Bow making

[Strichev]

Every good gaming forum needs a bow making thread. So, here's one. Everyone who's into it should post here. What type wood do you use? How long do you let the wood dry? Describe the process. Whatever comes to your mind - post it.
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First one needs to select a nice tree to chop down. Unfortunately the yew is nigh extinct and highly protected in the area where I live. That doesn't stop local hunters from using it as a trophy holder though...

I know the location of a couple of yews, including a nice 15m tall one. plus several thousand ash trees and hazels. Material is not aproblem in Slovenia. Conveniently the nearest forest is 500m from my home and 20m from the workshop. Eventually, when I get comfortable enough in making bows, I'll sacrifice a small yew.

A couple of hazel and ash saplings have been drying for 3 months or so. Some people say that the wood need to be dried for 10 years. That's along time...what do you think? Half a year should do the trick for a sapling, shouldn't it?

However I'm in no rush to start shaping the bow; my previous attempt ended in disaster as the wood wasn't dry enough and an almost completed bow began twisting and curving to the point of being useless. Perhaps next month.

The string. In the old days strings for longbows were made of hemp or linen. Growing hemp in quantities required for a string is out of the question due to obvious reasons. So, I bought this and turned it into this: (warning, photobucket image ahead)

Failing to get the length right I'll have to shorten it a bit. That shouldn't be a problem. Even a bow string made of an already made hemp string hold together surprisingly well. Beeswax does wonders.

When I get to work on the actual bow, I'll post a few images.

So, post away!

[Agmen of Eladesor]

Not intending to troll or be trollish here, but when I first saw this post, I thought it said, Bowl making. And since I happen to be a wood turner, I thought - well, that's neat, someone else uses a wood lathe, too.

Just to make you guys on the east side of the pond feel better, I do think my Sorby High Speed Steel tools are the best priced tools around. Even when a nice gouge may cost $100, those are still the only way to go.

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Oh god... The end of days... Agmen agreed with me.

[Thunderer]

I used to make little bows of kebab sticks. Those of 30cm length are the best.

So, I'd take two. I'd make notches of medium depth on the ends, enough to hold a thread, and enough not to brake the bow's ends. I'd then put one stick next to the other one, and tie them with thread I'd wrap around those notches. I'd only tie one of their ends now, and the other one after the next sequence of steps. Then I'd cut a small piece of a thin, disposable aluminium tray. Around 4cmx3cm. I'd bend it on half. Then I'd connect its ends with a staple. Then make a hole in the middle. It's where the arrow will come trough. Now put holed aluminium ring around the two sticks. I'd press it hard, so the ring squashes and shapes around the sticks. It's supposed to have two hollow tubes at both ends now. Then, I'd pull it out and put 2 staples, between the hole and those 2 tubes. Then I'd return the aluminium part. Now connect the other 2 ends of the bow. And, at the end, put some pressure onto it and tie the thread used to fire arrows with.

It's supposed to look like this, viewed from the front:

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Side:

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Don't mind the "-"s, I had to make an arch somehow.

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[Karst]

My father is a master bow maker, and I work in his workshop at times.

Mostly on violins.

(yep, other kind of bow)

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