I built the bow in the image in my garage from Maple, Bloodwood, Bamboo, and Fiberglass. I cut and ground the laminations myself using a makeshift thickness grinder that I built out of a cheap belt sander. It’s 48” in length (basically a knock-off of the Bear Archery SuperMag 48, which I wanted to buy, but is almost always on backorder). It pulls 60 lbs at a 28” draw.

I’ve grown disillusioned with my field of study (which very coding heavy) and have found myself retreating to this hobby more and more just to feel human. I’m considering trying to lay the groundwork to build a business out of it in the next few years; probably a sole proprietorship that could potentially evolve into a co-op of sorts, with equal pay and collective ownership (something that I don’t think exists at all in the archery community, as of yet). I have absolutely no interest in becoming a “small business tyrant” — this would be strictly for the love of the craft and to help feed my family. In addition to building bows, I would also love to host workshops to teach the art, as I’m fully confident that it’s something that almost anyone can do, given enough patience, guidance, and resourcefulness.

If anyone has any sources to recommend for doing such a thing, advice is very much welcome. I’m going in blind, so even some sort of one-size-fits-all, “Co-Op Building For Dummies” sort of thing would be of help. I don’t envision myself getting anything off the ground for at least a several years.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

  • domhnall [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Oy, where to begin... you're in for a good time.

    There used to be a fantastic website called PoorFolkBows that had excellent tutorials. Sadly, its creator let the domain expire earlier this year, but here's an archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20200222011357/http://www.poorfolkbows.com/. Most people start with the classic Red Oak board bow, which is just a red oak board (which they carry at Lowes or Home Depot) backed with fiberglass drywall tape secured with woodglue. You can make a completely serviceable bow with that setup, some hand tools, and some elbow grease.

    The only specialty material you'd want to consider buying is string material. You can buy a custom string made to whatever length you want, but it's really not very hard to learn how to make one yourself. Buy a couple of spools of Dacron and make a string jig out of a 2x4 and some nails, and baby you've got yourself a Flemish splice bowstring of whatever length you want going. It takes some practice, but that's half the fun.

    There are also a lot of good video tutorials on YouTube. Kramer Amons' channel is a good place to start. His board bow tutorial is very similar to the PoorFolkBows build, though I wouldn't recommend using Poplar. It's way too soft. Stick with red oak. Hickory is even better, if you have a lumber yard nearby.