How to Make a Walnut Bow
Building your own beautiful and functional walnut bow is a relatively easy task if you understand the process of bow building. Walnut is a wonderfully dark wood that makes a hard-shooting bow.
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Instructions
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1
Lay out your bow design on the bow blank. Do this by finding the center of the bow and then using a pencil to lay out the rest of the design.
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2
Use a combination of the band saw, rasp, and drawknife to "whittle" your bow blank down to your desired size according to your design. (In general, a self bow of this type needs to be at least 65 inches long and 2 inches wide.)
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3
Tiller the bow by repeatedly bending it and checking for soft spots (sections that bend too much) and hard spots (sections that don't bend enough) in the limbs. Use the rasp and sandpaper to get an even bend throughout each limb. String the bow and continue the tillering process until you can pull the string back to full draw (26 to 28 inches).
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4
Apply polyurethane to the bow, and put a leather handle on it.
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Tips & Warnings
Be patient during the tillering process. This is where the majority of bows are thrown to the scrap heap due to impatience on the behalf of the bowyer. Bowstrings can be purchased from just about any bow shop.
Always wear safety glasses during the tillering process to protect against wood shards in the event of a broken limb.
Resources
- Photo Credit www.rudderbows.com
