture with their own hands is primarily for those who already have experience in hunting with such weapons, however, with the right approach to business, anyone can cope with the task. Consider how to make a bow for hunting with your own hands, using materials and tools that are available to everyone.

Varieties of bows

The main parts of such weapons are the bow and bowstring. By design, bows can be divided into two main groups:

  • simple - for these models, the arc is made of one material - wood or PVC;
  • composite, or composite - the arcs of such bows are made of several materials.

The form is distinguished:

  • classic bows - the arc of such a hunting weapon has one bend, in a bent form it has a D-shaped appearance;
  • recursive - their arc bends three times and has an M-shape.

Also, bows can be divided into simple and collapsible. The arcs of the former are made from a single piece of material, while the latter consist of several parts.

From natural materials for the manufacture of composite arches, wood can be used - for the middle part, horn - for the inside, as well as tendons that are attached to the outside. This three-piece design provides the weapon with good elasticity, flexibility and power.

Today, in the manufacture of industrial collapsible bows, high-strength modern materials are used that have optimal properties - fiberglass and carbon fiber, aluminum and magnesium alloys, and so on.

The device of such a weapon can be quite complicated, but making it yourself at home is a task that requires some experience, as well as a lot of time and effort.

With your own hands it is better to make a simple non-separable bow. With the right approach to business and the observance of technology, its accuracy and power will be enough for hunting.

Tools and materials

To make such a bow, you will need a minimum set of tools:

  • hacksaw;
  • plane;

To give the arc the desired bend, it is better to use a special slipway. It can also be made independently from a board and several bars.

To make a simple non-separable bow with your own hands, you need:

  • wood or PVC tube to make an arc;
  • strong rope, rawhide ribbon, wire, thick fishing line for making a bowstring;
  • thick rope or other suitable material for the handle.

While pulling the bow, his shoulders should bend, while the bowstring practically does not stretch.. The arrow is sent to the target precisely due to the force of the arc of the weapon, which straightens at the moment of the shot.

How to make a bow out of wood?

Consider how to make a hunting bow out of wood. The best material for this is yew - it was from it that the best examples of such weapons were made in the Middle Ages. However, it is difficult to get such a tree, so other species are usually used instead. It can be:

  • hazel;
  • juniper;
  • Rowan;
  • ash;
  • larch;
  • cedar.

A good bow rod should:

  • not have cracks, it is also better to select rods without knots, but the presence of a small amount of them on the surface is not critical, the main thing is not to try to cut them when processing the rod;
  • have a length of one meter to one and a half meters;
  • be dry;
  • be direct.

For the manufacture of a bow, you can also use several thin rods of the same length, while they must be securely fastened by pulling in several places with electrical tape or other suitable material. This option is suitable if you need to quickly make a bow in field conditions from what you can find at hand.

Wood harvesting

Harvesting wood to make a hunting bow with your own hands is better in winter, at a temperature of -10 degrees or a little lower. If you look for a suitable rod in the fall, you won’t have to wander through the snowdrifts in search. It is necessary to cut it off, while the length of the rod should be several tens of centimeters longer than the estimated length of the bow. This is necessary, since the ends of the rod may crack during drying.

Before making a bow, the wood needs to be dried for a long time, on average three months is enough. For this, a room with room temperature is suitable in which the bar must be hung.

At the same time, it is not necessary to remove the bark, and it is better to paint or varnish the ends, which will not allow moisture to evaporate, then the future arc will dry out evenly along the entire length. A rod that has a slight curvature can be straightened over the steam.

In field conditions, drying can be done quickly with the help of a fire, the main thing is to do it carefully, do not lower the wood too close to the fire and do not dry it out. Such an onion will be more fragile and less durable than dried at room temperature.

Making a bow from a wooden rod

When the rod is dried, it must be processed with a planer, while the shoulders should not become cylindrical, but flat. The arc of a simple collapsible bow does not consist of a single piece of wood or PVC, but of two separate arms that are attached to the top and bottom of the handle. The handle in this case is easiest to make from a wooden block or cylinder of suitable thickness. At the same time, in the central part they can be turned, making a comfortable grip under the arm.

If it is intended to make a simple bow with an arc from a single piece of wood, and not with two separate limbs, the rod in the middle should be left round in section.

It is important that the shoulders have the same length, width and thickness, only in this case the force on them will be distributed evenly, and the bow will hit accurately.

Then the workpiece must be given the desired shape - in the form of a simple arc or M-shaped. To do this, the wood is heated over steam and fixed for a while in a special slipway, which will fix the desired shape. Such a device can be made from a board by attaching several bars to it. It takes about a week to keep the bow in the slipway.

When the arc is ready, notches must be made at its end and the bowstring must be fixed. You also need to braid the handle. To get a reliable installation, the fixation points of the bowstring and the handle must be glued.

Making a bow from skis

Skis are a great material for making a bow bow, which often does not even need to be processed. Therefore, if there is a suitable pair available that is unusable, there is no need to harvest rods or look for other material. You can use both wooden and plastic skis, the second option is preferable.

To make a bow, you need to saw off the two ends of the skis of a suitable length, which will be the shoulders, and fasten them to the handle. The handle itself can also be made from skis by fastening the cuts of the desired length in several layers and processing them so that a comfortable grip is obtained. After that, you only need to fasten the bowstring, and the bow is ready for use.

The optimal length of the finished product is about 1.3 m. If a bow made from skis exceeds a length of 1.4-1.5 m, its power will be insufficient, since such a long arc cannot give the arrow sufficient momentum. Also, the shoulders should be narrow - so, in order to make an arc from wide skis, they must be turned from both edges.

Making a composite bow, each limb of which must be made from several different materials rather than one, is a more complex process. However, such a weapon is made according to the same principles as a simple homemade bow for hunting. If you approach the matter correctly, a bow made with your own hands will hit powerfully and accurately, and at the same time it will be able to serve for quite a long time.

First of all, we start developing the design of the handle, since the time spent on manufacturing should not be wasted, and the bow, in addition to shooting qualities, should also have a beautiful appearance. If it's difficult for you to sketch your sketch, you can use the sketch shown in the photo.

When designing a bow handle, consider factors such as:
1. The optimal length of the handle should be between 40-60cm
2. The shelf for the arrow should be clearly in the middle of the handle
3. The angle of attachment of the shoulders of factory bows is 15-20 degrees. However, in order to achieve maximum tension force, in this case the angle was reduced to 10 degrees.

Since the tension force of the ski bow is not large within 10 kg, the handle can be made from a single piece of wood. Be sure to choose hardwood (oak, beech, etc.), without knots.

But if you want the handle to be not only durable, but also beautiful, then you need to use different types of wood (different in shade). By the way, a glued handle will be stronger than a handle made from a single piece of wood.

In this case, wood was used:
Zebrano(African zebrawood) wood has two distinct colors ranging from grey-brown to yellow-brown
Amaranth- wood with purple color
paduk- brown wood

We glue the bars together with carpentry glue, forming a “sandwich”, and tighten them with clamps.

After gluing, we level the surface of the “sandwich” with a planer. If necessary, we process the surface with a grinder to achieve a completely flat surface.

If, when gluing the “sandwich”, you have gaps between the bars, they must be filled with epoxy.

However, epoxy resin can also be glued to the side pads. We tighten with clamps and leave to dry for a day.

We cut out the template of the handle from paper and glue it to our wooden blank.

We cut off all unnecessary along the contour of the template. In this case, the best option is to use a band saw, or, in extreme cases, you can get by with a jigsaw.

Do not worry if you cannot cut the handle evenly, with the help of a grinder and sandpaper you can eliminate all the flaws. Only when using a grinder, do not be too zealous so as not to remove something superfluous.

After the handle is more or less ready, you can start making the shoulders. For these purposes, we need unnecessary cross-country skis.

The optimal shoulder length of skis is 500-650 mm. If you make it longer, then the tension will decrease, and if you make it shorter, then when you pull it, the shoulders may break.

In this case, a length of 580mm was chosen. To cut the skis evenly, use a miter box.

From the cut edge, we drill two holes at a distance of 25 and 60 mm. (for attachment to the handle), for M6 or M8 bolts. But do not rush and immediately drill with a large drill, because the drill may go to the side and you will get a warp. Therefore, in order to avoid distortions, first drill with a thin 2-3mm drill.

Set the shoulders on the handle and secure with tape. Then, through the holes in the shoulders, mark with an awl the places for drilling holes in the handle. We also drill holes in the handle with a thin drill, and only after making sure that the holes are drilled without distortion, you can drill the holes with a large drill for the bolts. So that the hats do not stick out, it is advisable to drown them in the handle.

For the convenience of assembling the bow (so as not to carry a wrench), it is better to use lambs instead of nuts.

At the ends of the shoulders, for attaching the bowstring, with a needle file, we make cuts.

Now you can assemble the bow and test it in real conditions. After successful tests, we proceed to the finishing and painting of the bow.

Materials:

    Skis: pieces of skis for making bow arms;

    Lumber - for the manufacture of the handle. You need either a large beam (at least 8x8x50), or small bars;

    A pair of bolts, washers, wing nuts - to attach the bow arms to the handle;

    Nylon thread (or any low-stretch string) - for the bowstring.

Tools:

  • clamps;

    Hand drill with a set of drills;

    Chisel, hammer;

    Wood rasp or file;

    Sandpaper of various grain sizes;

The tools listed below are not essential, but will make the process much easier if you're making a more complex bow handle.

table saw;

Drilling machine;

Band-saw;

Plane;

Belt / disc grinder.

Making a bow from skis

I used mountain skis. The ends are bent at an angle of 20 - 28 degrees. Bow limbs made from alpine skis will be more "strong" because alpine skiing is tougher.

Bow handle design

The originals of the handle in real size:


(downloads: 13009) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 7719) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 7038) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 6643) .pdf

A collapsible bow includes two arms in its design, which are attached to both sides of the handle with nuts. The handle should have two flat surfaces for attaching the shoulders, a place for a grip with a hand, and a cutout shelf for the passage of an arrow. The handle should not bend (at all!) while using the bow! As long as the bow satisfies these three conditions, it doesn't matter how it looks. Now is a good opportunity to show your creativity.

Start your bow design with a couple of sketches on a piece of paper. I made a few smaller sketches so that I could have some ideas before drawing the handle at full size.

The two hilts I made were approximately 51 and 46 cm long. The hilt pictured on the left was designed using only one bolt fixing the bow arm, while the one on the right was designed using two bolts on each arm. Don't pay too much attention to it. Even after the bow is fully formed, there are ways to change the angle to increase the draw on the string. We will return to this later.

Make a copy of your drawing so that you have the original drawing to transfer to the tree. Cut and glue the sketch to the foam and cut it out with a knife or rasp.

On the foam handle, you can find a comfortable shape for the part that the hand will hold on to, adjust the curves before making the handle from wood. The foam model helped me a lot. I'm not very good at transferring a three-dimensional image from my imagination to a plane. Having a 3D model allowed me to tweak the design before making the wood handle.

Making a bow handle


Depending on your desire and the materials available, this step can be short or take a long time. I didn't have a large enough piece of wood to make the handle, so I glued it together from several pieces. This method will also allow you to make the handle multi-colored. If you decide to use one block, give it the largest possible square section with a table saw, jointer, planer, and proceed to the step "Roughing the handle". If you want to make a handle glued together from several bars, read on.

You will need several pieces of walnut, oak, pecan wood. Take some time to “play” with them, make interesting color combinations from different types of wood.

Using a table saw, give the selected pieces of wood the same width (along the grain). The width of the blanks should be approximately 5 mm larger than the widest part of the ski. In my case, this was about 5 cm for both pairs of skis. The 5 mm allowance will be removed later with sandpaper. Now cut the planks to the same size lengthwise (across the grain).

For this I used a manual circular saw. Please note that the boards are a bit uneven. For high-quality gluing, it is important that the boards fit together as tightly as possible. If you have a planer or thicknesser, make the planks even or sand them with sandpaper on a rectangular piece of wood.

Handle bonding

Now the wooden planks are ready for gluing. Any glue for gluing wooden surfaces will work for us. Next I used wood glue. If, after gluing, you finish with some kind of polyurethane, then it is not necessary to use a waterproof adhesive.

Cover the surface to be glued with small drops of glue, and then spread it over the entire surface to get a thin, even layer. After the glue has been applied to all the boards, squeeze them together with a clamp and remove the droplets of glue that have protruded from the edges. Make sure there are no visible gaps between the boards. Leave them in this position overnight.

If you decide to save time and glue all the boards at once, they may move during the gluing process (see photo). Before continuing, it will be better if they form one surface. In my case, I used a planer. To avoid moving the planks when fixing with a clamp, glue them several at a time, and not all at once.

Making a bow handle

Rough sawing of the handle

So now you have a solid piece of wood (or glued together), it's time to cut out the template and glue it to the wood.

Rough sawing of the bow handle is best done with a band saw, but a jigsaw will do. First, make cuts from the edges of the workpiece to the edge of the template. They are needed in order to make it easier to remove excess wood, to facilitate sawing along the curved lines of the template.

After these cuts have been made, start sawing along curved lines. As soon as you reach the cuts, pieces of wood will fall off. This will create natural places to stop the cut.

Now you need to cut a shelf for the passage of the arrow. Turn the bow handle blank on its side and draw the outline of the shelf. If you have a band saw, the cutting process is simple - follow the same operations as when roughing out the handle. If you only have a jigsaw (like I do), then you may need a chisel. Most jigsaws can cut into boards up to 5 cm thick. The handle that I designed is about 7.5 - 9 cm thick in the side position.

To cut a shelf with a chisel, press the workpiece against the bench with a clamp and make a vertical cut with a hand saw. Next, turn the handle blank on its side and secure it again with a clamp on the bench. Using a hammer and chisel, carefully holding the chisel as perpendicular to the workpiece as possible, gradually cut down the shelf.
Now it's time to grind, with a rasp and sandpaper, give the handle a smooth shape. Most of the work I did with a belt and disc sander.


Ski cutting


To get an idea of ​​what the meadow will look like without a bowstring, put the ski and bow handle together as shown above. It is not required that the limb of the bow be too long, otherwise you will lose some power. This is especially true for skis for cross-country, because. they are less rigid.

For a 45cm handle, I cut the ski 55cm long (including the part that overlaps with the handle). The shoulders were made slightly longer than the handle to maintain visual balance. Use a square to draw a straight cut line, cut off part of the ski with a hacksaw. Do not use a circular saw or an ax for this operation, especially if the ski has metal reinforcement.

Make sure the ski is cut exactly at right angles. If not, smooth out the corner with sandpaper and a rasp.

Drilling holes for fasteners.


The number of bolts you need to use when attaching each limb to the handle depends on the diameter of the bolts. When using only one bolt per side, I took an M12 bolt. When using two bolts - M8.

To drill a hole, use a drill that exactly matches the diameter of the bolt. No need for the carving to cut into the wood. The bolt should fit into the socket without resistance, but should not play. At this stage, it is very convenient to use a drilling machine. Press the ski to the handle with a clamp, place them on the table of the drilling machine, the plane should be perpendicular to the drill. If a drill press is not available, these holes can be drilled with a hand drill.

Mark the center of the future hole (with an awl, nail) in the middle of the ski and approximately 3 cm from the edge of the ski. This will help you drill the hole accurately if you are not using a drill press. Place the bow arm and handle together and drill a hole together. You can also drill holes individually.

So that the bolt head does not protrude from behind and does not scratch, it must be “drowned”. Take a drill that is a hair's breadth larger than the diameter of the widest part of the bolt head. Determine how deep the hole needs to be drilled by holding the bolt next to the folded ski and handle as shown below. It is necessary that approximately 1-2 cm of thread protrude from the front to put on the washer and tighten the “lamb” nut. Make a mark on the handle and return to the drill press (or drill).

If you were wrong

It may happen that the limbs of the bow are not in line after you insert the bolts into the holes, and the bow will look something like this. A small gap like this will cause the limb of the bow to play, causing the bow to be inaccurate. Don't worry, it's easy to fix.

Cut and glue a small wooden wedge at the end of the backlash arm. When the glue dries, sand it down with sandpaper so that the shoulder fits snugly.

Bow handle finish


It's time to remove all marks and scratches. I used M40 sandpaper. M63 paper will also work. After sanding, remove wood dust and finish. I used two pieces of glossy polyurethane sandpaper with an M40 intermediate finish.

Making a bowstring


To implement a weak bend (10 kg or less), there is no need to reinforce the ends of the shoulders. A few needle files I used for jewelry did a good job of grooving. Be sure to round the edges of the grooves so that the bowstring does not rub against sharp edges.

For such a light bow, the strength of nylon thread is enough to serve as a bowstring. By itself, the thread is too thin for a slot in the heel of the arrow in order to properly tension it and shoot accurately. This can be corrected by twisting the thread in a special way (see below) to double its thickness.

Before making a thickened bowstring, determine how long the slightly untwisted bowstring should be. Tie two bow knots at the ends of the string and pull it over the bow. If the bowstring is too long or too short, it will greatly interfere with its use. The distance between the string and the handle is called the "base". Although it may vary slightly from bow to bow, it is approximately 18 cm.

To make a twisted bowstring suitable for a bow, cut a piece of string equal to three lengths of a single string strung as a bowstring.
The video below shows how to twist the thread. If you can't see clearly enough, here's what happens: fold the thread in half. With the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, hold the thread by the loop (pinch). Put the upper end of the thread coming out of the pinch on the end of the index finger, press it with your thumb and roll the pad of your thumb along the index finger to the joint, unwinding the weave of the thread. Having rolled the thread to the joint, press it with your thumb, and without releasing it, grab the second end of the thread with your index and middle fingers and turn the brush towards you. Move the pin holding the loop slightly forward. Repeat.

Detailed description of the operation on video, (in English)



Now you have a large piece of twisted nylon thread, tie a double knot at the end to prevent untwisting, cut and melt the ends.

The string is almost ready. The part of the bowstring where it comes into contact with the fingers and the notch of the arrow is subjected to increased wear during shooting. An additional thin thread layer can be added to strengthen the bowstring. This process is called bowstring maintenance. Serve the section of the bowstring a few centimeters below and above the shelf for the arrow.

To prevent this area from fluffing and sliding up and down, it is necessary to thread a hemp thread through the bowstring. Also, a small carnation can be inserted into the twisted bowstring to thread the hemp thread. The tape in the top photo serves to hold the hemp thread in place during the twisting process.
This process is similar to basic basting. However, the hemp thread is not strong, and pulls the end of the loop back, twisting. Therefore, thread the working end of the hemp thread with a small step through the twisted bowstring. Tie the end with a knot and apply superglue to the end to prevent fraying.
Last steps.

Now the bow is complete. Finally, I glued a small piece of leather onto the arrow shelf.

Adjusting bow power

Here are a few ways to increase bow strength.


The angle between the handle - the shoulder of the bow:

The smaller this angle, the more the limb of the bow will bend when the string is drawn, and thus develop more power. In order not to put too much stress on the skis (otherwise they might break), I prefer to reduce this angle to 0?. The easiest way to change this angle is to cut a small wedge out of wood and drill suitable holes. Insert a wedge between the shoulder and the handle and bolt them together. To make the wedge more visible in the photo, I wrapped it in paper. Shoulder Wedging increases the thrust of this bow from 26 to 30.

Changing the length of the shoulders

If the limbs of the bow are too long, the bow can be quite weak. Long arms bend less when pulling the bowstring. Less bent - less strength. The string can be drawn further and the limbs can be bent more without likely breaking, increasing the strength of the bow. Shoulders that are too small can be broken with normal bowstring tension. My advice: if you want to replace the shoulders, measure approximately 10 centimeters from the edge of each shoulder. Drill new holes and make a new string.

Removing material from the ends of the shoulders

Not all the force developed by pulling the bowstring is transferred to the arrow. Considerable energy is spent on returning the shoulders to their original position. If the arms are lighter, less energy is required to move them, resulting in more energy transferred to the arrow. This does not change the draw force of the bow, but it does make the bow more efficient and powerful.
Because the ends of the bow must move as far as possible to reach the starting position, they are often the part of the bow that is being stripped of material. To remove the material, use a rasp, file, sandpaper, with their help “sharpen” the ends. If you remove too much material, you will jeopardize the design of the bow. I warned you. It can be done as long as you don't go too far. Do not remove more than 20% of the material from the top third of the onion.