Bowyer Basics: Bow Design

[@johnny30806]

Well said. Thank you for your valuable opinions.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

You're welcome! thanks for the feedback. :)

[@HeartlandMakesAndOutdoors]

Excellent job on this video sir. I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with us and helping explaining some of the principals of bows and bow making. Ha isn't that the truth, depending on what you are doing this bow will work and this one wont. Thank you so much and I hope you have a blessed week. Dale

[@SwiftwoodBows]

Thank you for your feedback!

[@fancymcclean6210]

Highly useful information, well put forth. Have just subscribed. Flaxen Saxon

[@SwiftwoodBows]

Thank you! glad you liked it. It's easy to feel like I'm rambling sometimes. haha

[@larryreese6146]

I like an over built bow, either wider or longer or both with limb tips as narrow as I can get by with. They tend to follow the string less which improves cast. With the narrow wing tips the bows tend to have less hand shock.

[@vfc1860]

Well done.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

Thank you

[@twintwo1429]

Great explanation of design and function. Some of this will sink in, once a person gets to building bows. SO GET TO IT, FOLKS..

[@arturleperoke3205]

THAT CHARACTER VINE MAPLE BOW THOUGH.... please make a video on such a character flat bow!

[@SwiftwoodBows]

thank you. I plan to do some videos on character bows

[@louiepacheco327]

What style of bow would you recommend for black locust? Love your video's keep them coming excellent work.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

I'd do a wide flat american flatbow. It can make a great bow but needs to be seasoned, tillered and designed just right or it will fail in compression and develop chrysals. Good luck

[@louiepacheco327]

Thank you for your information I really appreciate it. I've had issues with chrysals try to avoid them this time. Again thanks.

[@timesthree5757]

I have never made a bow out of mulberry. What design works best.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

I haven't either but from what I hear it needs to be wider than an osage bow. It's just not as dense so it needs to be wider and longer to have the mass it needs. If you ask around on the Primitive Archer forum there will be some guys that have built mulberry bows that can give more specific dimensions.

[@timesthree5757]

@@SwiftwoodBows thanks I have heard that unlike orange osage you can use the live wood and heart wood which makes i big difference. This will be fun. i'll keep ya posted

[@SwiftwoodBows]

please do. good luck.

[@snakeriverscotto]

I would remove all the sapwood. I have made many bows of Mulberry and found that White and Red Mulberry tend to have sapwood that is far weaker then the heartwood. Chasing rings on mulberry is also quite easy once you have spent a little time on it. If you can remove the sapwood when the stave is green, do so, then apply your seal of choice to the back. If you remove the bark and leave the sapwood on, the sapwood will check badly into the heartwood. Mulberry is beautiful wood once finished. I’d chase a heartwood ring every time just to have it be the back of bow. Mr. Wyatt is absolutely correct: a little wider, a little longer will do the trick.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

@@snakeriverscotto I totally agree. Thank you for you input

[@johnhutchinson5398]

A lecture. I had enough lectures in school. But thanks for trying.

[@delcat8168]

Maybe offer constructive criticism? Doing a good presentation to camera isn't easy. maybe you can offer some insights?

[@jacobdreese6441]

I wanted to source my staves locally. Unfortunately, all I have in my immediate area for hardwoods is Birch. Betula Neoalaskana to be specific. What is your experience working with birch. I hear that it lacks tension strength and needs to be of a wider limb design or even a pyramid bow. I was curious about your thoughts on using birch.

[@SwiftwoodBows]

Birch is not ideal bow wood but it can make a bow. I don't know about your specific variety but going wide and long will be prudent. You might try asking on the Primitive Archer Forum to see if someone has any birch specific tips. I haven't worked with it myself. good luck

[@rodparsons521]

@@SwiftwoodBows Check out the Fenno Ugrian 3 pieced Birch bow?

[@rodparsons521]

I sympathise with your bold attempt to give a coherent explanation, but the "mass principle" appears to be an interesting attempt to make sense of the product of a set of known principles, which has some utility as a set of provisional guidelines, but so far I've not found the predictions to agree closely with anything I've produced. But I 'm not going to be worrying about it too much since I'm more concerned with design, set-up and shot execution as they have an effect in reducing shot dispersion other than in the effect of cast on outcomes in elevation Even so this is often in degrees of variation not too different from those commonly produced by normal archer induced variation in cast. I suspect that the potential for minor variables is inconveniently, well, variable, in the game of carving a bow out of self-wood staves in a wide variety of potentially characterful bow staves Also I prefer a degree of durability as a result of the trade-offs I'm prepared to make, probably greater than those considered acceptable the making of some extreme flight bows. It is also a factor that I'm not going into business making bows or looking for ways to streamline production and which is why I make self bows, rather than glue together tapered and thicknessed laminations, or why I shoot without sights and a rangefinder without even thinking about putting a number to the distance. I still make knowledge based decisions about optimising certain aspects, but within the context of my intended use, not that of someone else.