I found out that my mailman is a member of Trad Gang and makes selfbows.   After cornering him by the mailbox last spring I got a promise that he would get me a selfbow for my own use.

He showed up at the house about a month ago with a Elm sapling.  After handing it to me he said, "Here's your selfbow."  Not quite what I had exspected.

With a bit of advice on how to start I began the project of making a selfbow.  The only tool I have is a Bowie knife.  And I can tell you if all you have is a Bowie knife to work with you better have patients.

 

Well I have been steadily scraping away on this stick every day for almost a month now.  Slowly but surely it is taking shape.  I asked my wife the other day if it looks like a bow yet?  Her reply was, "You want me to lie?"

 

To be continued....

That will be an interesting thread. Thanks for sharing. I´m looking forward to the next pics.
regards
tj

this is great, I sure hope it will not be a month till your next post

good luck and patience    

Looks like the makings of a bow to me.

That look to be a good one, although a rasp would come in handy  

Ahh, you obviously have never seen a lowly stick become a noble bow. Rest assured, things look fine for this stage of the process (and in this case, don't pay attention to your wife).

Guy

I thought you had to have a stave to make a self bow?

Nope. You need wood. Be it stave, board, or branch.
Tim Baker of TBB fame recommends starting off with a red oak board from Home Depot. With a board of carefully chosen grain you'll get a fine self bow from it.

Guy

Don't know what's up with your wife ... looks like a bow to me.

As Chico used to say "Looking Good!"

scrape,scrape,scrape  can not waite for your next post.keep it up.this is good      

I can see a bow in there. But remember making a bow is sort of like eating potato chips..lol you can build just one.

I have a postman story too! I used to ship quite a few Osage staves out west. I happen to get to the PO about the same time as the editor and chief of our local paper did and he heard the Postmaster ask me if I was shipping fence posts. I told him "No! It's a bow but packaged so the Post Office can't damage it." The editor jumps in and says "That's a bow?" I answered "Yes sir, it is but you need a draw knife to unwrap it."
Hahaha!! That got me a full interview and a story with pictures in the next edition of the Southern Boone County Journal.

I am not trying to highjack your thread, sorry!

God bless,Mudd

Make yourself a tillering gizmo for when you start bending the limbs on the long string. It will tell you where to remove wood.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=001047

I reread your initial post and realized you are a little short on tools. PM me your address and I will send you a gizmo.

Let your wife know that it can easily be turned into a whoopin' stick. LOL

You can do it.I once to a primitive class and the guy says bring only a knife.I was totally surprised when at the begaining of our hike.He also handed us a sapping and 2 peices ogf cain and a peice of flint.I finished mt bvow and arrows in less than 2.He didn't know I had built selfbows and arrows.It wasn't no file built bow Put I shot it.
  So I'm sure sence you have the time you can o it.

Thanks for the encouragement.

The mailman brough me a wood rasp not too long ago.  I works really well for removing wood but I cringe when I see the marks it leaves.  My Bowie knife is slow but leaves the wood looking good as I am scraping.  

On a side note I have been saving the wood shavings in plastic zip locks.  The wife has been using them to start the fireplace.

Thats definitely a KNIFE!  Look forward to the results

Well after a month it is finished.  I've been taking photos along the way and tonight I wanted to share my first experience at building a bow.

Got all the bark removed and shaped the ends.


Handle roughed in


Made the nocks and was kind of impressed with the results


Got the shelf looking good



Finished it up tonight. Removed too much getting the limbs tillered and ended up with a bow that might take down a grasshopper if the broadheads are sharp enough.  There was a bend in the upper limb and while trying to work around that I ending up blowing the whole deal.


I guess there is no stopping now.  I'm going to buy a red oak board tomarrow and start over.  Hopefully, with what I have learned the next one will be a success.

   

You are going to make a few that will hinge like like. It is tricky around twists, knots, irregular grain sections. After you build a few you will find yourself looking at wood like a jeweler looks at a diamond. Noticing every twist, turn and pin knot.
You will find yourself putting spit on pieces to see what the grain, color and finish will look like.
Its a sickness I tell ya.