Make a bow for under 20 Bucks

Make a hardwood bow with no special tools, setups or working space for under 20 bucks. Everything was purchased at Lowes. There are more details at http://www.dejapong.com

Step 1 Glue together Wood

I went to Lowes and got these thing.

48"X1/2" Oak trim piece
24"X1/2" Poplar trim piece
bottle of gorrila glue
Stanley hand planer
bundle of jute rope (In the future, hemp would probably be better)

The hand planer from lowes turned out to be just the ticket for shaving down the bow arms to what I needed. Its only 6 bucks and its about 3"X1" big. Any bigger would probably turn out to be too unweildy. Any sort of wood glue would work really.. as a matter of fact, gorrila glue is probably not the best one to use. The wood was just some project wood or you could use trim wood too, I guess.

This is pretty self-explanatory, just make sure you get the glue more evenly spread than it is in this picture. Use sticks and rope as a clamp and the piece until its cured enough to release. This should actually take a few hours but since I'm really impatient, I waited for half an hour and then started carving. Dont do that, it just messes things up in further steps. Whatever you do, don't try bending the bow until the glue is dry either. This just makes them pop apart.

Comments

[Du7raz]

anyone else gonna use this for a hunger games cosplay?

[GofishRC007]

Yes!

[HungerGamesLover101]

Haha thats exactly why im looking at this tutorial. But it seems kind of hard! Any other websites that you found that could help me out?

[TANZMEISTER]

http://backyardbowyer.com/my-books/

[ckardos]

that is exactly what lead me to this.

[timmycutts]

why on earth would you make a bow out of bamboo? it'd be smarter to make it out of a sappy wood, rather than a grassy one... maybe maple or yew... anyway... this instructable isn't very acurate... there's nothing about tillering the bow, which is really important coz if you don't, the bow will either be too thick and snap or be too thin and snap, plus it's good to know the draw weight of the bow before using it...

[MadBricoleur]

Bamboo is extremely elastic and thus a good bow wood but it also takes "set" (permanent bending into an arc, which makes the bow lose potential energy) over time.

[redhawk44]

Bamboo is actually an ideal material for a bow, as many hundreds of thousands of people have discovered. It has be very dry though. When making a bow you adjust the draw weight as a part of the tillering process. As for not mentioning the tillering process what do you think planing down the wood in step 2 was supposed to be? although personally I use a scraper rather than a plane. The use of technical or craft specific terminology in an instructable intended for those who are not initiates of the craft would be pointless and slightly rude.

[rabid_engineer]

Judging from how elaborate Japanese bamboo bows are, there is quite a bit of work (and experience) involved in making one with any useful kind of draw. But it is definitely possible to make one yourself.
You need 3 layers, however, and the middle layer is traditionally not made of one single piece, but multiple small ones, which serve, together with a fairly elastic glue, as a means of lending more flexibility, coupled with a higher strength, to the bow. Or at least that is what I gleaned from looking at them, and using them.

[TheInventor1997]

what's tillering

[timmycutts]

tillering is the removing of wood to achieve the correct bend, draw length and draw wieght in the bowstaff. if you don't tiller it and the bow, it'll be to thick and you won't be able to pull the string back far enough. and if you don't check the draw length and weight, the bowstaff could be too thin and when you shoot with it the arrow will just fall on the ground.

[pingo6]

is this safe? i dont want my homemade bow blowing up in my face

[Sponzyparadox]

Yes and no, when you make it you really need to listen for cracks as you tighten the string. Also make sure you choose a piece with VERY VERY VERY straight grain. I would not use oak myself due to its brittleness I would instead choose yew, ash, or elm.

[MadBricoleur]

Disagree. I used red oak myself and that didn't break.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Red-Oak-Board-Bow/ Granted, I built mine a little more "properly".
Aside from that, there are other cheap choices. Yew is rather expensive and I would put more effort into making a proper bow with yew wood. (shaping, tillering, backing, finishing, good bowstring)
And besides, by the time you hear one crack, it's too late and you'll need to start over. With anything other than a whisper crack you don't want to risk it blowing up in your face. Bend the wood slowly, progressively further, forming the compression in the wood with short and repeated pulls of the string.

[bruins_fan27]

ya is it safe? one of mine blew up in my face wen fireing it :D

[xevilmickx]

wouldn't leather straps work better for this? might be a little easier on your hand as well, with repeated use. Just a thought...might try it myself.

[Dragonfistgoku]

im from Aus and i dont have a lowes thats a clothes shop here anyone know were to buy this stuff here.
i make bo staffs for my mates and charge them $60 and i use meserti or bamboo if you can suggest a cheaper wood that would be great.
would i be able to buy this stuff online??

[fis0008]

is the small bit on the outside or the inside

[fis0008]

Or anything else like that

[fis0008]

Is the diameter in inches or CM

[cullenc1993]

As a carpenter I would recommend hickory, or oak. Really, I think Osage Orange would be the best but unless you have an exotic lumber yard close that may not be an option. Maple would be good for a first time bow maker because the grain is more strait than oak or hickory and would be a little easier to carve. I would also recommend some clamps but I'm sure that set up would be alright as long as you give the glue 12 or 24 hours to dry.

[ihaveguitarskills!]

yew and osage orange are probably the two best woods to use. but they are both expensive.

[cool2000]

would pine work?

[tjlavelle]

defenently not

[digrat]

I would think that pine would be too soft of a wood to work well for a bow. Especially considering that you want as close to a knot-free piece of wood in your bow as possible (for strength) and most pine is littered with knots.

[Brounds14]

now its time to learn how to make DIY arrows!

[lucek]

I've never payed even $20 for a bow. A good strait sapling that grows on the back of my property has always served me nicely. OK the draw weight isn't commercial but I only use them for target practice and decoration. That's not to say any of them aren't serviceable with the exception of my really old attempts that I was learning while making. To the point I just finished one. I've yet to test it or varnish it but everything was done with a knife and my sore thumb.

[wunmanband]

make a bow for free in the wilderness. there isnt much use to make a survival bow and carry it around, unless you are really in a survival situation, in which case you could just make one for free.

[cod black ops]

i made one to

[hrodriguez7]

I dont Know if its just me, but I coudn't find the more detailed descripton of waht the boww looks like
could you give me a direct link?

[hrodriguez7]

by the way, I found a wierd glich on the speed finger game.....
if you just press on the A key, the mph will go on forever!!!!

[hrodriguez7]

if you buy the stuff at home depot, will it sill be @ 20 bucks?

[hamzah123]

what kind of bamboo u use??not any kind of bamboos are flexible

[ComplacentBard]

which piece is on the outside?

[Thatguywithpoles]

Use B50, it's a type of string made for making bowstrings, get that and google how to make bowstrings.

[dustindodd]

whats the lbs pullback?

[9mvp9]

This is awesome, i don't work with wood, but I'm making this! The bow-work is epic in these pictures.

[dra9on112233]

Is there a way to make sharp arrows,anyone?

[lhall1]

sharpen the arrow to a point then slitly char it useing a lighter or a candle ONLY any thing more powerful is not good ,the reson you char it is that the heat hardens the wood by taking away moisture and making the wood denser

[DANISMAN]

Yeah, you can make wood arrow heads the glue on to the arrow, or do the same thing with stone, flint would be the best.