PVC Longbow

by spencerthebearman

25K19131

Intro: PVC Longbow

This is a longbow I made using a 6' length of 3/4 inch schedule 40 PVC. I bent the PVC by heating it over a stove. I strung it with 1/8" nylon cord. The fletching on the arrow is made with orange duct tape (the orange color does not effect how well it works).

29 Comments

Nyhtfaeng 9 years ago

Why the did u bend it in the middle that way, it gives less power and the bow can be bent fairly far without breaking

kking35 10 years ago

I made one that way and works good, not much power but fun too shoot, I would go too a heat and air store and get some 3/4 inside diameter with 3/8 wall thickness pipe insulation and cut it down too 8 inches long and slide it onto pipe for a grip

goodface 10 years ago

I though the color did mater been using orange all this time.

RossTheGreat 10 years ago

This is cool. You put down almost no instructions and I still have a good idea how to build it. My only Q is: how do you string it?

spencerthebearman 10 years ago

Take your string, then tie a loop at each end and struggle to get the loop in the notches at each end. It's not easy but it is pretty simple.

Imcrazydude 11 years ago

U should flatten the limbs so there's less chance of it breaking

Dr.Bill 11 years ago

You should go check this guy out. He makes a 60# bow (and a lot of others) from PVC pipe.
He makes really good stuff.

http://backyardbowyer.com/

antioch 11 years ago

soft materials like foam, tissue, etc. come to mind.
if the tip doesn't have enough soft buffer and the arrow is too heavy though it will still be able to carry through a lot of power and be able to damage an unsuspecting eyeball.

dspencer9 11 years ago

I'd like to make this, but I would like to make arrows that wouldn't hurt anyone. Do you have any idea of how to do this?

thetate 11 years ago

Hey I agree with ilpug, using PVC is pretty dangerous as it could turn into a grenade under that kind of pressure

tjk94 11 years ago

Actually, so long as you don’t burn the pvc while heating and bending it, failure will be less catastrophic than with a wooden or fibreglass bow. The pvc is more likely to simply collapse rather than shatter.

Check out BackyardBowyer on youtube. He has made many bows out of pvc and has some videos showing how pvc bows fail.
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