Okay, so I am mainly a recurve guy.  I got a 64 inch 60# longbow and that is about the extent of my longbow experience.  So I've got a pair of black walnut staves outside, one is about 68 inches, the other is pretty short.  Right around 60ish.  Im fixin to start choppen at em here soon.  So my question is. . .are there 60 inch self bows?

Might seem like a stupid question, cause I dont see why there wouldnt be, but I have never seen one.  I've seen plenty of short laminated longbows.  I figured mabye there is a reason I haven't seen any short selfbows???

I am interested in hearing about this from the folks too.

I used to shoot 3D with a guy that had a selfbow that was about 60ish inches.  So it can work, it might need a little more breaking in time, but it can work.

Sure are.  Fellow on here called no-sage makes one of the finest selfbows I have ever seen.  They are short and sleek, with limb tips so small that they will scare you.  Don't let that fool you though.  They are strong, and have great cast.

Yes there are short selfbows. So info on them can be found on this site in the bowyers bench section. Also look into Dean Torges book on Huting the Osage Selfbow. And the old Bowyers Journal had a compition on building a short selfbow. Just a few areas to look into that I can think of off the top of my head.

Good luck and happy building.

yep its possible to build a short selfbow. a short selfbow will benefit greatly from sinew also, helps to add some zip and insurance. someone recently even posted a short hickory bend through handle with flipped tips that turned out very well.

This little sinew backed bow is only 50 1/2" tip to tip unstrung and 44 when strung.





I have built Osage pony bows this short and even as short as 48" tip to tip. Most of them had to be backed with something. If I had a really good piece of Osage I could get by just backing it with a very thin layer of air...lol

God bless,Mudd

The selfbows that Mike Yancey (Pine Hollow Longbows) makes are really short (4 ft or less).

Chris, The forum that specializes in all wood bows is primitivearcher.com.  You will find much helpful information from the bowers there.
60" isn't a terribly short self bow but you will be better off with a bend in the handle bow if you have a 28" drawlenth or so.  A stiff handled bow will have shorter working limbs and that is asking quite a bit from unbacked Black Walnut as it can fret when overstressed.
A paddle bow, with wide, 2" or more, limbs could probably handle a stiff riser handle at that length, though.
Have fun.

What is short?  Most of my osage selfbows are between 60" and 64".  My shortest is 56".  A bend-in-the-handle design is pretty comfortable to shoot at under 60" but a rigid handle is a bit much angle for me.

Here's a 60-1/2" osage bow, sinew backed I just finished tillering last night.

 

I would not recommend a walnut bow shorter than 66" though.  It's pretty weak in both compression and tension.  It makes a nice, lighter weight bow at that length though.

I've made a 60" hackberry, but the big question is how long is your draw length. My draw is 27" and I'm okay with it, but prefer 64ish. Obviously, the longer your draw the more you are going to work the limbs and the more finger pinch you'll get out of the string. As mentioned above there are some short ones out there. Ron LeClair has a very short one he turkey hunts in a blind with.

In addition to all the other suggestions here for help, I would also advise reading the "The Traditional Bowyer's Bible" series I, II, III & IV.  In particular, pay attention to the chapters by Tim Baker on bow design.  There is a ton of really good info out there on this stuff and it will require a lifetime of experience to process it.  More details than I could possibly list here.  Best thing to do is to start, shave some wood, make mistakes, break wood, and get hooked for the rest of your life!  It's a blast and IMO the basis of traditional archery!

"I would not recommend a walnut bow shorter than 66" though. It's pretty weak in both compression and tension. It makes a nice, lighter weight bow at that length though".

I strongly agree with John's recommendation here, Black walnut would not be an optimum wood for this bow design.

Good luck and have fun!

Kris

Ive only made 72" selfbows. I keep them long because of my long draw length of 30". Ive had good success with Red oak and maple.

I've made quite a few selfbows that were 60"t/t(58"n/n). I prefer osage but have used mulberry and hickory also. Black walnut isn't the best wood for a short bow unless you sinew backed it and then I wouldn't go less than 60".

John Scifres and Christopher O gave you some good advice.
Just my opinion.

Mark

longarrow here...I'm shootin' a 62" selfbow that draw 53# @26", no backing at all. It was made in Alaska during the late 1960's! Shoots like a charm! Appears to be Osage and Yew, but not sure!

HEY John ....have I seen that Osage before...???

Looks good, either way!

Ryan says, come and git more!!!!