How to make a basic longbow from scratch

Common wood used to make bows:
– Red Oak
– Yew
– Ash
– Bamboo
– Osage
– Ipe
– Black Locust

To make a longbow, our best options is yew. Although it is quite expensive is ideal for longbows.

The #1 rule when making any bow, is not to use power tools. This slows down the process a bit, but makes it more difficult to make fatal mistakes.

Common tools used to make bows:
– Draw knife
– Spoke shave
– Cabinet scrapers
– Fine wood file
– Sandpapers

The first thing we need to do is the initial shaping of the bow. We have bought a piece of wood which doesn’t look like a bow at all. Most of the wood will need to be removed and it will be done in this initial shaping stage.
Once you’ve removed around 2lb of wood, you’ll need to draw a central line and the rough outline of the bow as a guide.
The main characteristic of this stage is that, at the end of it, you will be able to see the shape of the bow but the wood would be still too thick to bend.
Now it’s time to shape the longbow. Work from the centre towards the tips. Define the D shaped cross section. Define the cuts for the bowstring to fit in and define the handling area.
The only thing remaining is to check the draw length which should be 28″ as standard.
To know your draw length, you have to put your arms away in the shape of a “T”. One person has to measure from middle finger on the right hand to the middle finger on the left hand. Divide the resulting number by 2.5 to know your draw length.

Here are a couple of extended guides on how to make your own longbow:
– http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-layered-oak-bow-or-How-NOT-to-make-/?ALLSTEPS
– http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-red-oak-bow-start-to-finish/

– http://poorfolkbows.com/oak.htm

– http://www.greenmanlongbows.co.uk/