How to build a Bamboo backed Osage reflex deflex long bow

[@the.reel.mccoy.]

Clay, I feel like I've watched this video 90,055 times. Your channel is the absolute best. I can't wait to find some time to make my own bow!

[@Black_Fox_OZ3]

Thank you for verry nice video! I am Japanese, I have a Mandarin orange field & Bamboo bush in my mountain so I will try to make my own Bamboo bow! But there is no Archery or Japanese Archery gym at my living area, I am sad about that. Sorry my English is not good. Have a nice Bow life!

[@nakoawarrior3186]

You have to understand this this style of bow will require many thing's,..... but its the finest bow that can be had 2nd only to the Asian horn bows. It requires bamboo and a good hard wood. Most woods will work as well as Osage orange but,..........to equal woods like Yew and Osage other woods must be WIDER to equal their belly compression. If you use other woods and make a skinny bow the belly crystallizes and crush's the cell walls,......and leaves cracks in the belly. All woods can potentially be as good as yew and Osage orange if they are wider. So,....the prep is bamboos absorbs all moisture in the air,... then the wood and bamboo comes unglued. So,....you prepare the wood and bamboo and put them in a dry box for several days prior to gluing,.....then the glue will bond them together correctly. These Bamboo backed bows I think are the best. Good luck and best wishes. You cut, shape, dry box, glue,... then you tiller the bow. In america,...rarely do we go to a shooting range,... we shoot in our back yards,....or out in the woods. Rotten stumps or a hill side will stop the arrows. Oh yeah,.....the wood you cut must dry for about a year,.... because green wood takes a set,....that means it don't make a good bow till it dries. In America we have book's that instruct us on how to make all bows. books The Traditional Bowyer The Bow Builders Book The Bent Stick And there's a few more and I have no way of knowing if they print them in Japanese.

[@gustavodemira7416]

In the case of the example bow in this video, I wonder if you backed the bamboo with sinew and shortened each limb about .8-1.0in if you would have a 50-55lbs draw @ 26-28in draw. In this case this would be much simpler to build then a horn belly horsebow with siyahs and tempering/setting the limbs, and I think for the time to build and resources this reflex/deflex would be a considerable option. I bet a matched 360 to 372 grains arrow would fly very nicely with that setup, too. The only thing I'm concerned is that since there was no heat tempering of the wood that you have to leave it unstrung when not using it (unless instead you back the bamboo with fiberglass and switch osage to Ipê, lol).

[@Rpr91]

Did you try making it?

[@bjoernhoegsdal]

I love, how you proved to know YOUR stuff and your layouts for bows, but how you never avoid to leave your comfort zones and try new stuff and just show in comparison to the masters of their niches, how trying and progress works. And still, your first tries always beat my 5th try.

[@vfc1860]

Used to do laminated before self and composite bows. Don't miss it for a second!

[@murrayshanaughan2650]

I admire and respect your experience as a traditional archer and find your videos to be good value. I feel as part of this great tradition we are responsible to pass on reliable, accurate, tried and true information to those who follow. Correct terminology, as used by the initiated is fundament to the craft. As an example I site the terms "loosing" or "shooting" as correct but not the term "firing". This is a spillover from the invention of firearms. Bow forms are described in terms of reflex (curve towards the back) and deflex (curve towards the belly) . This has always been viewed from the point of the handgrip or riser section outwards toward the bow nock. In this sense, may I humbly point out that the excellent bow you have made, in this video, is a deflex reflex bow rather than a reflex deflex bow. I believe the word hybrid was used in the video and though longbow is a fair description I would say it morphs a bit towards being a semi flatbow. It looks like a nice combination of qualities, a sweet shooter and handy in the bush. An eye for subtle curvature is part of every traditional archers learning. It's intrinsic to the word "archer". The purpose in clarifying some terms is just to help each other understand what we are talking about. Good shooting brothers and sisters. Or should I say "good loosing".

[@svent1000]

I'm a carpenter myself. Have made a few bows. Today I made a longbow, american flatbow- design, to my daugther in roe. Its a quick and light weigth materiale. I have general good knowlegde about wood, so I only need a few tip along the way when making new design. And a bamboo backed bow is coming up soon. Like in all of videos I've seen of you, IT was enough info fore me. Shorts, presise and good. Thanks fore that. Greetings from a Norwegian bowmaker. Sven 👍

[@outlawcustombows]

Glad to see these lads prepped the bamboo properly by profiling it then thinning it rather than the quick way of just gluing it up as a rectangle then cutting it out.

[@davidedwards526]

YOU DID A GREAT JOB ON THE TILLER CLAY!!!!!!!

[@clayhayeshunter]

Thanks David.

[@trevoror8668]

Im in the uk and now going to try bow building getting the tools together band saw belt sander have most of the rest one thing over here is finding quality bow woods so laminate is the way im going to start im from a family of boat builders so laminates is something im competent with. Have now spent many many hours watching bow builders on the tube and you do some of the best tutorial video there are. Thanks for your good work clear instructions i was hooping you might cover laminates. Time to have a go thanks again

[@clayhayeshunter]

Good luck!

[@backyard.craftsman]

Look great 👍 the construction process is simple and easy to follow

[@stephenschwake524]

The innertube wrap is a great idea. That would be useful for all kinds of glue-up applications in luthiery.

[@clayhayeshunter]

It works well

[@georgehellie9175]

These are mostly the type I make, made my wife one that is 56 inches 43# @27 and it is fast the tips are 3/8 inch wide, loved the video always learn something watching someone else.

[@clayhayeshunter]

Yep, everyone's got their own little tricks.

[@stephentalbot3256]

Love that Bow

[@fredsadjadi]

Beautiful work of art, wood craft, and Bowering

[@clayhayeshunter]

Thanks

[@johndurfee5925]

How fortunate you are to 3 expert Bowyer's to help you do this build.

[@mikefisher3067]

Great video. You made it look so simple. Hard to believe that's all the tillering that was needed.

[@clayhayeshunter]

Yea, I was surprised as well.

[@godzillaburger9690]

Great vid. I've been interested in doing a bamboo-backed bow. Thanks!

[@clayhayeshunter]

you're welcome

[@asdrubalpoker7069]

Very nice all your videos! thanks for sharing!

[@Makete100]

Another excellent video with a whole bunch of tips in it. Thanks.

[@clayhayeshunter]

Thanks Melvin

[@dwightpilkilton7870]

I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting this

[@clayhayeshunter]

You’re welcome

[@vaknama]

I would love to have one!

[@kevinrodriguez2067]

Awesome video Clay, funny because before you even made this video this is exactly how I wanted to make my first self bow one day. Beautifully done, good luck hunting with it maybe that will be a future video

[@clayhayeshunter]

Thanks Kevin

[@outlawcustombows]

That's a laminate not a self bow...

[@TheBat288]

I wish there is something like this here in the Philippines.

[@nontimebomala2267]

Nice bow. You can kill anything in North America with a 45# bow and truly sharp broadheads. You can cripple anything in North America with a 75# bow and dull broadheads.

[@clayhayeshunter]

true

[@jarnokursi1934]

Epoxy works without any safety gear is always wise thing to do. Thumbs up for this diy style. For real mask is like 20$ and gloves 10p . Why the **** you arent using those :D:D

[@timbuffington5717]

I've always thought laminating would be the best way to keep your shape and memory

[@goldendreamer2122]

Very nice,I believe I'm gonna make me one of them new phangled laminated bows.. - )))))----------------->

[@clayhayeshunter]

Haha, get it!

[@robsarchery9679]

Great job buddy.Wished I could do it.

[@82trooper50]

This is a great video. It explained the process in a clear and simple way. On another note: Any chance of getting some plans to make that bow jig???

[@wolfgangbernhard5373]

Wonderful video. Very helpful. My question is: how thick are the bamboo and osage? Can one do it with ash instead. We have little osage overhere in Germany. Even Ipé is easier to get!

[@stupitchannel]

real nice vid, Thx bro

[@muleskinner47]

I don’t know where to ask questions besides here. I just became a patrion. So much more to see. My question: a friend and I are making ourselves a bamboo backed hickory bow. Should we use epoxy, or is tightbond 3 ok? Thanks. Steveskinner

[@2kayaker]

Regarding mixing strong epoxy.The glue forms when one type molecule locks into a molecule from part ‘b’. Any unmatched molecules degrade the glue strength. It’s not like mixing cream in your coffee. Therefore the most accurate mix is by weight on an accurate scale.

[@leonardoamorim8426]

Aqui do Brasil ..somente elogios para fabricação do arco longbow. ..

[@Firearcher74]

Dean Torges has a DVD that goes into great detail on building the bamboo backed Osage. I've built several of this type of bow. Try adding some carbon or fiberglass to the core. It makes a very quick longbow.

[@Firearcher74]

His DVD came out more than a dozen years ago

[@robsarchery9679]

Great buddy

[@robertxi3535]

Awesome video Clay! It's given me a good idea as to what a R/D bow's brace and tiller should look like. Question: Can you let me know what kind of scraper you're using at 22:10? It looks very easy to use and I like that it's not very tall.

[@clayhayeshunter]

That’s just a knife blade.

[@aloberdorf4579]

just out of curiosity...some where I seem to recall that when tillering, there should be about 1/8 " less on the bottom limb...for recurves..is this true ?

[@clayhayeshunter]

This is called positive tiller. Whether or not you need it is dependent on your shooting style and bow design.

[@bludmakesgrassgrow]

I assume you could just take the osage laminate from a normal stave? Would there be a different process involved? No need to use full growth rings? I want to build a similar one and information would be greatly appreciated.

[@Simon-xq8et]

greate show again thx for that :)

[@clayhayeshunter]

No problem

[@rigdigwus]

really nice information in there, awesome video :) and this one guys beard is also insane xD

[@Sertao2013]

I have been watching the bow building process and I noticed the bow limbs are thinned so they are even on both sides the center of the string is used when its pulled down in tillering process . I have noticed that a lot of people are using the 3 under finger placement and string walking where your fingers can be a good 2.5 inches below the arrow knock and where the arrow is setting . This puts the center of the string point down about 4 inch from the arrow knock . If you are going to use the 3 under and walk the string down would it make the bows action better if you tilled the limbs if you pull the string down 4 inches below center where you show it in the video at 20:50 ? I have always shot one finger over the arrow so I decided to try the 3 under and string walking using marks on my tab . The first thing I noticed was the flight of the arrow was not the same it was doing a up and down movement pretty bad . What is going on with the bow and the arrows when you change the point where the string makes its bend do to your fingers on the string ? I can feel a difference in the actions of the limbs the further I walk down the string Its not as smooth as when I use the one over hold .

[@clayhayeshunter]

string walking or shooting with a crawl causes downward pressure on the arrow as the string is released. this can cause the arrow to bounce off the shelf resulting in the up and down flight you've seen. check out my tuning video. It might help answer some questions.

[@westdesertoutlaw724]

Is using a hot box nessary with the epoxy? I dont have access to one will lettung it set few days be ok.

[@l.l.blacksmithing4059]

How thick do you cut the core pre tiller?

[@robsarchery9679]

great

[@timmeisburger3808]

I'ver got some hickory and some red cedar and have been thinking to do a hickory backed longbow. Do you think this flatter, shorter style would be better? I've made a couple of osage self-bows, following your book, and thought it would be fun to try a backed bow. I cut this stuff a couple years ago and split it out then so it should be dry enough by now.The osage was still a bit wet when I made those bows, but I still have about fifteen staves that are getting dry now and should be ready after I make the laminate bow.

[@clayhayeshunter]

I think the design in the video should work well with a hickory backed red cedar.

[@timmeisburger3808]

@@clayhayeshunter Thanks. I'll give it a try.

[@squamiger7720]

any tips for flattening the bamboo strip if you dont have access to a belt sander?

[@clayhayeshunter]

You can do it with a rasp if you’re cautious.

[@jbeard8728]

Hello mister hayes I'd like to know can i put more recurve in manufacture bow limbs and how i have a extra set

[@Polymath9000]

What glue did they use for the bow?Is it water proof

[@chasonhayes435]

What are the dimensions of the core osage? Is it a pyramid design? What dimensions would you recommend for a hickory core?

[@FrenchCrow]

Great job, thanks for sharing. Is the handle area curved? If so, I guess you have to shape the handle overlay accordingly?

[@ripptydevibes2581]

I think im going to try one with local harvest material. Hopefully I can find cane wide enough to avoid having to use 2 strips. Whats this rule of thumb you mention about limb symmetry? A-sym for self bows and split sym for laminate?

[@kp.co.6074]

Nice bow sir, I love trilam English long bows. I got a trilam flatbow but the elb are so much smoother. Anywho, if you want a heavier trilam try ipe as the corewood. Does much better at compression the Osage. That same amount of ipe might get you in the 85-75lb range. Stuff is super dense.

[@louisswanson9118]

more power? make a horn compound added to the 2 woods, Ibex horn is long and thinner than ram.make a bow that needs them pulleys compounding just to get a draw on it.

[@serhatulusoy5447]

kyle iişşş ...."......,,çççöööööö"...,,çççööööööööö,ç,,,ççööömmmnnnn!,,oı

[@normanthompson4729]

Do you do anything to seal the wood from moisture?

[@clayhayeshunter]

Truoil works well

[@yuurishibuya4797]

Was that a bow building workshop?

[@jolllyroger1]

I would just cut a wood Form to sandwich the laminate between and use foam to distribute the force evenly then clamp that.... Would ensure uniformity ... Much better than wrap with anything.. Made many things that way..... Could even then bag the whole thing and vacuum it... But her this is simple too

[@jennychapman2332]

great video clay just finished my first board now I'm.addicted lol thanks for all the videos and info now I have a question for u or anyone who reads this that knows the answer I have a Ben person roguerecurve older one from 70s I think the limb is warped or something the.string came all the way around to the back of the bow the last time I shot it really whacked my arm too I.tried.it.one more time.it.happened.again CAN THIS.B FIXED sorry for.any .inconvenience don't have anyone.else.to.ask

[@clayhayeshunter]

I’ve seen where guys have straightened twisted recurve limbs by holding the limb under hot water and bending in the opposite direction. There was an article in Traditional Bowhunter Magazine about it a while back.

[@edjunaelerabuyo7751]

I love it! What kind of epoxy they use to binde together?...

[@clayhayeshunter]

SmoothOn EA40

[@edjunaelerabuyo7751]

Thank you...

[@aloberdorf4579]

Thanks Clay....now...what about using Pacific yew for selfbows ?

[@clayhayeshunter]

I’ll cover that on the patreon site.

[@stephenbonaventure9423]

Hey Clay I just wanted to ask you a question . I am thinking about building a bow like the one in this video the bamboo back where the Osage , the problem is I don’t have any Osage or bamboo but have a nice piece of hickory bored with the grains running perfectly ,I was wondering if I could laminate like in the video hickory on top of Hickory with a purple heart power lamb in between the two Hickory’s slats would that make a good bow , I would appreciate any information and glad to except it.

[@clayhayeshunter]

I think that would work fine. I’d heat treat the belly side before glue up. Hickory tends to take set otherwise.

[@stephenbonaventure9423]

@@clayhayeshunter OK I will try it it ,will be my first bow I really liked the way those guys in Oklahoma did that bamboo bow that you Had

[@dmoncada2734]

Hello Have you made another bamboo backed bow? Currently I'm using Mulberry for self bows. Its a distant cousin of osage, beautiful yellow-orange color to it. I've prepped some black bamboo and just wanted your thoughts on backing bows, do you like them, would you do it again? Would love to see pictures of your bow in its finished state. Thanks for the great videos, I use your channel as a reference often. Hope this msg makes it to you. David Moncada

[@clayhayeshunter]

I did a video about a year ago showing how to build a bamboo backed Osage bow.

[@lukebonagurio4503]

Wear can you find the layout for the jig.

[@the.reel.mccoy.]

Clay, I know you said you didn't want to get into why you make the bottom limb a little shorter than the top typically, but do you have another video that explains this or could you explain why? If it has to do with shooting 3 under, I'd especially like to know, for I shoot the same.

[@clayhayeshunter]

If you move the handle down it gets the arrow a little close to center instead of pushing it two inches above center. I’ve seen many bows of symmetrical design that function well. This is just how I do it.

[@the.reel.mccoy.]

@@clayhayeshunter Ahh, very cool! So essentially you make the knocking point at the center of the bow/string, rather than the pushing point for your bow arm? I can see how this would be advantageous. I'll have to give this a shot soon, when I finally make mine!

[@lazynut81]

How fast is this one was ?

[@Vaden_lane]

Is that David Edwards helping you with the glue up?

[@Quimerateck]

What are the NO-GO woods for bow?

[@anxablazz]

should I use dry bamboo or fresh bamboo if i must use dry how long i must dry it in day light

[@clayhayeshunter]

Dry. Not sure how long.

[@anxablazz]

in your vid is there use 2 kind of bamboo? coz I see diferentiate between in-side and out-side

[@clayhayeshunter]

Bamboo is only used on the bow's back. the other wood is Osage.

[@ЮрийВилин-Каналдлялучника]

Very interesting! Does it stack a lot past 28"?

[@clayhayeshunter]

No, it’s pretty smooth.

[@OwainRaj]

Is there a technical term for the type of scraper he uses a the 21:30 point? I've not seen that type before.

[@clayhayeshunter]

It’s just a knife.

[@tradbowyer1975]

awesome vid thanks! what tool where you using when you first started tillering to scrape the limb?

[@clayhayeshunter]

Just a knife.

[@CentreTWSP]

What is the tool that you're using for your tillering ?

[@clayhayeshunter]

A knife

[@sandilili1785]

can i do a bamboo backed eastern red cedar>?

[@clayhayeshunter]

Absolutely

[@team-jl9uq]

Do you sell any of yours bows?

[@susanberkenfield3444]

Clay, do you use an arrow rest on this bow? thanks. jim

[@clayhayeshunter]

I don’t think I cut a shelf into this one but you certainly could.

[@blabjornsnaturprodukter2203]

At 2.25: The first thing "we did"... The man is like, who? Typical project leader.

[@TheRedhawke]

What is that hacksaw blade you were using to cut string grooves called ?

[@hankczinaski915]

I think he mentioned it in other videos. It's carbide or wolfram wire saw. The kind you use for ceramic tiles.

[@clayhayeshunter]

Yep

[@DenxPlit]

Гуд

[@raimundodinizmaciel1086]

I have one around50 pound too

[@Billythebassist]

Never violate the bamboo. . .

[@clayhayeshunter]

oooh!

[@wadesaunders583]

So Clay, did this thing work out for you? Got a feeling it's not your style, your more of a self bow guy!

[@clayhayeshunter]

It worked fine. I just built it for the video though.

[@Pedro-gy4ht]

It's not 100 % bamboo, you use wood. I can substitute for more bamboo ? Thanks for the video =D

[@jamesrobertson6959]

🎉

[@WhiteNinja508]

Anyone else having audio issues or is it my phone?

[@sophialow340]

If you like woodworking, just look for Stodoys plans.

[@raimundodinizmaciel1086]

How many Pound?

[@clayhayeshunter]

You can make it whatever draw weight you want. This one is about 50lbs at 28 inches.

[@lancemckinney914]

Clay Hayes, that’s where most of my vintage Pearson bows come in at. So, what was the thickness you wound up with for the “boo” core? Love that grip wood by the way.

[@mikeolson5986]

Nice bow but those white tents they built it in SUCK !

[@terrymott8093]

Clay do you or would you sell some Osage slats I am in Canada we do not have Osage here.

[@clayhayeshunter]

I think 3rivers sells them.

[@coolcreamykiwi]

Whats the point of an engineered bow like this? if you are going to laminate, just use the good stuff, or make a real self-bow

[@davidbum3460]

How much whip can I get. Lol

[@clayhayeshunter]

As much as you want! I'll put in a lot more for the next one.

[@raimundodinizmaciel1086]

How many Pound?

[@clayhayeshunter]

This one was probably just shy of 50@28”