Making bows from boards is fun and effective, but what's even cooler is making a bow from a stave (an unrefined piece of wood split from a log). After I got into bow building last year I knew I had to try making bows from staves, so I went looking for a tree to cut down. Not just any tree will make a good bow. The tree needs to be hardwood, and it needs to be nice and straight. I didn't have access to any of the common bow wood trees (osage, yew, locust, ash, hard maple, oak, etc.) so...

Shortly after finishing my first bow (before I even test shot it), I began working on my second bow. For my second bow I decided to keep things simply and use the same layout as the first bow, but do some fancy stuff with the handle and tip overlays. The bow is 72" tip to tip, parallel to a bit less than mid-limb, and has an 8" stiff handle (including fades). It took about an inch and a half of set. I start my board bows out by cutting the limb width tapers with a table saw and then using...

It's safe to say that 3D printing has moved past trinkets and toys and onto more interesting things. From large scale objects like cars to functional 3D printed motors, it seems that almost anything can be 3D printed. In order to build these huge or complicated items, one must work around the limitations of 3D printing and make careful design choices. A key shortcoming of 3D printing is the strength of the parts. With this in mind, I pose the question: is it possible to 3D print a powerful full sized crossbow? Yes, in fact, it is. Materials This crossbow...

An Archer is only as good as his arrows, and making a good arrow is easier said than done. An important part of arrows is the fletching; it plays a key role in making the arrow fly straight. Installing the fletching can be tricky, which is why fletching jigs were invented. A fletching jig holds the feathers or vanes in the correct position as you attach them to the arrow shaft. There are lots of commercial fletching jigs available, but they can be fairly pricey. They certainly don't cost $1 like my jig did! The Design I wanted this jig...

Last year I took a slight interest in archery and did some research on how to build a bow. I read a detailed build-along thread and decided it was definitely something I might like to do, but then summer ended and I forgot about it. This summer, however, I actually followed through and built myself a longbow. The two resources that helped me most were this forum thread (it's very detailed and even includes history!) and http://poorfolkbows.com/. Here are some details and photos of the process. Starting Out Given that this was my first bow, I wanted to...