In This Issue: plus: - Primitive Archer Online

Selfbows
What is a selfbow? One solid piece
of wood, carved from a tree and
finessed into an arc. The journey
to the final product is just as important to me
as the finished bow. That is obviously the
bowyer in me talking. Many people who
shoot selfbows never see the bow in stave
form or have any idea what tools were used
in its construction. I don’t consider myself a
purist by any means. I use many traditional
tools and techniques in making bows,
arrows, and points, but I don’t craft my bows
with flakes of chert or sandstone blocks.
There may be an undefined line between a
“Traditionalist” and a “Purist.” In whatever
category I may fall, one thing is for certain—
I love my hand tools!
I see many pictures of folks building
bows with band saws and other power tools.
I don’t shun or put down anyone for using a
power tool. I’m not arrogant enough to tell
someone that they are not doing it correctly.
That which is correct is that which best takes
you down the road to success. I have seen
many a fine bow cut out with a band saw and
even a few cut laser straight on a table saw.
For me, the best approach is through the use
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B y R y a n G i l l
Hand Tools
www.PrimitiveArcher.com Volume 21 Issue 1
of a couple good hand tools, a hatchet, a
machete, and a straight handled
drawknife\scraper. Some would say, “Sure,
it’s easy to say you don’t like a band saw until
you have used one.” Agreed. I do in fact have
one and have used it a few times. There is
something about the whine of the blade and
hum of the motor that is very impersonal to
me. The wood may have taken decades to
grow, and in a few minutes I lop it off with
little effort. Perhaps it’s out of respect for the
wood that I work it by hand. I can appreciate
the wood and the grain as I sweat through
reducing a full stave into shavings and,
eventually, into a floor tillered bow.
The more bows I make, the more I realize
that following the grain is ever important.
Many bows are made with a perfect growth
ring on the back, yet suffer greatly from
excessive grain run-out. This is especially
true with Osage. A good bow can actually be
made with a fair amount of grain run-out,
but a better bow would be obtained by
following the grain as closely as possible. I
have noticed that a bow’s “expiration” comes
earlier when the grain is violated. For me,
there is no better way to follow the grain
The right hand side of the stave has been
sawn straight while the left has been hand
split. This is often the case with commercially
bought staves. The straight line cut by the saw
clearly cuts through the meandering grain
leaving many places of grain run-out and
encouraging lifted splinters or broken bows.
than with a drawknife. Wood splits off where
it wants to rather than being forced into
compliance with hundreds of sawing teeth. A
stave will tell you a lot if you take time to
watch, feel, and listen.
My favorite way to build a bow is by eye
and feel. I measure a stave and mark center
which can also easily be done with a length
of cordage and dividing it in half. I like a
center mark and that is all. The rest of the
stave won’t have any pencil marks when I
start. I begin by removing the obvious bits
and lengths that will not be in my bow. I use
a sharp machete or a hatchet if the wood is
extra tough. I take plenty of time to “eye
ball” the stave from different directions and
remove wood slowly. As the stave takes a
closer-to-finished form, I switch to the
straight handled drawknife. The slow pull of
the knife should follow the grain well.
Although a dull knife is a great
inconvenience, I have found too sharp a
drawknife will cut through the grain instead
of following it. There is a happy medium
between bluntly splitting the wood and
cutting it. Nothing but practice will tell you
where that medium is.