For a long time, an indoor novelty archery set had been on my mind. When enough thought and enough scraps converged, this is the result.
The bow is 47" ntn and pulls 5! pounds at 20". I would not want any more strength in the bow. It is made from red oak, planed to an even thickness, tapered in width with a glued on oak handle. Even with the persimmon blunts faced with stiff foam, I broke the pig target right behind the ham.
The arrows are 1/4 inch spruce, made with my router setup. I have only fletched the one so far--had to bare-shaft test them you know. ;) the blunts are conical bits of persimmon, turned on a lathe and drilled half their length and glued to the shafts. The foam is attached with spray contact cement. It looks like the foam may have to be replaced with something else--it doesn't want to stay in place. Probably, it isn't needed, but the wood blunts would tear up the targets in short order.
The silhouette targets are cherry with the grain running up and down, faced with paper clip art print outs. The cherry is 1/4 inch thick and fits in a snug slot in the bases. They are not glued so they can be replaced if necessary.
The backstop(necessary)is a wool blanket draped over a quilt display rack. A chair would work. It stops the arrows very well.
Even with the short draw, anyone so inclined can gap, use point of aim, gun barrel or shoot instinctive. I can get a 6-yard shot in the living room (parlor).
It's a blast. I've got to get it out of my system so the grandkids can have a turn when they visit.
What rainy days?
