Last year I wrote a blog post about wanting to make a bow similar to this:
Awesome bow!
I had no clue where to start or what tools/materials I needed. The last time I did anything with wood and tools was in my last year of school where I made a Maze toy (pretty darn good though!) Luckily Andy Miles from Dragonfly Archers offered to help me make a ‘stick bow’ so I could learn the science and theory behind it all. So on Boxing Day last year we found a straightish bit of hazel, chopped it off and left it to season for a few months.
Next I took my branch up to Andy & Lorraine’s house to begin work on it (Andy did most of the work – however I did have a go at using most of the tools used at the different stages and had a go at tillering it!). Photos below were taken by Andy’s wife Lorraine:
Using the drawknife to carve out the limbs
Shaping the limb tips!
Measuring out the handle
No need to gauge out huge chunks of wood anymore - time for the finer touches. Andy showing me how the scraper works.
Time to test it out on the 'tillering stick' - once on you can see where needs further whittling!
Bit of fine tuning!
As the wood was still a bit damp, we found some parts were starting to get a little fluffy! Therefore we decided to stop and give it a few more weeks to dry out! Hoping to finish it off and start making some self-nocked arrows during the next session! I can see this getting quite addictive!
Andy Miles – you’re a legend!!!
Lorraine – sorry for covering your garden in sawdust x
Wow, looks like a lot of fun and I’ll bet nothing will shoot quite like the SamWise bow!
Looking forward to the next update.
Don’t you put yourself down girl,you did more than your fair share of the work,i only showed you what to do.Hopefully it’s going to turn out to be a great little bow,can’t wait till the next session.(i think Lorraine has forgiven us for all the sawdust!).