RE: You ever made a bow ?
Bobby,
Bingham sells just about everything ya need to get going on it.
Also you could look this book up:
"How to make Recurve bows and matched arrows" by Patrick Speilman.
Its definatly a great read. Also the books is actually more of a pamphlet and is to some considered a collectors piece. Finding them isnt all that hard and they are running 40-50 bucks in EXC shape.
Its one of the better books on the subject I've seen. There is a lot of good new stuff but this one is just too awesome. Being you're a carpenter I am sure you'll appreciate this one.