Making an Oak Bow

And this is her in anger




























This is the bow braced at 5"

The bow has been tillered and pulls 55# @ 28"


This is a detail of the basic limb tiller






Added a handle riser to the belly to create a bit more depth. Resin-based glue, held in place with hemp cordage.

72" Nock to Nock. 1 1/2" at the handle, tapering to 1/2" at the tips. 3/4" deep at the handle, fading to 1/2" at the tips. This is the rough shape to start with

New Arrows

Now have half a dozen matched arrows. Fletchings 4" long 1/2" high.



Now all I need is some decent weather to go roving...

Fletching

Not as difficult as it sounds

The raw material. Goose wings. Three primary feathers from one wing are required for each arrow

Slice fletching from quill, and reduce quill as small as possible and create a flat surface.

Use sandpaper to smooth quill for good adhesive contact.

Produce three fletches of equal order.

Tie the cock fletch at right angles to the nock in your arrow, and evenly space the other two, then bring all three down the shaft and tape in place. You can add some glue between the quill and shaft and push into place and allow to dry. Then continue the whipping from the rear, through the fletchings to the fore and whip over the protruding quill. Varnish or glue the whipping and trim your fletch to desired shape.

This last image shows the natural "helical" twist of the fletch, which imparts spin to the arrow and can improve accuracy, somewhat akin to rifling.

And here are various finished fletches

Shootin' the Sun

Spring comes a little quicker if you scare the sun into the sky

Get the point

Arrows are the working part of the setup. Here's some pics of mine at various stages of completion

Tweedledum & Tweedledee

This is tweedledum at 28". Pulled by Wellsy


Here is tweedledee at full draw out roving


Two Oak Bows. 70" Nock to Nock. Tweedledum pulls 45# @ 28", Tweedledee pulls 55# @ 28"

Welcome to stovie bowmans blog

By way of an intro, this is me with one of my toys... Character ash bow tillered to pull 40# @ 28". Given to a friend, Mouldy, after much pestering...