How to Make a Bow out of Beech Wood

If you want to practice your archery but don't have a proper implement, you can make your own bow out of beech wood. The process is slow but the end result can last for many years, and you can use it for target practice or to hunt small game.

Things You'll Need

• Beech wood staff (2 inches in diameter)
• Kitchen knife
• Sandpaper
• Coarse rasp
• Linseed oil or tung oil
• Glue or epoxy
• Cloth
• Bow string

Instructions

Making the Staff

1. Look for a beech sapling to use as the staff for your bow. The sapling should be straight, and about 2 inches in diameter. You'll need at least that thickness for the handle of the beech wood bow.

2. Cut the staff so the tip of it reaches your nose.

3. Examine the staff. It should be relatively free of any knots, and straight.

4. Cut the staff in half along its length, and then strip off the bark (the bark should be on the rounded side of the staff before you strip it). Make sure you leave the outer ring, the growth ring, intact.

Tillering and Seasoning the Beech Wood

1. Use a kitchen knife to cut away on the flat side of the beech wood staff until it's about an inch thick. You can leave some of the thickness on the staff if you're afraid that you'll take off too much wood.

2. Seal both ends of the staff as you are making the bow. Use glue or some kind of epoxy as a sealant so that the staff won't dry out or crack as it's drying.

3. Bring the staff inside and tie it to a rigid surface such as a pipe, a long board, a post or anything that will not flex. Make sure that the flat surface of the staff faces out.

4. Flex the tips as the staff cures by wedging blocks of wood near the ends of the staff. Lash the middle of the staff to a rigid surface. Let the staff remain lashed in place for two to four weeks.

Laying Out Your Beech Wood Bow

1. Unfasten the beech wood staff from its binds and lay it on a flat surface, such as a table or the floor.

2. Use a pencil to draw the outline of the beech wood bow's final shape onto the flat portion of the bow. Make the shape at both ends of the bow as similar as you can.

3. Keep the most width at either end of the bow, then measure down eight or so inches from the tip. Begin to draw a taper in, at both ends, to about ½ inch.

4. Make the handle around 4-inches long (this measurement could be dictated by the size of your hand), and anywhere from 1 inch to 1 ½ inches wide. Add about 2 inches beyond the length of the handle in which to make the transition to the handle's width down to the ½ inch width of the bow before the width at the tips begin.

Creating the Beech Wood Bow's Profile

1. Use a coarse rasp and a kitchen knife to cut out the shape of the beech wood bow you penciled in.

2. Utilize the rasp to shape the handle of the beech wood bow. Remember to keep the thickness you drew. You don't want that portion of the bow to flex when you use it, so if you're concerned you might take too much, err on the side of making it a little thicker than you've drawn.

3. Ensure that both ends of the bow look similar. You want the shape of the beech wood bow to flow smoothly from one end to the other.

Tillering the Beech Wood Bow

1. Use the rasp to tiller, or shape your beech wood bow. Wear eye protection as you do so.

2. Employ the rasp by moving it back and forth across the staff. Begin just after the handle where the bow begins to taper, and move out, in either direction, toward the tips of the beech wood bow. Clamping the beech wood staff in a vise enables you to tiller your beech wood bow more effectively, as it keeps the staff very still as you work.

3. Try to do the same about of rasping along the beech wood staff's length. As much uniformity in shape is desirable when making a beech wood bow. When you pull on the beech wood bow, it needs to bend evenly along its length.

4. Rasp only to about an inch of the tips at either end.

5. Finish the tillering process with sandpaper. Try to make the surface of the beech wood bow smooth and even.

Breaking in Your Beech Wood Bow

1. String your beech wood bow and let it sit over night.

2. Pull the string at least fifty times the next morning. If the bow's draw looks even, good. If not, use your sandpaper to adjust the beech wood bow until it pulls more smoothly and evenly.

3. Shoot arrows with your bow, and after about 100 arrows shot, check the bow again to see if the draw is still even. If so, you are done. If not, sand it a little more.

4. Preserve your beech wood bow with tung oil or boiled linseed oil, or some other finish that will keep the bow from drying out.

Adjusting Draw Weight of your Beech Wood Bow

1. Alter the draw weight of your beech wood bow if it pulls too lightly.

2. Cut up to 2 inches from either end of the bow, but no more.

3. Test the weight of the bow, then seal the tips to prevent the beech wood bow from drying out.

4. Store your bow in a cool, dry place.