Making A Longbow Out Of Laminate

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 a longbow out of laminate.

The following is the procedure i worked out for making a jig to produce tapered strips. My long bow kit came from bingham projects out of utah. The good and proper way to do it is get your shape a difficulty in itself tracing the shape onto a thin piece of plywood cutting it out with a band saw then using a drum sander to perfect it. This next video shows me tillering a triple laminate longbow it has a yew core.

Whoever created the bow and arrow surely had no idea how they were carving out the future of humanity. The kit includes the hardware for the mold and dvd instructions for building the laminating oven mold and bow. You have to be able to see the bow in the rough timber and it takes a while to develop that knack. Boards laminates allow you to get straight into the profile and tiller actually making a bow while at least half the battle with felling your own timber or buying it off someone else is in turning the stave into something you can make a bow out of.

I figured a rather simple way to make tapered strips for bow laminations using a hand plane. Most bows are made with yew but other woods are an option as well. Tapers can be pricey and i don t have a belt sander planer or table saw so i wanted a way to make tapered strips with my simple tools. If at the end of this tutorial you have any questions that are not answered or you would like more detailed instructions on how to make a longbow check out www makingtraditiona.

If you choose another vendor just make sure you have access to the information but best of all get all of the pieces. Making a simple laminate longbow. Part of our bow making series of videos we take a quick look at the basic process of laminating a longbow and using a former to give the stave some set bac. Equally silent stealthy simple and utterly lethal.

This is a short guide on how to make a very simple laminate longbow. The full scale templates are also included. I started out a long time ago making my own longbow because that is what i wanted to shoot with my boyhood dream of becoming like my hero robin hood coupled with the scant availability of off the shelf longbows meant i had to have a go at making my own. How to make a longbow step by step guide.