Longbow Kits, anybody built one ?

[whatsgnu]

Happy Hunting Season Everyone !

Has anyone built one of the longbow kits out there ? I'm looking for a winter project to do with my son (he's 11 ) and was wondering if a kit was a good way to go or should I get all the pieces and a book and do it that way ?
I don't have alot of extra time so simplicty is important but I want it to be fun and educational also.

Please pass along any thoughts , suggestionsand experiences you may have. Thanks.

[Thorneswift]

Hey there, since he's a pup just getting started why not go with a self bow? If you have the space you could put together a shaving bench and a simple tool set: rasps a sturdy knife for scraping, maybe a drawknife.A good bow wud that won't test his strength so bad when he works it would be white oak. White oak is very reliable, doesn't need to be worked to one growth ring and it has pretty good elasticity. A good trick to clean the back is to scrape the bark off and steam the inner bark until it peels off. He doesn't even need to get fancy with a narrowed thicker handle. I'm not sure if I'm allowed by the moderators to point people to venders, but Mike Yancy at Pine Hollow Longbows sells top quality staves along with other cool stuff bow makers really need.

[wyomingtrapper]

I've made both a take down recurve and a long bow from Bingham kits.http://www.binghamprojects.com/features.htm
I can't say enough good about these bows. They really shoot well and do not stack at all.

[Arthur P]

I'd also suggest starting out with a selfbow instead of a glass laminate bow. I've made quite a few out of plain red oak boards from Lowes and Home Depot. Here are a couple of sites with good 'how to' instructions.

http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcherywebpage/buildingbowsfromboards.msnw
http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/archer.html

[Alex The Hawk]

Search for rudderbows.com and start with their hickory staves.

[Thorneswift]

How tall is your son? What's his draw length and what do you think would be a good draw weight to shoot for? If he's in the 30 to 35 pound range at around 22 or 24 inches I'd go with red oak, white oak or white ash. Even walnut would be good.