Bow Construction

Part of Hunting and Trapping

A functional bow extends your effective hunting range from 10 meters to 30+ meters and lets you take game silently. Building one that works requires understanding stave selection, tillering, and string making.

What Makes a Bow Work

A bow is a spring. When you draw the string, you store energy in the bent limbs. When you release, that energy transfers to the arrow. A good bow stores energy efficiently (doesn’t take excessive force to draw), releases it quickly (limbs snap back fast), and survives thousands of cycles without breaking.

The critical insight most beginners miss: a bow is only as strong as its weakest point. One thin spot, one hidden knot, one area where you removed too much wood — and the limb snaps at full draw, potentially injuring you. Patience and careful observation during tillering are non-negotiable.

Stave Selection Summary

Detailed wood selection is covered in the companion article Stave Selection, but here’s the essential decision:

Wood	Draw Weight Potential	Workability	Availability	Verdict
Yew	High (60+ lbs)	Moderate	Uncommon	Best if available
Osage orange	Very high (80+ lbs)	Hard	Regional (central US)	Superior but demanding
Ash	Medium (45-55 lbs)	Easy	Common	Best beginner choice
Hickory	High (50-65 lbs)	Moderate	Common (eastern)	Excellent all-around
Elm	Medium (40-50 lbs)	Easy	Common	Forgiving, good for learning
Maple	Medium (45-55 lbs)	Moderate	Common	Solid choice
Black locust	High (55-65 lbs)	Hard	Regional	Excellent if found

For your first bow, choose ash or elm. They’re forgiving of mistakes and widely available.

Rough Shaping the Stave

Assume you’ve harvested and dried a stave (see Stave Selection for details). You’re working with a split or sawn half-log, bark side intact, roughly 170-180 cm (66-72 inches) long.

Identifying the Back

The Most Common Fatal Mistake

The back of the bow (facing the target) MUST follow a single continuous growth ring. Cutting through growth rings on the back creates stress risers that will cause the bow to explode at full draw. If you’re working with a split stave, the split surface naturally follows the grain — leave it alone or carefully chase a single ring with a knife.

The belly (facing you) is where you remove wood during tillering. All shaping happens on the belly and sides.

Layout and Proportions

1. Find the center of the stave and mark it. This is your handle section.

2. Mark the handle — 10-12 cm (4-5 inches) centered on the midpoint. This section stays thick and rigid.

3. Mark the limb tips — leave 3-4 cm at each end for string nocks.

4. Taper the width from handle to tips:

   • At the handle: 4-5 cm wide
   • At mid-limb: 3.5-4 cm wide
   • Near the tips: 2-2.5 cm wide

5. Remove excess width with a hatchet, knife, or sharp stone. Work carefully — you can always remove more, never add back.

Initial Thickness

Start with the belly roughly 2.5-3 cm thick at the handle, tapering to 1.5-2 cm at the tips. You’ll refine this during tillering. Leave extra wood. Better to tiller slowly from too thick than to have a bow that’s too weak because you cut too aggressively.

Tillering: The Art of the Bow

Tillering is the process of removing wood from the belly until both limbs bend evenly through their entire length. This is where 80% of bow-making time is spent, and it’s the step that separates a weapon from a stick.

Building a Tillering Stick

You need a way to see how your bow bends at increasing draw lengths.

1. Find or cut a board roughly 70-80 cm long, 5 cm wide, 2.5 cm thick
2. Cut a notch at the top to hold the bow handle
3. Cut notches down one side every 5 cm — these hold the string at increasing draw lengths
4. Mount it on a wall, tree, or post at eye level

The Tillering Process

1. String the bow loosely — use a temporary tillering string of strong cordage. The string should have about 15 cm of brace height (distance from handle to string).

2. Place on the tillering stick and step back 3-4 meters.

3. Pull to the first notch (about 15 cm of draw) and look at the bend profile. Both limbs should curve evenly. Mark any stiff spots with charcoal or pencil.

4. Remove wood from stiff spots only. Use a scraper (a sharp stone edge works perfectly), knife, or rasp. Take off thin shavings — think of sanding, not chopping.

5. Re-check on the tillering stick. Pull to the same notch. Has the stiff spot started bending? If yes, move to the next stiff area. If no, remove a bit more.

6. Gradually increase draw length by moving to the next notch. At each new draw length, re-examine the bend profile and address any stiff spots.

7. Continue until you reach full draw — typically 70-72 cm (28 inches) for an adult male, less for smaller builds.

Tillering Rules

• Never draw past your target draw length. The wood “remembers” being over-stressed and weakens.
• Never leave the bow strung. Unstring it during breaks. Wood creeps under sustained load.
• Hinges kill bows. A hinge is a spot that bends sharply while the rest of the limb stays stiff. If you see one forming, STOP drawing. Remove wood from the stiff areas on either side of the hinge — never from the hinge itself.
• The lower limb is usually slightly stiffer. This is intentional — your bow hand is slightly below center, so the lower limb is shorter and needs to be stiffer to bend equally.

Reading the Bend

What you want to see at full draw:

Limb Section	Bend Contribution	Common Problem
Near handle (inner limb)	Most bend	Often too stiff — remove belly wood here first
Mid-limb	Moderate bend	Should flow smoothly from inner to outer
Outer limb / tips	Least bend	If bending too much, the limb is too thin — can’t fix. Leave tips slightly stiff

The ideal is a smooth, continuous curve from handle fade to just before the tips. Some bowyers prefer an elliptical tiller (more bend near the handle, less at tips), which is more efficient and safer for beginners.

String Making

A bow is nothing without a reliable string. The string must be strong enough to withstand the shock of release thousands of times without stretching excessively.

Natural String Materials

Material	Strength	Stretch	Durability	Notes
Sinew (animal tendon)	Excellent	Low	High	Best natural option. Twist or braid from leg tendons
Plant fiber (dogbane, nettle, milkweed)	Good	Low	Moderate	Must be processed into fine cordage first
Linen (flax fiber)	Excellent	Very low	High	If flax is available, this is superb
Rawhide	Good	Moderate	High	Cut thin strips, twist tight
Inner bark (basswood, elm)	Fair	Moderate	Low	Emergency only — stretches and wears fast

Making a Bowstring

1. Prepare fibers — sinew bundles split thin and dried, or plant fibers retted and separated
2. Reverse-twist (ply) two bundles together into a 2-ply cord. The finished string should be about 4-5 mm diameter.
3. Make the string 10-15 cm shorter than the bow’s length (tip to tip, unstrung). This creates proper brace height when strung.
4. Form loops at each end by splicing the cord back on itself or tying secure non-slip loops (timber hitch at one end works for temporary use)
5. Wax the string with beeswax or rendered fat to reduce moisture absorption and friction wear

Cutting the Nocks

String nocks are the grooves at each limb tip that hold the string.

1. Cut nocks on the sides of the limb tips, not the belly or back
2. Angle them slightly toward the belly (about 30 degrees from perpendicular)
3. Depth: 3-5 mm — just enough to hold the string securely
4. Smooth the edges so they don’t cut the string
5. Reinforce with a wrap of sinew or cord if the wood is soft

Finishing and Protection

• Sand or scrape the belly smooth — splinters cause blisters and indicate grain violation
• Apply oil or rendered fat to the entire bow. This seals the wood against moisture changes that cause warping
• Wrap the handle with leather, cord, or bark for a comfortable, non-slip grip
• Build a bow sock from leather or heavy cloth to protect the bow during transport and storage

Testing Your Bow

1. Start with short draws even after tillering — confirm nothing creaks or pops
2. Shoot blunt arrows into a dirt bank at close range first
3. Check for string follow — after unstringing, does the bow stay bent toward the belly? Some follow is normal (2-3 cm). Excessive follow (5+ cm) means you drew too far or the wood is fatigued.
4. Inspect for cracks after every session for the first week. Run your fingers along the back feeling for lifted grain or splinters.

Key Takeaways

• Never violate the back. The back must follow one continuous growth ring. This single rule prevents most bow failures.
• Tiller slowly and patiently. Thin shavings from stiff spots only. You can’t add wood back.
• Even bend is everything. Both limbs bending in a smooth curve from handle to near-tip. No hinges, no flat spots.
• String quality matters. A bow is only as good as its string. Sinew or plant fiber cordage, properly twisted and waxed.
• Start with forgiving wood. Ash and elm tolerate beginner mistakes. Save yew and osage for your second or third bow.