# By special request a recurve bow for newbies.



## Magus

Part [A]. all metal parts require 2.

This is the grip, tomorrow we get to the limbs. AKA the "hard part". best to make this from Oak or hickory, so plan a trip to the cabinet shop!the tools you'll need are:

Jig saw.
Power drill.
Hand rasp.
1/4" and 3/8ths" [I think!] drill bits.
sand paper.
some pretty wood stain.


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## cazetofamo

Thank u soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Magus

I forgot to mention, the metal parts need to be the same size as the limbs width wise.I forgot the dimensions on the guards too. it's late, sue me.we'll get there.in the mean time buy rubber cement, high strength nylon thread and flexible lacquer.took me a while to translate from Ox sinews and fish head glue to fiberglass strips and rubber cement.
You might want to round up some "C" clamps too. this will be messy!


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## Magus

Now we got the limbs.pay close attention and remember the disclaimer:
Neither I, the owners of this forum or the moderators are responsible for your shoddy work or acts of stupidity.  and besides, you're trying something you saw on the internet,
research better next time.

So without further adieu and boo-hoo, the limbs!
Two kinds:either made properly should give 35-45 Lbs of pull, but if they do not, simply add more fiberglass.One is more involved but is easier to assemble with proper tools like a scroll saw and sander. simply find a hickory or oak sapling that flexes properly, cut it to the dimensions given,sand it with coarse sandpaper and let cure for a week someplace with a stable temperature,if it cracks, don't worry too much,it will be weak on the crack but the fiber glass strips will carry most of the load.it'll break eventually but that's eventually.cover with Gorilla glue and clamp the fiberglass strips in place and let it finish curing.after a week-10 days sand all the overflow off the edges and wrap every 4" with 6' of heavy duty nylon string,super glue in place and coat with urethane. let dry before use.

The second one is similar but for those with fewer tools.this one requires you cut and laminate 2 1/8" thick pieces of oak panel [home depot]between three pieces of fiberglass strip, use the same glue and binding method.this one is ready in two days.

Be sure when you attach the bow tip to epoxy as well as bolt it in place and carefully remove ALL burs or it will cut the bow string and crack you in the head or bust your nut$! as before, if it's too weak, add another layer of fiberglass strips.if you got questions PM me or ask here.I probably left some detail out,I don't sleep well.


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## Magus

And now something the kids can run up the hospital tab with!so simple a 99%er could do it.just combine with the other plans.


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## FatTire

Magus said:


> And now something the kids can run up the hospital tab with!so simple a 99%er could do it.just combine with the other plans.


Awesome! This 99%er is gonna give this build a try !


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## Magus

Arming the disaffected and oppressed since 1997.
<-----------------------------

Imagine the look on the jackbooted thugs faces as they sweep the neighborhood to fill a fema farm and suddenly the sky turns black with poison arrows and cherry bombs!

Could be an epic moment in the next revolution.


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## FatTire

Just don't get into making lock pick tools from following a street sweeper, or the 1% in congress might label you a terrorist


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## Magus

Dang it. there goes my next project!

Back to my fire extinguisher lit road flare launcher.........


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## Thaddius

here is a link to a fellow that builds "board bows".

I do my own a bit different using cut hickory saplings or other stave sources, but it is a good starting point, esp for people living in apartments and such .


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## Magus

Koolies! thanks for the link.


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## prepare_survive_thrive

FatTire said:


> Just don't get into making lock pick tools from following a street sweeper, or the 1% in congress might label you a terrorist


Lmao!!!!!!


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## Thaddius

Magus said:


> Koolies! thanks for the link.


Glad you found it useful. Take a look at his spine tester, it is kind of way over complexed, but it works well.

A little simple work with a yard stick / tape measure and such and you can work around the need to buy and tie up a caliper on it.

The table with it helps to get your arrows matched up if you make up your own.

Since my stroke I don't shoot except on my good days and have had to adapt my shooting to my messed up way I have to control my body, but I have been shooting for a good long time.

I actually bought one of those new fangled arrow launching machines back in the 80's, i think it was called a bear blacktail or perhaps white tail compound. (the one with only two pulleys in the brackets not the one with 4)

I shot it a bit but humping that pile of stuff through the woods was work.

So I went back to simple recurves which had become way inexpensive since compounds were the new great thing. (kinda think traditional stuff is coming back)

Bit later on my oldest son knew a girl who was Cherokee and her Dad kind of adopted me and the kids when he found out they were 1/4 cherokee. He introduced me to a few old fellows who were making simple "C" or "D" bows to to the "cornstalk shoots" (They use a long point like a straight piece of coat hanger wire and see how many corn stalks they can shoot through and thread on the wire, often at pretty long distances)

I started digging into it and learned to make simple bows out of either a split sapling, or just get a board.

The board bows that I make are mostly flat bows and just the one wood taken down to a growth ring. If I want a better handle I stack up leather or make like a micarta out of whatever I have and glue it up.

I make simple flipper arrow rests out of a cut piece of something like a plastic laundry soap bottle or some convener belt material I found. That way I can use plastic vanes and aluminum arrows if I want. Shooting off a shelf or knuckle will mess up the plastic but not feather vanes. At least I see it that way.

Now a days I made me a thumb ring like the turks and such use. It has a little curved nub on a ring and I hook my string behind it and can squeeze my fingers to hold the arrow to the string and draw, then I just open my hand to release the arrow. (Can't control a 3 finger draw, don't like those fancy releases anymore.)

So a lot of what I do isn't any one style, but bits and pieces of what ever lets me shoot arrows. (At first I just used a revolver and hunted like it was a bow, which is fun, but I like a bent string better.)

Might as well admit I kind of drift into and out of ideas and just throw em into my writing as I go so hope it isn't to confusing.

Just remembered, if you want to put a "backing" on a bow you make soaking one of those large rawhide doggy bones you get at places like big lots or maybe dollar tree and unwrapping it will get you rawhide, and you can use unflavored Knox gelatin as a "hide glue" to stick it on the back of the bow to help prevent it breaking if the growth rings are not perfect. (It also helps get the draw weight up higher on marginal woods.

I have one I made that way using the red part of a cedar tree, glued up with a nice handle of leather and the rawhide on the back. Draws about 45 or 50 pounds and not much string follow. I made it about 74 inches long so it is real easy on the release, but a bit longish.

I keep hoping to someday try out some osage orange for a bow, but that is hard wood to get, and hard to work.

I took a few trys at laminating up a recurve and put it into molds I made out of 2 x 10's to shape it. Ended up fiberglassing the thing but it worked out pretty OK to shoot, but not pretty like a nice store bought one would be.

The neighbor lady up the road was out in her yard with a big old cast iron skillet trying to smash up a rattler the other day (well a month or two ago) when oldest son and I were driving back in the flat bed. I was so busy laughing he had to grab a shovel and cut off its head.

Got enough skin off of it that I'm kind of thinking I may try to back a bow with that when I can get a couple of my boys or my daughter to help me out with some of the work on it. No idea how it will work out but I hope it will make a nice purdy bow to take to dothan if they have the rendezvous there next April, or if I get up enough coin maybe I can go to land between the lakes rendezvous.

If not I will take one of my muzzle loaders I built up, maybe the Tenn poor boy flinter. I like that thing but have to used crossed sticks to hold it up these days. Shoots pretty fair also.

Well I see I'm rambling all over the place, price of old age and messed up sleeping habits I guess.

I been reading a lot of your posts and like the way you put stuff out there so I'll be reading to see what else I can learn from you.

Thad


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