Bowyer and fletching

Good afternoon and happy Friday the 13th!


I wanted to ask if anyone had any pointers on the best wood in New England to use to craft a bow, I know all the rage with the fiberglass, but I would like to craft one by hand and potentially use it to hunt for my family.


Has anyone had any luck, or have any pointers for this greenhorn?



thanks again, and have a great weekend!

Hi Jack, a worthwhile project for sure, and quite fun to boot.
Hickory, Ash, Black Locust, and, of course, Yew wood as well.
Osage orange is also very popular, but may not grow in NH.

In my pre-teens I had someone build a bow from Hickory for me.  I am pretty sure it is found in New England and is acceptable bow material.

Thank you Thomas and John for the quick replies!

Well I guess I have to take a walk in the woods this weekend, what a shame!


I will keep an eye out and all of you posted on my updates!

Elm and hackberry are good as well. Should be some there in NH. Mulberry is great but it's hard to find long enough pieces.

These books are wonderful. In terms of choosing woods, they go into detail on how almost any wood can be used as long as you adapt the design to the wood.

https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Bowyers-Bible-Jim-Hamm/dp/1721670076/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_1/135-8381573-6962631?psc=1

Thank you Thom!


Let me see if I can hunt that down in my library!

Another question I would like to ask, I can start another thread if necessary, what would be good woodworking tools to start with so I can carve the bow?

I am relatively new in the woodworking field and looking online has been daunting, if it is just a good knife and patience then I have that in spades lol!

All in all, I really appreciate all the help!

A draw knife is a really useful tool.
For roughing out the bow it's a lot easier to use green wood than dry wood. Then set it aside to dry and do the final balancing once dry.

Sorry I missed this earlier.  One of my favorite hobbies.  I have an aquaintance in New England that likes to make his arrow shafts out of white pine.  The grain is straight, the wood is easy to work without log dry times.  He uses them when he wants cheap sacrificial arrows for roving the woods in the winter.  He has good success I am told recovering the shafts in the sping when the thaw occurs.

Ash is one of the primary shaft materials.  Heavy hard hitting almost unbreakable.  Takes a while to straighten if the grain is not cooperative; but they last forever, just keep burnishing until they are straight.  

Hickory makes a decent shaft.  I have purchased staves from a bowyer in N.E. that were extremely straight grain.  If not, a good heat treat will work.

If you are going to do bowyer work, as stated before, a draw knife is essential.  A spokeshave would be next, but look into the japanese type that Dean Torges recommends; and not the black handled red bodied ones commercially available.  I have given more of those away than I have ever successfully completed a bow with.  If you are working whitewood bows to start the cutting tools will be your primary tool.  If you are going with Osage, ipe, or elm a selection of cabinet scrappers will be your primary tools.  Cabinet scrappers are a joy work with, once you learn to roll a burr, but they are for slow controlled wood working.  A lot of folks will say a rasp, but really they don't remove as much wood as a cutter and leave a lot of finish work to do when done.  The 'cheese grater' style rasp would be the one you want if you go that route.  Don't use the farrier type.  it just tears up the grain mostly.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you ever want to 'chat'.  I have not made a bow in a couple of year, as my focus has become permaculture; but started making my own bows aroud the 2000's.  Is "the leatherwall" still up and running on the internet?  It was a fantastic support group back in the day.  Lots of support out there online still I am sure.

Happy shavings!

Jack Sato wrote: ...and looking online has been daunting,

The Leatherwall

Jack, get to know these folks.  Have not been a member in a bunch of years, but it is how I got my start.

This is a japanese spokeshave:

Holy smokes!

Thanks for the info Jack! Ill absolutely check that out!


Thank you!