Making Laminated Bow Limbs

Bows used in archery and hunting are created from different woods and additional materials depending on the type of bow you plan to make.

Making laminated bow limbs.

Cut out the bow template using a band saw creating a front and back press you will use later to clamp the bow into its shape. Mark the limb cut off point and the string groove location photo 10. Making a laminated bow is something i have learned to do over the past few years. To achieve the longbow thickness 2 pieces of 3 4 plywood glued together will get the desired results.

Be sure to include a well defined front and back line. Gluing your bow laminations or bow backing is a critical part of the bow building process. I m going to do spliced limbs. Most bows are made with yew but other woods are an option as well.

This could be as easy as taking a stick of wood 36 long 3 4 thick and 1 5 wide cutting laminations out of it and grinding them. Rough cut the shape of the bow limbs on the bandsaw. Other materials include fibers from trees and animal by products like horns or sinews. Mark the limb tip shape photo 11.

Longbow forms are usually 1 1 2 thick and recurve forms are 1 3 4 or 2 thick. Use bow building glue that can handle the stresses of a bow s limbs. Fiberglass is hard on blades so use an old one. But to kill three stones with one bird and prevent me from having to do a separate build along i m going to show you how you can jazz up your limbs a little.

Here is what it looks like without music and much editing. Bow forms are usually made from appropriate sized pieces of plywood laminated together to the correct thickness. Making a laminated recurve bow how to tutorial solo custom archery. If you plan to make a lot of bows consider buying a carbide blade.

Whether making a recurve or a longbow trace the pattern using an existing bow or make an original.