How to Make a Bow and Arrow--10 Steps Only

by howtomakeabow

278K1.9K95

Intro: How to Make a Bow and Arrow--10 Steps Only

Making a bow and arrow is not difficult, all you need is patience and focusing on the work.


I divide the course into 2 parts, i.e, making a bow and making an arrow.

Let’s get started now.

How to make a bow and arrow

Part 1. How to make a bow.

Here I would like to share the way fo make a simple Glass Fiber Bow.

STEP 1: Step 1--Get a Wood

Get a wood and plane the surface first. Then Outline the Bow Shaft and Tip.

STEP 2: Step 2--Cutting the Wood

Cut the wood according to the outline, after cutting them out, polish the surface.

STEP 3: Step 3-Arrange the Material to Make a Bow

Material List:

Glass Fiber Sheet;

Wooden Bow Tip&Shaft;

AB Glue(or Epoxy Resin);

Nylon;

Cowhide;

Protective glove ( you don’t want the glass fiber to hurt your hand, right? ) ;

G Clamp;

Half Round File and Broach File(optional).

STEP 4: Step 4--Polish the Bow Tip and Shaft for 2 Rounds

In the first round, use 400 Grit Sandpaper to mill off the edges and corners, especially the on the String Groove.
In the second round, use 2000 Grit Sandpaper to make the Bonding Area of Wood and Glass Fiber rough ( in order to make them bond more firm by AB Glue ).

STEP 5: Step 5--Glue the Bow Tip and Shaft Onto the Glass Fiber Sheet

Use AB Glue to bond the bow tip to the glass fiber sheet, and then wrap it firmly by bandages and wires, and then wait 12 hours to let the glue show its bonding power.

Then unwrap the wires and bandage, polish the bonding area. Spray some water to the File to avoid lots of dust during polishment. After polishment, wash the bonding area by water.

STEP 6: Step 6--Glue the Bow Shaft to the Glass Fiber Sheet.

Use the above mentioned method to glue the Bow Shaft to the Glass Fiber Sheet.
Notice:

A. Find out the Centre Point of the Bow by measure first, then use G Clamp to fix the boding area.
B. Wait 24 hours after glue, otherwise the Glass Fiber Sheet and Wooden Shaft will easily get apart.
C. You can use some shim to protect the Glass Fiber Sheet.

STEP 7: Step 7--Wrap

Wrap the cowhide first, then wrap the Nylon and Twine
(nylone for fixing the cowhide, Twine just for making the bow seems more traditional).

STEP 8: Step 8--Paint

Paint the wood until it will not absorb the paint oil anymore.
For this bow, I use Edible Oil as it’s easy to get for everyone.

STEP 9: Step 9--Draw the String--The Final Step

I bought a finished string from the market because it seems just a waste of time for making string by myself.
( You can make a string by yourself, it’s also easy )

STEP 10: Final Result

That's it.

It only will need 2~3 days for making a similar bow.
It’s a Simple Bow for practice purpose, its Draw Weight is about 35 lbs.
I can make the draw weight to 50lbs or above, however it will high standard Glass Fiber Sheet,which means more costs. As this is just a sample case, I choose material with lowest cost.The total cost of materials I spent on is about US$50.

For more hand made bow, you can visit my website.

This bow is kind of composite bow, not like English longbow.
I'm also wondering who will win if a Chinese Composite Bow VS a English Longbow. ? :-)

81 Comments

Abelknsl 2 years ago

Hello.
Can I use carbon fiber instead of glass fiber? And how thick should it be.
Also, can you help me specify which brand of the glue would be best and which kind of string

Ryunin 2 years ago

Can someone please attach the PDF 😭😭😭 the pdf available is corrupted.

Ryunin 2 years ago

I tried again, it said the same thing, that pdf could be corrupted or not found.

I also noticed that the pdf is always 0 kb and that if i downloaded any other pdf from instructables it always works fine. :(

Ryunin 2 years ago

Oh it works just fine! Thanks a lot 😍 for your kind help! Cheeeeers!

Day Ferran 14 8 years ago

1. I don't think that's safe, what with no arrow rest, or teaching people how to make an arm guard or finger tab, you can get a serious cut or scrape.
2. You can't just glue pieces together and expect the bow not to break when you draw and release.
3. That string has lost its twist and will snap if you shoot with it, so now you have to retwist it and wax it with a piece of leather.

pub35 3 years ago

i don't know, seems totally fine to me. arrow rests are nice but not really nessisary.

aneeshd70 3 years ago

U Dont know... The actual joy is there without the arrow resting place.. Lol 😂.. With all those if u hit a goal, it is not the perfect skill...

TarmoP 4 years ago

Good day! This is perfectly safe and construction is one-on-one for most of the AliExpress cheap side Manchu bows. I just stumbled upon this tutorial to reconstruct my cheap-ass AliExpress bow, to make sure, which kind of glue to use. My cheapo was glued so poorly that I just had to re-glue siyah (they call those wooden tips that way) and now it looks exactly like one that's built here.
Most of asian and middle-east bows are shot without the shelf, using thumbdraw, keeping arrow on the right side and using technique called khatra, which avoids string slap and also makes sure that arrow is clear from thumbsupport before fletchings hit your thumb. All of that is totally different from european (or mediterranian) style of archery, so better do some research before commenting. Check for Armin Himer videos in the Youtube, if you want to know some more. Cheers!
And, of course, thanks for the excellent tutorial! Only please add some measures and patterns for handle and siyah.
Here are some images from my rebuild process.

Forest Bowyer 8 years ago

1. There are lots of bows that do not have a shelf or arrow rest. This style of bow is often made and shot without rests. While some people will use shooting hand gloves or guards, arm guards, and finger tabs, gloves, or thumb rings/pads, not everyone does. Saying this bow isn't safe is like somebody showing how to make a bicycle and then saying the Instructable is not safe because they also don't show how to make a helmet and pads.

2. Most laminated bows are only held together with glue. There are few traditonal bows aside from takedowns that have mechanical fasteners as well. Some makers of bows similar to this instructable use screws or bolts along with glue, but it can be argued that these cause more problems than they help. Plus this bow isn't just glued, the nylon string is actually helping to keep the bow together where the joints could be stressed. A bow like this could be held together without glue if it's wrapped tight enough with a strong cord.

3. That string, which is pretty typical of what you'll find for fiberglass limb bows made in China, is fine as is. They are made of a long looped strand of a pretty coarse twine, probably polyester or Dacron. They don't need to be twisted, and work better if they aren't. Plus if you don't have to twist the string on a bow with siyahs (the glued on wooden tips), it's better not too. Having a really twisted string can actually cause siyah twist or misalignment over time.

lonely_archer 3 years ago

Hello, does any templates of this bow are available? Because your link doesn't work

jlee178 9 years ago

are there any specific dimensions. or photos with a ruler. maybe template for wood pieces? I would be nice if there was a little more than here are all the pieces , put them together. Instructables usually have a few more ......instructions.

howtomakeabow 8 years ago

yes, I just make a draw for the wood tips and grips. contact me and i would like to send you

Banuvatt 6 years ago

Do you have any idea where I can buy this like from Amazon? Could you send me a link?

SalmanK98 4 years ago

I want to know that what is the name of this wood
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