Got A New Archery Tool - Finally!

[Arthur P]

I like making and shooting selfbows but, as I've gotten older, the old joints can't take all the scraping and hand sanding you have to do. I've been kicking around the idea of getting a belt sander to make things easier but have resisted dropping the money on one.

Well, I finally broke down and got one, since I'm planning to make another laminated longbow this summer and wanted to do the work at home instead of in my friend's garage. It'll pay for itself, since I know I'd burn that much gasoline driving back and forth from his house. I knew I didn't want a Delta, so I looked at the one from Ryobi. Then I compared that one to the Tradesman brand at Lowes. That's the one I picked because it's 3/4 horsepower vs 1/2 horse for the Ryobi and it had a solid cast iron base for stability.

It's one of those that have a small disc sander mounted on the side. Now I need to make myself a jig so I can use it for tapering my wood arrows too.

Now I need an oscillating spindle sander for roughing in my handles and sight windows. Then I can detail them with my Dremel.

I know, making selfbows with power tools isn't exactly primitive, but it's purpose is to make things easier on my primitive old body. I know power tools can run off and take more material than you want and you can wind up with a bow that draws 20 pounds instead of 50, if you're not careful. But after 20 years in a machine shop, I've got a pretty good feel for working with power tools.

[BobCo19-65]

Sounds great Art! When are you going to be open for business???? You can't keep all those bows for yourself - can you ?????

[Arthur P]

No, I don't keep every bow I make. I've been known to give a selfbow to someone who's got a potential new shooter in mind, but can't find a bow for them to shoot. I've made them for Boy Scouts and such, when showing them how to do it themselves. I might make a few for the club to auction off for fundraisers or give as prizes. But I'm not going into business. I tried the archery business once and got tired of it, real fast. Found out I didn't like making a business of my favorite pastime.

[Guss]

All that talk about sanding has got my hart racing, sounds like lots of fun to make your own bow and even more fun to shot it. I have all kinds of tools and let me tell ya I know how to use them. What dose it take to get going (books, videos). It sound like a great progect for the winter mounths. Any info ya have would be great, thanks.

[Arthur P]

There are a couple of good websites that'll get you going. George Tsoukalas and Ferret have great info on them.

For books, read 'Hunting the Osage Bow" by Dean Torges, "The Bent Stick" by Paul Comstock, "The Bowyer's Craft" by Jay Massey, "Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans" by Jim Hamm, and all three volumes of "The Traditonal Bowyers Bible."

[Guss]

Thanks for the info, those two sites were great.
Thanks