How to make arrows in taiga conditions. How to make a bow with your own hands: a detailed master class

Or a crossbow, you need arrows. And if you and I have already considered manufacturing using, then a special approach is needed for bow arrows. When I said “special approach”, I meant that arrows for a bow are best made from wood, and they should be perfectly even. To achieve this, you can use simple and at the same time very original devices. Agree that planing an arrow with an ordinary knife, or using a planer, is a very long and laborious task. Yes, and good evenness is difficult to achieve. One of the carpentry masters, Konstantin Belyaev, suggested making even, round sticks using the following technique.

Take a wooden block with a section of twelve by twelve millimeters and use a shoe knife to remove the edges from the end of the future bow arrow. The end does not have to be rounded very evenly, as long as it enters the drill.

Now we need to make a device that will serve us to round the entire surface of the bow arrow. As can be seen from the photo, this device consists of a lehr (dice) clamped in clamps on a workbench. The die can be used with any step, as long as it has the required diameter, that is, twelve millimeters.

Now we clamp the blank of the arrow for the bow into the drill, and insert the other end into the die (lehr), and, turning on the drill, drive it back and forth several times.

We got a good preparation of an arrow for a bow. But this is not the end of the matter. If your goal is simply to make some, for example, dowels, then it has already been achieved. But if you want the stick to be perfectly round, then another simple device can be used for this.

Take a bar, some kind of hard wood, for example, beech. Drill a hole in it near the edge of the bar. The hole must be drilled slightly obliquely. Now planer the surface of the bar with a planer until a hole cut appears. You get what you see in the photo. On the one hand, the full diameter of the hole turned out, on the other, a little less. Since the diameter of our blank arrow for a bow is twelve millimeters, the drill must be taken with a diameter of thirteen millimeters.

Now take a wide chisel and fix it obliquely near the hole with a clamp.

Now re-insert the blank arrow for the bow into the drill and drive it through this device in the same way.

As a result, you should get a perfectly even arrow. To make it even smoother, just take a drill with a workpiece in one hand, and sandpaper in the other and calmly grind it at low speeds.

Here are some simple tools that will help you make a perfectly straight arrow. Naturally, the diameter of the arrow may be different, this one is given only as an example to show the method of making an even shaft for an arrow. We have already talked about how to make arrowheads and, as well, in other articles. Good luck, friends!

Bow and arrows

Every person in childhood imagined himself as Robin Hood, or any other great archer. In fact, archery skill is very useful. In this article, you will learn how to quickly make a bow and arrow from improvised materials.

What to make an onion from?

For the bow itself, you will need a small rod. It should not be too thick, otherwise you will not bend it. It is not recommended to take too thin a stick. After all, the main force transmitted to the arrow comes just from the rod, too thin will not be able to transmit the required force. That is, when choosing a workpiece, keep in mind that you must bend it, but without spending too much effort on it.

The workpiece must be sufficiently dry. It should not show any cracks. The number of knots should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise, there is a risk that the bow will break at the most crucial moment.

In order to make a bow with your own hands, it is advisable to choose hardwood. Ideal options in the middle lane would be hazel or juniper. Birch and ash will be slightly worse in quality. In any case, you need to pick up the rod, so that you have enough strength to bend it.

bow arrow

The length of the bow is a rather controversial issue. It should be about 1 meter 60 centimeters maximum. But for a beginner, it will be problematic to cope with such a massive bow. Therefore, take a stick a little more than a meter in length. This will be the best option.

The thickness of the bow is a concept no less controversial. Most often it is recommended to make it 5 centimeters thick in the middle. And about a centimeter at the ends. At proper preparation onions, it must be well greased with fat, this will give it additional elasticity and increase its resistance to drying out. To attach the string at a distance of 2 cm from both ends, cuts are made.

Turned blank for onions

bowstring

Any string will work for the bowstring. The ideal option there will be a line. If you have it at hand, then you won’t find better material. In the field, you can use improvised materials.

The bow should be bent evenly. The length of the bowstring is selected individually. If the bow bends too easily, then the bowstring needs to be made shorter. Fasten it with the help of a “double half-bayonet” loop. This allows not only to securely fasten the bowstring, but also to pull it as efficiently as possible. If unseasoned wood was used to make the tool, the bowstring is removed after use.

Pay attention to the tension of the bowstring. It should only be slightly taut. You will give it the main tension when you put on an arrow and shoot. If you make a bow correctly, then it will be quite an effective weapon. As soon as he loses elasticity, it is better to make another one. Moreover, having some experience, you will do it faster.

How to make arrows for a bow

For real lovers of hunting with a bow, we recommend buying ready-made fiberglass arrows, since a lot depends on the quality of its execution, and they are not so expensive. But if you still decide to make arrows yourself, then the best option will be birch. Take for work even rods about 60 cm long and no more than 6 mm thick. At one end, make an incision large enough to lay the arrow on the bowstring.

The simplest tip will be a pointed and fire-burnt end. But it is better to make the tip sharper. A tin can is suitable for him. To attach the tip to the projectile, you will have to split the arrow a little and insert the tip there, it must be tied.

The plumage is an integral part of the arrow. To make it, you need three bird feathers. Split the arrow and insert the feathers into it. All this is also attached. The arrow is ready. Having plumage and a tip is desirable, but if you do not have the opportunity to make them, then you can do without it.

What is the onion for?

Even the most good bow you need to know how to use it. Otherwise, it will turn out to be a simple, useless piece of wood. If you intend to use , it is advisable to practice shooting in advance. But do not give up if you find yourself in the forest without such preparation and you only have a bow from a weapon. A little practice and you will significantly increase your accuracy.

Easiest for a beginner to learn fishing with the help of a bow. To do this, you will need to tie a rope to the arrow. This is necessary so as not to lose the caught fish. When aiming, take into account the refraction of light by water.

If it is necessary to independently obtain food in conditions wildlife The bow turns out to be a very handy tool. A properly made tool is easy to handle. The string is the most difficult part of the bow to make. Therefore, it is advisable to take it with you on a trip in advance. Remember that a bow is a weapon. Therefore, be extremely careful with its use and do not trust it to children.

Materials:

Skis: pieces of skis for making bow arms;

Lumber - for the manufacture of the handle. You need either a large beam (at least 8x8x50), or small bars;

A pair of bolts, washers, wing nuts - to attach the bow arms to the handle;

Nylon thread (or any low-stretch string) - for the bowstring.

Tools:

clamps;
Hand drill with a set of drills;
Chisel, hammer;
Wood rasp or file;
Sandpaper of various grain sizes;

The tools listed below are not essential, but will make the process much easier if you're making a more complex bow handle.

table saw;

Drilling machine;

Band-saw;

Plane;

Belt / disc grinder.

Making a bow from skis

I used mountain skis. The ends are bent at an angle of 20 - 28 degrees. Bow limbs made from alpine skis will be more "strong" because skiing more rigid.

Bow handle design

The originals of the handle in real size:

(downloads: 13009) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 7719) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 7038) .pdf

View online file: Download file:
(downloads: 6643) .pdf

A collapsible bow includes two arms in its design, which are attached to both sides of the handle with nuts. The handle should have two flat surfaces for attaching the shoulders, a place for a grip with a hand, and a cutout shelf for the passage of an arrow. The handle should not bend (at all!) while using the bow! As long as the bow satisfies these three conditions, it doesn't matter how it looks. Now is a good opportunity to show your creativity.

Start your bow design with a couple of sketches on a piece of paper. I made a few smaller sketches so that I could have some ideas before drawing the handle at full size.

The two hilts I made were approximately 51 and 46 cm long. The hilt pictured on the left was designed using only one bolt fixing the bow arm, while the one on the right was designed using two bolts on each arm. Don't pay attention to it special attention. Even after the bow is fully formed, there are ways to change the angle to increase the draw on the string. We will return to this later.

Make a copy of your drawing so that you have the original drawing to transfer to the tree. Cut and glue the sketch to the foam and cut it out with a knife or rasp.

On the foam handle, you can find a comfortable shape for the part that the hand will hold on to, adjust the curves before making the handle from wood. The foam model helped me a lot. I'm not very good at transferring a three-dimensional image from my imagination to a plane. Having a 3D model allowed me to tweak the design before making the wood handle.

Making a bow handle

Depending on your desire and the materials available, this step can be short or take a long time. I didn't have a large enough piece of wood to make the handle, so I glued it together from several pieces. This method will also allow you to make the handle multi-colored. If you decide to use one block, give it the largest possible square section with a table saw, jointer, planer, and proceed to the step "Roughing the handle". If you want to make a handle glued together from several bars, read on.

You will need several pieces of walnut, oak, pecan wood. Take some time to "play" with them, make interesting color combinations from different types of wood.

Using a table saw, give the selected pieces of wood the same width (along the grain). The width of the blanks should be approximately 5 mm larger than the widest part of the ski. In my case, this was about 5 cm for both pairs of skis. The 5 mm allowance will be removed later with sandpaper. Now cut the planks to the same size lengthwise (across the grain).

For this I used a manual circular saw. Please note that the boards are a bit uneven. For high-quality gluing, it is important that the boards fit together as tightly as possible. If you have a planer or thicknesser, make the planks even or sand them with sandpaper on a rectangular block of wood.

Handle bonding

Now the wooden planks are ready for gluing. Any glue for gluing wooden surfaces will work for us. Next I used wood glue. If, after gluing, you finish with some kind of polyurethane, then it is not necessary to use a waterproof adhesive.

Cover the surface to be glued with small drops of glue, and then spread it over the entire surface to get a thin, even layer. After the glue has been applied to all the boards, squeeze them together with a clamp and remove the droplets of glue that have protruded from the edges. Make sure there are no visible gaps between the boards. Leave them in this position overnight.

If you decide to save time and glue all the boards at once, they may move during the gluing process (see photo). Before continuing, it will be better if they form one surface. In my case, I used a planer. To avoid moving the planks when fixing with a clamp, glue them several at a time, and not all at once.

Making a bow handle

Rough sawing of the handle

So now you have a solid piece of wood (or glued together), it's time to cut out the template and glue it to the wood.

Rough sawing of the bow handle is best done with a band saw, but a jigsaw will do. First, make cuts from the edges of the workpiece to the edge of the template. They are needed in order to make it easier to remove excess wood, to facilitate sawing along the curved lines of the template.

After these cuts have been made, start sawing along curved lines. As soon as you reach the cuts, pieces of wood will fall off. This will create natural places to stop the cut.

Now you need to cut a shelf for the passage of the arrow. Turn the bow handle blank on its side and draw the outline of the shelf. If you have a band saw, the cutting process is simple - follow the same operations as when roughing out the handle. If you only have a jigsaw (like I do), then you may need a chisel. Most jigsaws can cut into boards up to 5 cm thick. The handle that I designed is about 7.5 - 9 cm thick in the side position.

To cut a shelf with a chisel, press the workpiece against the bench with a clamp and make a vertical cut with a hand saw. Next, turn the handle blank on its side and secure it again with a clamp on the bench. Using a hammer and chisel, carefully holding the chisel as perpendicular to the workpiece as possible, gradually cut down the shelf.
Now it's time to grind, with a rasp and sandpaper, give the handle a smooth shape. Most of the work I did with a belt and disc sander.

Ski cutting

To get an idea of what the meadow will look like without a bowstring, put the ski and bow handle together as shown above. It is not required that the limb of the bow be too long, otherwise you will lose some power. This is especially true for skis for cross-country, because. they are less rigid.

For a 45cm handle, I cut the ski 55cm long (including the part that overlaps with the handle). The shoulders were made slightly longer than the handle to maintain visual balance. Use a square to draw a straight cut line, cut off part of the ski with a hacksaw. Do not use a circular saw or an ax for this operation, especially if the ski has metal reinforcement.

Make sure the ski is cut exactly at right angles. If not, smooth out the corner with sandpaper and a rasp.

Drilling holes for fasteners.

The number of bolts you need to use when attaching each limb to the handle depends on the diameter of the bolts. When using only one bolt per side, I took an M12 bolt. When using two bolts - M8.

To drill a hole, use a drill that exactly matches the diameter of the bolt. No need for the carving to cut into the wood. The bolt should fit into the socket without resistance, but should not play. At this stage, it is very convenient to use a drilling machine. Press the ski to the handle with a clamp, place them on the table of the drilling machine, the plane should be perpendicular to the drill. If a drill press is not available, these holes can be drilled with a hand drill.

Mark the center of the future hole (with an awl, nail) in the middle of the ski and approximately 3 cm from the edge of the ski. This will help you drill the hole accurately if you are not using a drill press. Place the bow arm and handle together and drill a hole together. You can also drill holes individually.

So that the bolt head does not protrude from behind and does not scratch, it must be “drowned”. Take a drill that is a hair's breadth larger than the diameter of the widest part of the bolt head. Determine how deep the hole needs to be drilled by holding the bolt next to the folded ski and handle as shown below. It is necessary that approximately 1-2 cm of thread protrude from the front to put on the washer and tighten the “lamb” nut. Make a mark on the handle and return to the drill press (or drill).

If you were wrong

It may happen that the limbs of the bow are not in line after you insert the bolts into the holes, and the bow will look something like this. A small gap like this will cause the limb of the bow to play, causing the bow to be inaccurate. Don't worry, it's easy to fix.

Cut and glue a small wooden wedge at the end of the backlash arm. When the glue dries, sand it down with sandpaper so that the shoulder fits snugly.

Bow handle finish

It's time to remove all marks and scratches. I used M40 sandpaper. M63 paper will also work. After sanding, remove wood dust and finish. I used two pieces of glossy polyurethane sandpaper with an M40 intermediate finish.

Making a bowstring

To implement a weak bend (10 kg or less), there is no need to reinforce the ends of the shoulders. A few needle files I used for jewelry did a good job of grooving. Be sure to round the edges of the grooves so that the bowstring does not rub against sharp edges.

For such a light bow, the strength of nylon thread is enough to serve as a bowstring. By itself, the thread is too thin for a slot in the heel of the arrow in order to properly tension it and shoot accurately. This can be corrected by twisting the thread in a special way (see below) to double its thickness.

Before making a thickened bowstring, determine how long the slightly untwisted bowstring should be. Tie two bow knots at the ends of the string and pull it over the bow. If the bowstring is too long or too short, it will greatly interfere with its use. The distance between the string and the handle is called the "base". Although it may vary slightly from bow to bow, it is approximately 18 cm.

To make a twisted bowstring suitable for a bow, cut a piece of string equal to three lengths of a single string strung as a bowstring.
The video below shows how to twist the thread. If you can't see clearly enough, here's what happens: fold the thread in half. With the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, hold the thread by the loop (pinch). Put the upper end of the thread coming out of the pinch on the end of your index finger, press it with your thumb and roll it with a pillow thumb along the index to the joint, unwinding the weave of the thread. Having rolled the thread to the joint, press it with your thumb, and without releasing it, grab the second end of the thread with your index and middle fingers and turn the brush towards you. Move the pin holding the loop slightly forward. Repeat.

Detailed description of the operation on video, (in English)

Now you have a large piece of twisted nylon thread, tie a double knot at the end to prevent untwisting, cut and melt the ends.

The string is almost ready. The part of the bowstring where it comes into contact with the fingers and the notch of the arrow is subjected to increased wear during shooting. An additional thin thread layer can be added to strengthen the bowstring. This process is called bowstring maintenance. Serve the section of the bowstring a few centimeters below and above the shelf for the arrow.

To prevent this area from fluffing and sliding up and down, it is necessary to thread a hemp thread through the bowstring. Also, a small carnation can be inserted into the twisted bowstring to thread the hemp thread. The tape in the top photo serves to hold the hemp thread in place during the twisting process.
This process is similar to basic basting. However, the hemp thread is not strong, and pulls the end of the loop back, twisting. Therefore, thread the working end of the hemp thread with a small step through the twisted bowstring. Tie the end with a knot and apply superglue to the end to prevent fraying.
Last steps.

Now the bow is complete. Finally, I glued a small piece of leather onto the arrow shelf.

Adjusting bow power

Here are a few ways to increase bow strength.

The angle between the handle - the shoulder of the bow:

The smaller this angle, the more shoulder the bow will bend when the string is pulled, and thus develop more power. In order not to put too much stress on the skis (otherwise they might break), I prefer to reduce this angle to 0?. The easiest way to change this angle is to cut a small wedge out of wood and drill suitable holes. Insert a wedge between the shoulder and the handle and bolt them together. To make the wedge more visible in the photo, I wrapped it in paper. Shoulder Wedging increases the thrust of this bow from 26 to 30.

Changing the length of the shoulders

If the limbs of the bow are too long, the bow can be quite weak. Long arms bend less when pulling the bowstring. Less bent - less strength. The string can be drawn further and the limbs can be bent more without likely breaking, increasing the strength of the bow. Shoulders that are too small can be broken with normal bowstring tension. My advice: if you want to replace the shoulders, measure approximately 10 centimeters from the edge of each shoulder. Drill new holes and make a new string.

Removing material from the ends of the shoulders

Not all the force developed by pulling the bowstring is transferred to the arrow. Considerable energy is spent on returning the shoulders to their original position. If the arms are lighter, less energy is required to move them, resulting in more energy transferred to the arrow. This does not change the draw force of the bow, but it does make the bow more efficient and powerful.
Because the ends of the bow must move as far as possible to reach the starting position, they are often the part of the bow that is being stripped of material. To remove the material, use a rasp, file, sandpaper, with their help “sharpen” the ends. If you remove too much material, you will jeopardize the design of the bow. I warned you. It can be done as long as you don't go too far. Do not remove more than 20% of the material from the top third of the onion.

We will tell you how to make a bow and arrow at home, from improvised materials. The article not only tells how to choose the right rod for a bow or arrow, but also shows in the pictures. Let's give a lot useful tips, subject to which you will get a real bow with arrows. If you find yourself in the forest and urgently need to make some kind of fishing gear, then again we advise you to read our material, it will be extremely useful.

Making a bow

A long time ago, the bow was the main weapon of people. for hunting and fighting, modern bows are no doubt superior to their predecessors, but if you have to hunt for food, then a bow can be very useful.

1. It is necessary to choose a large rod for our bow. Do not forget to take into account when choosing:

The stick should be strong and dry, it should not have cracks. It is worth choosing from hardwoods, such as yew, oak, acacia, lemon tree. The optimal length is 1.8 meters.
The rod that we have chosen must be very flexible, for example juniper. You can even use young bamboo (it is flexible and durable), the main thing is not very thick.
Already dry rods should be chosen, they will give much more strength than green ones.

2. We make grooves in order to install the bowstring. Using a knife, we make notches on each side of our rod. The distance at which they need to be done is approximately 3-5 cm from the end of the bow. They should look like a crescent and located on the outside of the bow. Make the notches so that they are not very deep (so as not to make the bow very thin in these places) but not too small so that the bowstring does not fly off.
3. Being in nature, you will have to try very hard to find the right material for the bowstring, you can use:

Fishing line.
Leg-split.
Skin patches.
Laces.

4. Install the string. Make secure knots on the bowstring on both sides. Remember, the bowstring is shorter than the bow so that both the bow and the bowstring are taut.
5.Check for even bow bending. Don't forget to check the bow's evenness by adjusting it properly.

Making arrows

1. For arrows, we need to find suitable branches. We need dry, straight and even branches. Remember, the size of the arrow (length) should not exceed half the length of the bow. Consider the types of wood that can be used for arrows:

If you found only green branches (this is not the worst) they need to be given time to dry out a little. Otherwise, the juice that is in them may catch fire during drying over the fire.
Most great option for arrows, it is goldenrod, which can be found in the field. It has even, straight and strong branches.

2. We shape the arrows. We clean the branches to a completely smooth state. To straighten the branch, you can dry it over the coals, then hold it in a straight state until it dries. At one end of the arrow we make a cutout for the bowstring.
3. Make a sharp tip. It is difficult to find material in the forest to make a full-fledged arrowhead, so the most affordable option is to simply sharpen the end of the arrow with a knife, and then, to make it hard, burn it on coals (the main thing is not to burn the arrow).

4. If possible, make full-fledged arrowheads. Having tried, you can make tips from, for example, stone, or glass, or from a tin can. We split the tip of the arrow a little and insert our tip there (for example, made of glass), you can fix it with a rope.
5.If possible. The plumage is necessary to give stability to the flight of the arrow, but you can do without it.

It is possible to fish with a bow, make allowance for the refraction of the rays, so shoot a little lower than the fish.
When fishing with a bow, tie a rope to the arrow so as not to lose it.
Feathering for an arrow in a difficult situation (you are in the forest) is completely optional.
It is worth checking the tension of the bowstring only with the help of an arrow, otherwise the bow will very quickly become unusable.
We wrap the handle of the bow with wet skin and let it dry, this will give the bows more speed.
Test your bow for strength, bend it with your hands, if it cracks and looks like it will break, then it is not strong enough.
Make a cutout on the bow to make it easier to lay the arrow.
To increase the power of the bow, you can make completely identical 2 bows, and tie them together, the bowstring should be only on the 1st.
The size of the bowstring should preferably be about 1.5m.
Holes can be made in the arrows to make them lighter.
Such a bow is not eternal, but you can easily make a replacement for it.

Our Warnings

You need to be able to use a bow, and it is very difficult to do it quickly for hunting.
It is better to chop an onion only with inside, otherwise it may lose its properties.
It is better to take a bowstring with you on hikes, it is very difficult to make or find it in nature.
The more often you use an onion, the faster it will go bad, and it can do it at the most inopportune moment.
Be careful with the bow, it's still a weapon.
Keep bow and arrows away from children.

To make a bow and arrow with your own hands, we need:

An elastic rod about 1.8 m long and 12 cm in diameter, the most suitable tree is oak or yew.
Bowstring: sinew, rope or fishing line.
Woodworking tools: knife, file, axe, if possible sandpaper.
Straight branches for arrows. About 80 cm long, they can be straightened on the coals.
Feathering if possible. Feathers can be taken from a bird.
Tip. You can use plastic arrowheads, or you can make your own.
Washcloth with steel pile. She can process green branches.

The bow is one of the few ancient weapons that have survived to this day almost unchanged. Today, the scope of bows is quite wide. They are used in hunting, sports and just for fun. Due to the simplicity of the design, many people are interested in how to make a bow with their own hands. And if you want to end up with not a craft of dubious quality, but a real weapon, then the manufacturing process should be approached with all seriousness.

A bow is a type of throwing weapon designed to shoot special arrows. The shooting process is extremely simple and requires the shooter to lay the arrow, tension and release the bowstring. Thus, the energy accumulated in the bent arc of the gun is transferred to the arrow, which hits the target.

Despite the simplicity of the design of the bow, shooting from such weapons requires a number of specific skills:

First of all, the shooter must have sufficient strength to pull the bowstring.
In classic and traditional models, there is no sight. In addition, the aiming process is somewhat complicated by the need to keep the bowstring taut.
Shooting a bow requires a number of actions, from the correct placement of the arrow on the arc to the lowering of the bowstring. Without perfection of actions, there can be no talk of any aiming in this case.

The next stage in the development of this weapon is the crossbow, which arose around the 4th century BC. e. He does not require the shooter physical strength and special skills. However, the bow has a simpler design and a high rate of fire, so it was not forgotten even with the advent of firearms.

Design features and types of bows

The designs of homemade bows are solid and collapsible

Before you make a bow with your own hands, you need to get acquainted with the features of its device. A modern bow has three main elements:

Shoulders, thanks to which energy is accumulated, transmitted to the arrow during the shot.
Handle. It is necessary for convenient holding of the weapon when shooting.
Bowstring. One of the main structural elements, as a result of the tension of which energy is transferred to the arms and boom.

These are the main elements that are present in all designs of modern bows. In addition to them, the weapon can be equipped with a shelf that serves to support the arrow, various types sights, a system of blocks that increase the efficiency of such weapons.

On this moment There are many varieties of bows. Let's consider the main ones:

In appearance, such weapons can be simple and composite. In the first case, the body of the bow consists of a flexible stick that bends into an arc. Composite structures suggest the presence of a base to which the shoulders are attached. Usually they are reinforced with horn plates, which are connected to each other by means of a special adhesive composition.
Available in straight and curved shapes. Recursive models are very popular, the shoulders of which have a reverse bend. Due to the efficient distribution of the tension energy of the bowstring, the speed of the arrow fired from such models is greatly increased.
Regarding the material of manufacture, there are wooden, metal, fiberglass and combined models. Metal structures are usually made from lightweight hollow pipes.
Finding an arrow. The most popular are the central bows, in which the arrow is located in the middle - that is, on the longitudinal axis of the bow. Peripheral designs suggest the location of the boom to the left of the upper arm.
Regarding the design, a distinction is made between solid and collapsible bow. The latter is characterized by removable shoulders, due to which the shooter can change the characteristics of his weapon depending on the need. The most modern is compound bow or compound. Its design includes many details, and blocks take part in the process of tensioning the boom.
Regarding the method of application, hunting, sports, combat, etc. models are distinguished.

Onion manufacturing technology

Skis can be used as shoulders for the bow.

For self-manufacturing bow, you can use the following materials:

Tree. This is the most common option that allows you to make a bow model with excellent shooting characteristics with your own hands.
Thick cardboard. It allows not only to make a model of a bow, but also to create a compact working model. Naturally, such an item will not be a weapon, but it can be used to understand the basics of the functioning of such a weapon.
PVC pipes. The density of some PVC pipes is quite enough to make a bow for target shooting.
Skis. Top part skis can be used as shoulders.
Plywood. With sufficient density, it can also be used to make shoulders.

Harvesting and processing of wood

Since the classic model of the bow is made of wood, the features of making weapons from this material will be discussed below. In order for the final product to have really high performance, several important conditions must be met:

Wood harvesting is carried out on a cold, frosty day. A large strong branch should be cut down, the length of which reaches 180 cm. The diameter of the branch should be 10-12 cm. It is advisable to pay attention to growths and knots - their number should be minimal.
The bark should not be removed. The ends of the branch are covered with special oil impregnation or wood paint.
Install the workpiece vertically. In this state, it should dry for 2-3 months at a temperature in the range of 20-28 degrees.
Using a well-sharpened knife and a sharp ax, it is necessary to give the workpiece a rectangular shape.
Next, you should thoroughly steam the shoulders of the future onion by holding the workpiece over boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Simultaneous steaming of both shoulders is recommended.
The steamed blank is placed in a slipway for two weeks. During this period, the bark should come off it on its own. If this does not happen, it is necessary to carefully scrape it off using a sharp knife.
The wood is treated with wax. After it is completely dry, it is necessary to make notches designed to secure the bowstring.

Now we should talk about each of the stages separately.

About the structure of wood

It is better to choose a wooden blank for onions from birch, ash, hazel or oak

Before you make a hunting bow with your own hands, you need to understand the structure of the wood. If you do not take into account the characteristics of the material, then it will not be possible to make a well-balanced weapon with sufficient power and reliability.

Looking closely at the workpiece, you can identify two types of wooden structure:

Dark inner rings. This part of the plant is already dried. These areas are characterized by maximum hardness.
The lighter layers are called sapwood. They are less dense and more elastic.

The surface of the bow that faces the archer is called his belly. It is she who contracts when the bowstring is pulled. The reverse part is the back of the bow, which stretches when fired.

For long-term use of the tool, it is necessary to create an ideal balance between old wood fibers and sapwood. Thus, the bow should have a light "back" and an elastic "belly" that will provide the necessary rigidity.

First stage

After drying the material, you should get to work. First of all, you should carefully examine the workpiece. For work, the part that has thinner annual rings is selected. Most often it is about the north side. In this place, the wood has a denser structure, and therefore the bow will be more biting.

The workpiece is sawn or split in half. If the trunk is knotty, it is better to cut it, because splitting can lead to damage to the workpiece.

After the longitudinal separation of the workpiece, it should be kept in a suspended state for some time. At the same time, many craftsmen hang the load from the bottom edge of the workpiece.

We form a bow

The size of the ski bow is best done within 120-140 cm

When creating a bow, you must perform the following steps:

First of all, mark the middle of the workpiece. This is where the arrow will go.
We determine the dimensions of the handle, carrying out the final marking.
Now you can start creating the base of the bow. To do this, with a plane or a knife, we remove the extra layers of wood from the back of the weapon. Gradually moving away from the handle to the sides, the required thickness of the shoulders should be formed.

It is very important to ensure uniform flexion of the shoulders. To do this, remove the same amount of excess wood from them.

How to determine the optimal thickness of the shoulders?

The shoulders of the bow are its main element. Therefore, they should be worked out as carefully as possible. For this, a special bowstring with many loops is used. They are located at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other.

Initially, the shoulders will be difficult to flex. They should be checked with the extreme loops of the bowstring. Gradually cutting off the extra layers of wood, you should move on to the next loops, thereby achieving a gradual increase in tension. This is done until your bow takes the desired shape.

It is also very important to check the uniformity of the arch of the back of the bow. It should be understood that even if you have achieved visual identity of the shoulders, they can still bend unevenly due to the different structure of the wood. That's why precise refinement is necessary. To do this, it is best to use a file, gradually grinding off those parts of the structure where there is an uneven bend.

The cutting of knots should be carried out after complete drying and finishing of the workpiece. Otherwise, cracking of the structure is possible, which will lead to its unsuitability for further use.

Even in the last stages of onion making, knot removal should be done very carefully. To do this, it is advisable to use a well-sharpened knife. It is better to leave small protrusions, which are subsequently sealed with sandpaper. This way you can make a pretty good homemade bow for hunting.

Handle making

The finished handle can be coated with ship varnish or stain

After the approximate marking of the handle is made, it is necessary to carry out a thorough study of it. To do this, we grab it with our hand and outline the boundaries. Next, you should carve a kind of transition from the handle to the shoulders. The handle itself is best glued soft cloth or skin, which will ensure the convenience of its use.

What to make a bowstring from?

The following materials are suitable for making a bowstring:

nylon thread or lace;
fishing line;
polypropylene rope;
leg-split;
climbing sling made of Kevlar, which can be purchased at sporting goods stores;
lavsan thread;
capron.

Advice! For the manufacture of the most durable bowstring, it is best to use synthetic threads.

Features of the manufacture of arrows

The smaller the plumage, the faster the arrows fly, the heavier the arrow, the wider the plumage

The best material for making arrows is birch or pine wood. The first is more different complex process processing, however, allows you to get a shaft of better quality.

You can make arrows from thin branches, wooden slats or boards. The first option is preferable, since it is the least labor-intensive and makes it possible to obtain really high quality final products. The procurement of material in this case is carried out in the same way as for the body of the bow. Before making an arrow, the raw material should be dried for at least a month by hanging it vertically. Next, the bark is removed from the workpiece, defects are carefully cut off, after which it is cleaned with sandpaper.

It remains to make the tip and plumage. The easiest option for making a tip is to use a nail, securing it with copper wire. However, this option is not suitable for serious purposes. To get a really high-quality arrow, the tip is cut from thin sheet steel, no more than 2 mm thick.