Making your own selfbow-raise your level of archery appreciation!
For the archer or bowhunter who wants to realize a deeper level of his sport, making your own wooden bow is a worthwhile endeavor. The project can be accomplished with only basic hand tools, although a chainsaw and bandsaw will be helpful. Of course, an article or book will never teach you as much about making a selfbow as a day spent with an experienced bowyer. There is much to learn and I recommend finding a mentor to teach you. Selfbows are simple, but that doesn’t mean they are easy.
A selfbow is made from a single piece of wood cut from the outside surface of a log. A good wooden bow is not a toy. For centuries, game was taken, families were protected, and wars were fought with simple wooden selfbows.
The first step in making a selfbow is to acquire the wood. I recommend elm as the best wood for your first bow for several reasons; it is readily available, it grows fairly straight and clean, it’s easy wood to work with hand tools, and if cut in springtime when the sap is running, the bark is easily removed, exposing a smooth surface for the back of the bow without further work.
Choose an elm tree six or seven inches in diameter without limbs or knots for 6 or 7 feet of log. Check the bark to ensure that it runs straight, not twisting around the trunk. Elm has an intertwined grain that makes it very hard to split, but also makes a very strong bow. To split the log into two halves, it helps to cut a shallow kerf on opposite sides of the log with a skillsaw. Try to cut through any knots or bad spots and save the clearest sides of the log to make two good bow staves. Use a hammer and wedges to finish splitting the log. If cut in spring, the wet, pliable bark can now be easily stripped off, leaving a smooth surface which will be the back of your bow. The back of the bow faces away from you when the bow is drawn. The inside of the log will be shaped into the belly of the bow, which faces your belly when the bow is drawn.
The wood now needs to dry for a year. Two years is even better. Sorry about that year or two of waiting to make your bow but that is an important part of the process. Cut your log this spring if you intend to make a bow in the future.
To keep the wood from cracking as it dries, you’ll need to cover the ends and bark side of the log with glue. Just buy the cheapest white wood glue you can find and smear it on with your fingers. This glue covering will cause drying cracks to appear on the inside of the log, which will be cut away as the bow is made. One way to shorten the drying time would be to rough out the bow stave by removing some of the waste wood. The sides of the log half can be removed, leaving room for the bow to be laid out on the top curve of the log. Thinner wood will dry out faster.
When the wood has dried, you can actually begin making the bow. Draw out the dimensions of the bow on the face of the log. Mark it out 2 inches longer than your finished bow length; 66 inches for a 64-inch bow, 68 inches for a 66-inch bow, etc. Follow the grain of the wood when laying out the bow. If the log curves a little, mark out the bow on that curve. It can be straightened with heat as the bow is made. Try to keep the bow on the crown of the log and use the clearest part of the wood, avoiding knots and cracks.
Mark the center of your desired bow length. Then draw out equal-length limbs 1 ½ inches wide for 2/3 of their length, then tapering to ½ inch at the tips. The grip area is 1 ½ inches wide and 2 inches deep. Mark out a 4 ½ inch grip area straddling the center line of the bow and allow 2 inches on each side for the “fadeouts”, where the grip transitions into the limbs. A bandsaw works best for cutting out the bow. Cut outside the lines, then use a rasp to bring it down to the lines by hand. Curve the grip to the limbs, leaving them ¾ inch thick at the fadeouts and tapering to ½ inch at the tips.
Now is the time to put some reflex into the limbs. Most of this reflex will pull out of the bow during the tillering process, leaving the bow nearly straight. Without this reflex, the limbs would pull back during tillering, leaving the finished bow curved toward the belly, thus losing cast and arrow speed.
Make a simple form by cutting an arc into the edge of a 2×4. Mark the center and curve the arc down to 2 inches lower at the tips, giving the bow 2 inches of reflex. Clamp the center of the bow stave, face down, on the center of the form and begin heating one limb with a paint stripping heat gun. Heat the wood very hot to the touch, but be careful not to scorch or burn it. As the wood heats up, clamp the limb down onto the form. The limb can be straightened as well as adding reflex while hot. Do the other limb in the same way. When cool, the limbs will retain most of their new shape.
Tillering is the process of reducing the limb thickness and teaching the limbs to bend in a smooth arc. This is where you make or break the bow. Rasp and scrape wood from the belly of the limbs until they can be “floor tillered” by putting the tip on the floor and leaning on the bow to flex the limb. Reduce the limbs evenly by keeping them of equal thickness and taper. When the limbs can be flexed well by floor tillering, use a round rasp or chainsaw file to cut string grooves in the limb tips. Measure 1 inch back from the tip, then cut a groove at a 45-degree angle on each side. Be sure to cut the grooves toward the belly side of the bow.
A tillering board is an upright board with a cradle cut into the top to hold the bow grip, and notches cut into one side to hold the string as the bow is drawn. String the bow at a low brace height with a long bowstring. Place the bow in the cradle and pull the string into a notch that gives the limbs some bend. Use a straight edge or wood block 6 inches long to move along the limb inside of the bend on the belly of the bow. Notice the gap between the limb and the straight edge. Where the gap is less, the limb is stronger and straighter, and needs wood removed to perfect an arc. Where the gap is larger, the limb is weaker and needs no wood removed.
Continue removing wood from the belly of the bow in the stiff areas and not removing wood in the weak areas of both limbs as you move the string down the notches, increasing the draw length. Take your time with this. Each time you remove wood, exercise the bow by drawing it several times. You are teaching the bow to bend in an arc. Weigh the bow’s pull weight as you progress. Lower the weight of the bow by scraping equal amounts off each limb. As you near your desired pull weight, put a regular-length string on the bow and measure from the fadeout area on each limb to the string. A measurement of 1/8 to ¼ of an inch or more on the upper limb is considered well-tillered.
With the bow strung, look down the length of the bow from the belly side. Line the string up in the center of the limbs. If the string lines up closer to one side of the grip area, use that side of the bow for the arrow rest. This makes the arrow rest cut closer to the center. Cut an arrow rest in 1 ½ inches above the center line of the grip and rasp the grip area out to your desired shape. As you “shoot the bow in” with the first 200 shots, keep an eye on the tiller and make corrections to the limbs as needed. Slightly round the edges of the limbs, sand the bow well, and finish taking it down to your desired weight.
Finish your bow with wood stain if you wish. Then spray or rub on several coats of a poly finish or Tru-oil. Give it several coats to thoroughly waterproof it. A sewn-on leather grip is a nice finishing touch.
The first arrows shot from your own bow will raise you to a level of archery appreciation and excitement you haven’t felt before. Suddenly, target shooting is fun again. Addictive even! If you are a hunter, you will find using your own selfbow to be the most basic and purest experience in bowhunting. When you step into the woods with your selfbow, you’ll be stepping back in time.
