How to Make a Bow and Arrow

The classic bow and arrow, made simple.

Step 1 Some history

The bow that we will be making is called a longbow. It is very simple in design, and could be made from things almost everyone has.Longbows were ideally made from yew, Italian yew being the best, but white woods elm, ash, and hazel were commonly used due to availability. Longbows were often built to be as tall as the archer and a well made bow could shoot well in excess of 300 yards (275 meters) using flight arrows. A longbow archer could shoot up to 12 arrows per minute as a crossbow man could only fire up to three. For the rest of this article click here. Now lets get on to the fun stuff!

Comments

[zingadude123]

This was a really good instructable. I made a decent bow, but the string is really tight. I was wondering how to make the bow bend more. Should i keep it strung for a while?

[esmith37]

The fletching on an arrow shouldn't come that close to the nock. You want enough space for your fingers to fit between the nock and the fletching. Then you can draw the bow properly, using all your finger strength. Just curl the fingertips of your index, middle and ring finger around the string with the arrow between your index and middle finger.

[Turtlepirate101]

btw firstly a notch in the bottom at the side of the arrow is more reliable than a slit in the bottom and secondly the arrow is to be held with the thumb and the index finger ( the first crease from tip of finger)

[viola90]

That's a common mistake that a lot of us have.

[Nalydorthebuilder]

oh, and also, it's better to use a fresh stick right? Not a dried out stick, cuz that would just snap...

[rrr]

It is probably better to get a dry stick like ash. If the stick is wet or fresh it will bend easy when it hits the target (eventually snapping) and won't fly strait all the time.

[alfonso]

Just as long as the stick isn't from a "dead" tree it will work fine. The stick can be dry just not dead. Also, I sharpen my arrows so they will go farther.

[homebowyerboy]

You are acctually quite wrong. "green sticks" as they are called fresh are hardly good for a bow. In genral the way to do it is dry a good quartered log for a few years...

[BowMaker95]

the arrows you say to make will not spin. Hunting arrows are the nly arrows that spin and they spin so that when they hit the target they cut and do more damage. Regular and homeade arrows do not spin because most are made for targets or safety

[rrr]

Hey bow homemade arrows can spin i made one myself out of this piece of wood and crow feathers and it does spin.

[saxis]

I have read all the comments and am confused that there has been very little criticism of the actual quality and workmanship of the bow. I am no expert but it does look a little on the shonky side. I am sure that Bear Grylls could comment further on this and give some technical advice.

[chadwell]

people just go to walmart with 3 dlars and buy an actual arrow that works garanteed

[rugnor]

im from spain and here we dont have wallmarts(in fact where i live there arent shops that sell thing like that at all)

[Billgun]

Yeah u have Walmarts, ASDA or something is europes walmart but trust me theres a walmart in just about every single country on earth wal-mart is a HUGE company

[poboyle666]

Yeah, we have ASDA in the UK but you'll never find arrows in there!

[Saturday_Mourning_Cartoons]

Walmart may be a huge company, but that doesn't mean people shop there. Also just because someone has on in their country, doesn't mean that it is right down the street. I mean, who in their right mind would bus somewhere for 6hrs just to shop at Walmart?

I know that Walmart is having a lot of trouble marketing in Europe because a lot of Europeans shop at the stores they've been going to all their lives. The same stores their parents shopped at, and their parents before them.

[bennyboy1994]

australia dont have it

[chrizw123]

they have asda where i lve and they dont sell that sorta stuff...

[lukeyj15]

No walmarts in australia as far as i know

[scott rox]

There aren't any Walmarts in New Zealand either.

[fartnocker]

 sandy4444s new account: not walmart! walmart does not carry green day cds.
and its for people hoo cant afford to go to real stores

[fartnocker]

 also its more fun to make it yourself

[Frankie174]

duh

[glitcher]

It also garuntees a broken bow and wasted 3 dollars...

[alfonso]

Thats probably the way to go if you want to spend money. But if you want to make a arrow to mess around with, this will work just fine.

[Jusamies]

How would be willow? That would at least be agile enough to bend and have a good thickness.

[kurth92]

iv used willow goes well :)

[Metalcaster14]

actually I think the flights are for keeping the arrow on a straight course

[Caboose32899]

There not called flights there called fletchings trust me iam in archery .

[RLewisH]

They're not called either, they're called vanes.

[jeffconnelly]

They are called any and all of these terms plus others. It depends on the person.

[Capt. Kidd]

fletchings.

[Jusamies]

I suggest we just call them simply feathers for siplicity's sake and to avoid a very pointless argument...

[komodoboyx5]

but the crossbows were more devastating and were alot harder to remove, and you could hold more. and they could be produced faster.

[jamiklo]

mydailygeek.com actually had a "shoot out" between the two and the cross bows are indeed much more effective.

[PROhunter12345]

shut up say somthing about making a quick and easy bow

[jr.tuckluck13]

crossbow bolts were actually much shorter and did not have a barbed tip/ The tip was the same diameter as the shaft and was only a spike. That made them much easier to remove

[komodoboyx5]

i know, because they were shorter they were easier to produce. & they were like snipers, harder to remove because your almost dead.

[jr.tuckluck13]

But if, say, you got shot in the arm, it would be so much easier to pull out than an archers arrow with a 3 inch long, half inch thick, three inch wide arrowhead.

[cegu]

I know Wallmart only from Sout Park:)