I've made up my mind and I don't expect to ever look back,I'm gonna build a bow! I saw a thing today where a guy built a longbow from a Lowes poplar board/fiberglass drywall tape backing and titebond 3. About $15.00 in materials. That ain't much to give it a try. The goal is to replicate my HH Tembo in form. If I'm successful,great. If not I learned for next time and I'll have a wallhanger.

You'll never know whether you do or don't like it till you give it a shot.

“A man has to do what he has to do”. Been there done that. From my experience I resemble “a man has to know his limitations “. Good luck with your build. $15 is an inexpensive way to have some fun and learn something new as well. Who knows, you may find the experience worth the effort and expand your horizons.

dont use poplar,

for a board bow, either red oak,or hickory.

i prefer hickory myself.

lowes has decent red oak 1x2's

and if you have a menards near you they usually have nice hickory 1x2's

do some research on what grain to look for, dont just grab any board and run to the register lol.

i always check every board and set decent ones aside to further narrow it down.

good luck:)

I agree, Don't use poplar. Go with the red oak.

There is a red oak build along on my site. You can rip it to 1 3/8" to get 45-50# f you tiller well. The handle is the widest part of the ow. Don't glue on a handle let the handle bend. You can back it with linen, silk or burlap.

You want straight grained stock tip to tip with may be 2 run outs per limb. No knots. None. No matter how small. Don't settle. Leave.

Here is my site.

http://traditionalarchery101.com

Jawge

Make sure you put glass on both sides??

Fantastic, keep us in the loop and there are a lot of good builders here that can help along the way.

As Jawge said look at his site.

I made one of those. Sounds like even the same site I followed to make it. Go for it. Great fun and it shot really good.

use hickory !! you will be better in the long run. I'd stay away from both red oak and poplar. Hickory is so much more forgiving. That's why Ben Pearson made lots and lots of bows from it back in the day. trust us do not use the other two.. Also see if there is a good local lumber store that has hickory boards you can pick from.

I've made many selfbows from red oak. I've also made many redoak bows backed with linen, silk and burlap. As long as the chooses the board wisely as I mentioned above.

Hickory is also a good choice.

Jawge

I would pass on poplar.

I would pass on poplar.

Listen to Jawge... He's been doing this for quite some time.. That being said.. Don't be afraid to cut a broom handle or shovel handle to practice on.. It gets you used to the tools involved, starts developing your eye.. Have fun with it..

Don't worry about it not working, I am sure it will, it is very gratifying to end up with something you shaped from your own hands with primitive tools. Go for it!!!

Like Stan says.

Some of the people here are masters, and all of them probably better than me.

As to wood: Hickory is a pain to get good and dry and takes some set (permanent bend) but it I have yet to have it explode, and I have hickory bows (from tree staves that I split) that are still shooters. Gotta seal/polyurethane the shit out of it to keep it dry. But what she demands, she gives back in durability.

As to tools: if I did not have a Stanley 10" Surform Plane, I would never have made a bow, let alone 6...

Poplar? Why spend the big money? Use a 2 x 4 stud. I'd skip drywall tape, its much too strong in tension and will over-power the wood. I'd go with a quality masking tape to better match the qualities of the 2 x 4.

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