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A recurve bow gives a traditional bow the ability to propel arrows further and with more power than a traditional bow. While it takes skill and years practice to make a perfect recurve bow, these steps will help get you started.
Steps
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Buy or make a wooden stave. This is what your bow will be shaped from. It needs to be at the length that you want your bow to be, and it should be made from a wood that is strong, flexible, and malleable.
- Hickory, yew, lemonwood, and maple are all good woods to use when making a bow.
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Gather your tools. A hatchet, vice grip, bow shaping frame, tillering stick, large file, heat gun, a few screw clamps, and a draw knife will make the process far easier than just using a knife and a large, round object.
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Mark the outline. Make an outline of the limbs and arrow rest of your bow with a pen. Stand the stave up in one hand, and with the other, swing your hatchet. Make the stave as smooth on the sides as you can.
- You can decide the specifics (flat limbs, wide or narrow limbs) on your own. Mark out where you want your handle to be.
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Test your stave. Make sure it will bend by putting the bottom tip against your instep, holding the upper tip with one hand, and pulling the back (side facing away from you while shooting) towards you. Don't do this too much, as it could damage your stave.
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Form the limbs. After you have gotten your bow into an outline with the hatchet, you shape the limbs. Place the handle section of your stave in the vice, and tighten it. Make sure the back is facing upwards. Take the draw knife, and draw it along the stave in long strokes. Do this until your stave is at the thickness that you want your bow to be.
- Sand down any rough edges in the stave.
- Making your bow too thin will cause it to break.
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Place the stave in the bow shaping frame. Depending on what curve you want in your bow, you will have to move the bow to different segments of the frame.
- The recurve requires one curve away from the handle and one curve back towards the handle for each limb.
- Use the screw clamps to secure the stave to the frame.
- If you have trouble, use the heat gun to heat up the stave, and then secure that section to the frame.
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Make precise measurements. Both limbs should be as close to equally bent as possible. In order to ensure this, make sure that you are bending the stave at equal distances from both ends of the handle.
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Give each bend time to set. Try to leave each section secured in the frame for at least a few hours, ideally overnight. This will give the wood time to set in the new position, and will make for a longer-lasting and more effective bow.
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Cut notches for the string. Put notches into the top and bottom of the limbs. These are what holds the bowstring in place. It's best if you do this with a long, cylindrical file, but it can be done with a knife and a flat, narrow file.
- Cut the notches on the inside of the bow to protect the integrity of the outside wood.
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Tiller the bow. Tillering is what gives your bow its draw. Once you have gotten your bow to the shape you want it to be, place a tillering string on it. The tillering string should be about twice as long as the intended bow string. Tie a loop in each end of the string and attach it to the notches on the limbs.
- Parachute cord works well as a tillering string. [1] X Research source
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Place the bow on a tillering stick. Pull the tillering string to one of the notches closer to the top of the stick. Slowly and gradually pull the bow further, taking note of how the bow is bending. [2] X Research source
- The tillering process takes a long time, and is very gradual.
- If you hear noise coming from the bow, stop, and use the large file to shape the limbs a little more.
- The tillering process can take months, and doing it slowly will allow you to increase the draw of the bow to a good length.
- Once your tillering process is started, you can smooth off the front of the bow with the large file.
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String the bow. Once the bow has reached an acceptable draw, remove it from the tillering stick and take off the tillering string. Attach the bowstring. Loop both ends around the notches. [3] X Research source
- Nylon is a very popular bowstring.
- The bow can be strung and fired during the tillering process, although it may not be at full strength, and firing might hinder the success of the tillering process.
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Finish the bow. Once you have completed the tillering process, you can add artwork, leather, or a protective coating to your bow.
Expert Q&A
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QuestionWhat's the difference between a regular bow and a recurve bow?Clay Hayes is an Archery Expert based in Idaho. He owns and operates the website Twisted Stave, where he sells merchandise, offers tutorials, and blogs about his life as an outdoorsman. Clay and his family have built an online community of over 440 thousand archery and hunting enthusiasts with their YouTube channel. Clay has authored three books and produced hundreds of videos on wilderness skills, traditional archery, bow building, and bow hunting. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State University.Differentiating between a regular bow and a recurve bow often involves understanding the variations in their force draw curves rather than their power or arrow-shooting distance. The force draw curve refers to the relationship between the draw length and the draw weight of a bow. For instance, if we consider a recurve bow with a brace height of nine inches (the distance between the deepest part of the handle and the string when the bow is at rest), drawing it from nine to ten inches on a scale would yield a certain weight, let's say, five pounds. This process is repeated in increments (e.g., 11, 12, 13, 14 inches), and the corresponding weights are recorded and plotted on a graph, resulting in a curve. The critical distinction lies in the shape of this curve. A longbow will exhibit a different curve compared to a recurve bow. This variation is crucial for archers because it impacts how the bow feels during use. Longbows typically place the weight towards the end of the draw curve. However, if an archer experiences "stacking," a rapid increase in draw weight towards the end of the draw, it can be problematic. Stacking can occur if, for example, at a 28-inch draw length, the draw weight significantly increases when reaching 27 inches, indicating a potential issue. Recurve bows, in general terms (acknowledging individual variations), mitigate this stacking effect. They are designed to smooth out the final inches of the draw, providing a more consistent draw weight experience. This design choice is advantageous as it prevents undesirable stacking effects that may occur with straight-limbed bows.
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QuestionHow do I make a homemade arrow for archery?Clay Hayes is an Archery Expert based in Idaho. He owns and operates the website Twisted Stave, where he sells merchandise, offers tutorials, and blogs about his life as an outdoorsman. Clay and his family have built an online community of over 440 thousand archery and hunting enthusiasts with their YouTube channel. Clay has authored three books and produced hundreds of videos on wilderness skills, traditional archery, bow building, and bow hunting. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State University.To craft your arrows for a bow, your approach can vary based on whether you prefer a more primitive or modern method. My method involves purchasing shafts made from materials such as Douglas fir or Cedar, which are common for traditional arrows. Begin by selecting shafts with an appropriate stiffness, considering factors like bow weight, draw length, and the desired tip weight of the arrow. Taper the tail end of the shaft and attach the nock, angled backward. Afterward, immerse the arrow in a sealing solution to maintain consistent moisture content and prevent changes in weight due to moisture absorption. Attach the nock and use a fletching jig to secure the shaft, typically with three fletchings spaced at 120-degree intervals. Apply glue to each fletching, allowing them to dry individually. Once complete, cut the arrow to the desired length, taper the tip, and affix your chosen field tip or broadhead. This overview provides a simplified guide to the arrow-making process.
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QuestionHow do I determine how long I want the bow to be? How do I know how long the string is going to be?HollaaaCommunity AnswerThe bow, without a string, should be a bit taller than you. The string should be 6 inches shorter than the unstrung bow.
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Tips
- Don't worry if you don't make a work of art on your first try. It takes years of practice to be able to consistently make perfect bows.Thanks
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Warnings
- Don't shoot at living things you don't intend to consume responsibly.Thanks
- Don't shoot it in highly populated areas.Thanks
- Use store-bought arrows. Those you make yourself can veer off course and hit something you didn't intend them to.Thanks
Things You'll Need
- Wood laminate
- Parachute cord (or another thick type of string)
- Vice grip
- Screw clamps
- Heat gun
- Bowstring
- Draw knife
- Tillering stick
- Bow shaping frame
- Large file
- Hatchet/Axe
- A long, cylindrical file or a knife and a flat file
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about archery, check out our in-depth interview with Clay Hayes .
References
About This Article
Article Summary
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To make a recurve bow, you’ll need to start by using a hatchet to make an outline of the bow from a wooden stave. Then, use a draw knife to shape the bow’s limbs and give them the desired thickness. Next, secure the bow in a bow shaping frame and leave it overnight so the wood can set in position. After that, cut notches in the top and bottom of the limbs, then attach a tillering string to the notches. Finally, put the bow on a tillering stick and leave it for several months to shape the bow before attaching a bowstring. To learn how to pick the right materials for your tillering string and bowstring, scroll down!
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