How to make a bow?

N

nadia

Newbie
I am in need of some sugjestions on how to make a bow. i have measurments and stuff just need a few pointers on how to construct it. :D
 
Well, it depends some. If you want a small portable bow to use and toss arrows, 1/2" cpvc is great. On the flip side, if you want a max length bow that you can block with out sheer mass, 3/4" pvc works well.

My big suggestion is to mark off where you want your bends to be first. Then you either want to use a heat gun (embossing gun they are called sometimes), or if you dont have that you can use your kitchen stove on low. The most important thing is not to char the pipe. If it gets brown and bubbles, seriously, just throw it out and start over, because it WILL break under stress. Try and heat entire lengths at once, it makes the bends come out smoother.
 
cool. i will probably want a max lenghth one becasue i plan on using it to block with a lot.
 
I have a 3/4" bow that I use for blocking and it IS great, but I highly recommend putting some sort of carrying strap, or cord around the core (before you put the pipe foam on), because it does get rather heavy after a few hours.
 
I actually made a pretty nice 1/2" pipe bow by blocking the ends and pouring boiling water down it. Bend that and it held the shape.

On another note, does anyone know if using a heat gun to bend kite spar works at all for making an ultra light bow?
 
Kite spar will not bend with heat.

The trick to making a UL bow is the use of a composite core.
 
Can you expound further on the "use of a composite core"? :)
 
Take a piece of PVC or CPVC.

Cut it so it is as long as the handle for the bow is going to be plus about 3-6 inches on either side.

Bend it using your method of choice.

Cut pieces of kitespar that are 3-6 inches too long to be the ends of the bow.

Such that when you put the kitespar inside the PVC it looks like how you want the bow to look.

Glue kitespar into PVC and make bow.
 
That's how my bows were constructed. A piece of 1/2 pvc was cut for the handle. Then it was placed in boiling water. (Wear winter gloves for heat protected, with rubber gloves on over them to keep you dry. Then you bend the handle into whatever position you want. Let it cool. And then the top and bottom each have kitespar cemented into them. The cores were made by Dave Darling so he can probably offer better advice.

~Joe
 
hmm, that sounds like it should work. Although it won't be able to have a nice gradual curve with a build method like that. I might try to get really small thin wall pvc to build a curved bow. But thanks.
 
Just be careful not to heat it so that it will snap in combat.

It has happened.
 
Most of those ways tend to work pretty well. I personally do the stove way. I've found that laying it down on the ground and using the grid pattern in the linoleum like graph paper helps to keep the bow even on both sides.

Be careful not to twist or kink the pipe at all, otherwise you'll create a weak point.

Also, the above described "composite cores" (where the weapon is not one continuous piece of core) are not allowed in some chapters. (Seattle and Oregon I'm sure don't allow it, and I think there's more. There are also one or two chapters that don't allow ultralights, so those construction techniques probably wouldn't fly there, either.)

~Matt, WCV
IAAM
 
Who doesn't allow ultra lights? I had thought that most (if not all) of the Alliance had fully evolved into primarily ultra light combat. :?
 
East coast/ west coast differences.
Not that its a 'huge' issue' with a bow, because you don't ever hit someone with it (and if you do, there are bigger problems then what core your using).
 
There's a chapter in the northern part of the midwest that doesn't allow them, IIRC. I'm not sure which chapter it is, and I can't find the thread on this board (it may have been on the old one). Somebody here knows, it's just a matter of time before they come across this thread.
 
obcidian_bandit said:
There's a chapter in the northern part of the midwest that doesn't allow them, IIRC. I'm not sure which chapter it is, and I can't find the thread on this board (it may have been on the old one). Somebody here knows, it's just a matter of time before they come across this thread.
Click to expand...

That would be the Minnesota chapter
 
hmm interesting. Its just sort of strange to me because the thing is you can't even make pvc polearms that are stiff enough. (I have tried) So not allowing ultra light cores seems to disallow an entire weapon type... :?
 
There are ways to do it.
 
Aluminum? 3/4" pvc with reinforcing tape? There has to be someway it can be done that dosnt start with fiberglass or carbon fiber.
 
You could go the aluminum route... but if MN doesn't allow UL, I don't know if they would allow Aluminum.

I'd probably go with a "double-hulled" PVC core, though it would be rediculously heavy, or just experiment with different lengths and PVC dimensions.

Or not use a polearm.
 
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