Bow Building Plans & Instructions
- 1). Cut a piece of yew wood to size. It should be 5-feet long and have a diameter of around 2-inches. You can use a variety of woods including hickory and maple, but yew is known to be the best wood for making bows.
- 2). Mark out a 3-inch handle right in the center of the bow. File the limbs of the bow to shape. The limbs need to have a specific shape to be effective as a bow. Use a rasp to shape the limbs near the handle so that it is 1-inch wide and 8/10-inch thick. It should be around 6/10-inch wide and 4/10-inch thick at the tip of the limbs. Make sure both limbs have the same dimensions.
- 3). Soak the bow in boiling water for up to 45 minutes. This will make the limbs soft and easy to bend. This step is necessary so the bow can later be formed into the proper shape.
- 4). Bend the bow into shape. Attach a string to both tips and pull the string upwards so that the bow limbs curve. Try to maintain this position for as long as possible, and then repeat this step a second time until the bow limbs have dried. They should have acquired a new shape by the time the wood dries.
- 5). Cut notches at both tips to accomodate the string. Use a knife to cut the notches, and position them around 0.5-inch from the tip.
- 6). String the bow using a string that is approximately 4-feet in length. The string needs to be shorter than the bow limbs in order to harness as much power as possible from the bow limbs. Stand on the handle of the bow and place a bow stringer over both of the bow tips and pull upwards so that the bow bends. Now place the strings in the notches while the bow is in this position. Release the bow stringer, and you now have a strung bow.
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