Almost-Bows and Arrows, and Antler Rings

Here are some more of my recent makings - I've started to try learning how to make self-bows and these are my first two efforts. Each is just from a Hazel branch and made with saw, bill-hook and knife. They have had a loose string on them and a good bend, but have not been properly tillered yet and are not ready to shoot.

The first one was very rough, i just cut away at the belly (the bit that faces the archer) and shaped the thing:



With the second effort i also carved away at the front very carefully to give a wider, more powerful bow - hopefully:





I've also started on arrow making - I've got a flint arrowhead hafted but the shaft is not fletched or nocked yet:



And I've made some bone points too - the smaller ones will definitely go for arrows, while the bigger ones may end up as darts and the spike for a club!



I guess i should post this lot in the Survival forum when they are actually finished.


Here are some Antler Rings i have made too.. i started off just making three but enjoyed it so much i made a whole bunch, not all are pictured as i've sold a few and my better half got one too.

These are the first three..



and a bunch more:



Thanks for looking

Nice work Skalla, I'd like to see it when it's finished.
I made a few bows but broke every one.
Perhaps it's unreasonable to expect a 60lb pull weight,lol.
Neat antler rings. I carved one out of Ivory for my wife once.
Engraved it with floral scrolls and scrimshawed a penguin on it.
I really enjoy working with stone, bone and wood. it's obvious you do too.

People might be confused why the bone points are so large - it's to make them heavy enough to keep the weight at the front of the arrow.

Thanks for sharing those.
People should learn about bowmaking for survival's sake.
It's an important skill.

Awesome!
It's always neat to see what your latest projects are. Have fun creating!

reply to post by skalla


I love your stuff, skalla, I've said it before, and it's true, you've got a wicked hand when it comes to the flint-knapping. The antler rings are also very beautiful and the bow looks like it will be powerful.

Thanks for sharing.

Good job! Are the antlers hard to work with or easy?

I had no idea that this had been posted successfully! I struggled with my PC for about an hour last night before rage-quitting, thinking it had not loaded and going to bed a touch miffed. So i'm pleasantly surprised and thanks for the comments!

Nightstar - The antler is easy enough, even the most finished and polished ring takes less than an hour. I just hacksawed slices of antler, and then champfered the corners/edges with 60 grit. Then i soaked them in warm water to soften the pith and scraped it out with a knife, then soaked again and scraped inside to get them to size, and nice and smooth - the soaking in warm water does significantly help Then it's just using different grits etc to shape and smooth the outside, and adding wax or oil to finish them. It's a very satisfying and additive process, and the next few i make may well get carved/filed/pyro'd a bit, and i've seen some with nice crushed inlays too which i fancy having a crack at sometime.


As for the bows, i've got the bowmaking bug - the big log behind the second bow was a chunk of hawthorn that i roughed out to be another bow, but it tore itself to pieces as it started to dry, which i kinda expected as i was impatient with the thing and should just have left it untouched for a couple of years. The Bows probs wont be finished for some time yet, i keep getting distracted by other shiny stuff to do and i plan to make my own string from gathered materials so that may take some time as i skill-up in that area, but i will most certainly make more of them.

reply to post by skalla

and adding wax or oil to finish them. It's a very satisfying and additive process, and the next few i make may well get carved/filed/pyro'd a bit, and i've seen some with nice crushed inlays too which i fancy having a crack at sometime.

I would imagine the oil would give a nice polished look and also be good for the antler material. Wouldn't any kind of wax eventually yellow? I think you should indeed try your hand at the crushed inlay design. I would like very much to see that.

reply to post by Night Star


On most of them i oiled first (sesame oil) and polished, then waxed and polished. I've never had wax go yellow on sticks or spoons, but then not much is left on there after a good buffing.. i use a refined beeswax though (cheap as chips from a general store), maybe this makes a difference? RE: using oil and wax together, i cant really tell the difference from just using oil tbh, and in future i may try a superglue/cyanoacryllate (sp?) finish which a lot of folk seem to find very effective and looks quite glossy

I never heard of the super glue concoction, but it is always good to try new things.

This is so neat. I wish I had time to make a home-made bow. Or have my dad do it at least lol

Very neat but is it hard to carve out deer antlers to make rings or no?

Hey, sorry for the belated reply..

Cosmicspirit
This is so neat. I wish I had time to make a home-made bow. Or have my dad do it at least lol

The real time spent for me was in the reading i did before starting - the first bow had about six hours of work in it using the billhook (a narrow profile axe or machete would do the same job) to remove wood, rasp (forgot to mention that in the OP) to shape and remove material more carefully, and knife to scrape smooth. That includes thime stopping and examining my work, and carefully bending the limbs to judge when to stop.

The second bow i have probs about 9 hours in - i'm pretty handy with wood and blades though, but if you have a bandsaw and power sander it would be a pretty quick job.

Take a look at these links, they are the primitive bow sections of possibly the two best sites on the net for this sort of thing - heaps of gorgeous bows, awesome how to's... and loads of stunning work by folks still in school too!

Primitive Archer

Paleoplanet

Start off with self-bows, they are the simplest for a beginner - just spend a goodly time reading first so you understand the basics of what to do and why

Very neat but is it hard to carve out deer antlers to make rings or no?

It surprisingly easy - i made a post about four or five posts up from here replying to Nightstar explaining the process - a simple one could be done in 20 mins or so, a more shaped and polished one in maybe a little under an hour.