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How to make a bow in the field

Perhaps the most effective type of throwing weapon that can be made from scrap materials in the forest is a bow. The materials for its manufacture can always be found in our forests, and arrowheads can be made from any available metal waste, such as tin cans.

You can quickly make a bow in the forest from semi-dry juniper, or from a dry lower branch of spruce. A bow made from juniper is quite suitable for bird hunting. But when it dries, it becomes brittle. For a hare, spruce onions are still better.

If you have time, it is better to cut a semi-dry spruce branch. This is the branch that has needles only at the very end. The branch should be straight with a slight bend. The length of the branch is at your discretion, the thickness is according to the strength of the shooter. The bark is removed from the branch, the wood is cut off from the inside with a knife, thinning the branch towards the ends. The thinner the ends, the faster the bow. Finish the bow using a piece of glass, carefully scraping off the wood. In front of this there are two trees standing next to each other. A rope is tied to the bow in the notches for the bow. Place the middle of the bow against one tree, and pull the rope around the other. It will be immediately obvious where to cut the wood. When the onion is ready, bonds are made from nylon thread along the edges every 20 cm, closer to the center after 10 or even 5 cm, so that the tree does not peel off.

Bowstring: It is best to make a bowstring from nylon rope with a diameter of 3 mm. You tie a figure eight knot in the middle to use it as an arrow stop, and at the ends of the loop with a bunny ear knot, climbers should know. Such a knot on loops comes undone even after several shots from a bow.

The string is attached to special grooves (about 4 mm deep) to the ends of the bow, and to prevent it from fraying, the grooves must be rounded. A nylon cord with a thickness of about 2 mm is suitable as a material, but it is best to use twisted horsehair or ox sinew that has been tested by time and has seen more than one war. A bowstring can also be made by twisting fibers of flax, hemp, tendon or silk. To prevent the bowstring and arrows from damaging the hand holding the handle when shooting, wear a leather glove on it. Therefore, the loops can be easily adjusted. The onion is ready! But it’s too early to rejoice, there’s still work to be done arrows:

Now about the arrows. A homemade arrow is a smooth shaft, the best wood would be pine or birch, with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of about 90 cm (this is the standard length; in practice, the length of the arrow should be equal to the distance from the chin to the thumb of the left hand extended towards the side). Arrow fletching is not only a cheap show-off, but also a qualitative improvement in aerodynamic properties during flight, so do not forget to decorate the end of your homemade arrow with 3 feathers located at the same distance from each other.

It is best to make the tip iron, but in the absence of available tools, you can sharpen a stone and then insert it into the groove at the front end of the arrow. We make a similar groove at the end of the arrow to fix the bowstring in it when firing.

Good arrows are made from reeds or planed from boards from a fruit box. Light wood is used in such boxes and is perfect for making arrows. The stabilizer on homemade arrows is made from a plastic bottle. It is enough to make a cut and insert the feathers with glue into this cut. The tips can be made from a figure eight hexagon, a steel tube with a wall thickness of 2-3 mm is placed on the shaft at one end and flattened at the other. If it is for a bird, then a sector is cut out of a tin can with scissors and a pound is rolled up. Arrows are made either from dry reeds with tips from cans, if you can find them. By the way, such arrows don’t even need feathers. They fly well anyway. They can also be made from twigs. If you have time, dry them. Or from the boards found along the river banks, this is the best. Feathers are tied with threads without gluing. Moreover, I don’t throw away the ends of the feathers, but tie them to bird arrows just like that, uncut.

The slot for the bowstring on the arrows is burned using hot wire. The cut is even, strong and smooth. Doesn't cut the string. Sometimes I used tips with a shank. The hole for the shank is also burned with wire, and the tip is glued in using spruce resin. Pine resin is soft, you can impregnate something with it so that it does not absorb water. Spruce resin is hard and strong when it hardens. It’s assembled like this: find a leak of spruce resin and set it on fire; when it starts to flow, you collect it.

Now you have a weapon, but you shouldn’t place too much hope on it, most likely the maximum sighting range of your bow will be from 15 to 30 meters, but you won’t find it easy to hit even from 15 meters, without hard and long-term training, unfortunately , will not succeed, because even in the Middle Ages, when the art of archery was very developed, training an archer took about 10 years.

For quickly making a simple, homemade bow, need to:

• branch,
• thin nylon cord with a diameter of approximately 2 mm. for titiva (take with you),
• glazing bead (take with you),
• nut, plasticine, wire or other material for the tip.
• knife.

Before you make a bow and arrows from improvised materials with your own hands, you need to select the material from which the bow will be made; a straight willow branch is best, but any other tree can be used, the main thing is that it bends and does not break. The branch should be approximately 2-3 cm in diameter, depending on the size of the shooter’s palm, and long - from the ground to the shoulder in a standing position. Choose a branch without large knots, otherwise it may break on a knot.

You can remove the bark from the branch or not, depending on how much tension you want to achieve. A branch with bark dries more slowly, so it bends more easily when the bowstring is pulled. This is a very convenient solution for making children's bows. Also adding additional branches to it.

How to make a bow from wood outdoors or at home:

Having retreated approximately 1-2 cm from the ends of the branch, with a knife, shallow 2-3 mm grooves are cut out on the branch so that the cord, which is tied instead of a bowstring, does not slip off the bow. These recesses must be made obliquely (as in the photo) so that when the bow is bent the string does not slip out of the grooves.

Having tied a cord into a groove at one end, the branch is turned over, the end with the tied cord is pressed into the ground, and bent with force, making sure that it does not break. Tie the second end of the cord to the other end of the branch in the groove. The distance between the cord and the middle of the bent part of the branch should be approximately 15-20 cm.

Instead of a cord, you can use fishing line with a diameter of approximately 2 mm, or any other durable material. Now I think there should be no problems with the material for the bowstring, since there is a large assortment of different cords and fishing lines on sale.

Bow arrows can be made from:

• window bead,
• from the same tree branch, only you need to take a thinner branch, 5-10 mm. and as smooth as possible
• and also from dry reeds.

As children, we made arrows from last year’s dry reeds, which grew in abundance along the river located under the ravine on which our village stood.

Although any thin, lightweight material is suitable for an arrow, reed still remains the best material. It is durable and lightweight, which is important for the arrow’s flight range.

You need to choose even stems of reeds, about 1 meter long, carefully cut them off, retreating 0.5 cm from the reed knot, so that it remains on the arrow. In general, the length of the arrow depends on the elasticity of the bow, the height of the archer, and is selected individually.

How to make arrows for a bow outdoors or at home:

If the arrow is made from glazing bead, then the first step is to cut off its sharp corners in order to obtain the most cylindrical shape. This can be done with a well-sharpened knife and subsequently cleaned with fine sandpaper.

A shallow groove is made at one end of the arrow, which, when shooting, is inserted into the bowstring and, if desired, feathering is attached. A homemade tip or any other weighting agent is put on the other end of the arrow and strengthened with plasticine. You can put on a bolt, wind a wire or a strip of lead.

In conclusion, I would strongly recommend wrapping the arrow with the most universal fastening material of all time)) - tape. This will allow you not to get splinters when shooting, not to split the arrow with the string thread when tensioned, to hold the tip when the arrow falls to the ground, to make the arrow not much, but still stronger; and most importantly, all this can be done quickly and without unnecessary hassles.

The tip can also be made from a piece of tin, cut from a tin can, and twisted with pliers, like a bag. With such a tip it is more interesting to shoot at wooden objects, since it sticks into them. But if the tip is not soldered, it will quickly spread, so you need to make several tips in order to quickly change them.

Or use a dart to make an arrow - the upper part instead of the tip, the back instead of the fletching.

This could be the end of the master class on “how to make a bow and arrows,” but in the end I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the basic safety rules. Especially if you shoot with children.

Precautionary measures

An arrow can cause injury if it hits a person. Therefore, you must handle arrows with special care and shoot where there are no people. There should always be someone to monitor safety.
Children with bows should never be left unattended by adults.

If you have read this instruction to the end, then you now probably know how to make a bow and arrow with your own hands for children, in a simple and quick way. You will spend a minimum amount of time making it and get maximum shooting pleasure.

interest in weapons reaches the stage where the only right decision is to make them yourself; it is important to delve into all the nuances in order to get the perfect result. The quality of a bow depends on the condition of the wood from which it is made. And the condition, in turn, depends on how the drying was done.

Anyone who has such a desire can make a wooden bow. But you need to act gradually. If you want to do absolutely everything yourself, you need to be patient, because the process takes several months.

In general, the creation of a bow is carried out in several stages:

1. choice of wood;
2. timber harvesting;
3. drying the material;
4. giving an arc;
5. primary processing;
6. formation of the front part;
7. selection of bowstring.

Let's consider everything related to the selection and drying of wood.

Selection and preparation of wood for making bows

For residents of Russia, and almost the entire post-Soviet space, choosing wood is not difficult. Most trees and even bushes are suitable for creating a bow.

Depending on what grows in a particular region, you can take juniper, maple, hickory, ash, birch, elm, cedar or oak.

Then the fun begins. It is advisable to take care of the preparation of material in winter. Optimal temperature for cutting: -10…-15 degrees. A tree cut in winter has increased flexibility and elasticity, which is of paramount importance for a traditional bow.

It is best to look for a branch to cut in advance (before winter), fairly straight, perhaps with a slight bend. The number of knots on it should be minimal. Optimal diameter: 8…10 cm. Optimal length: length of the future onion + 30 cm for additional processing (cracks may appear at the ends after drying).

The branch is sawed off on both sides so that only the required length remains. Its ends are covered with oil paint. After the latter has dried, the ends are wrapped in polyethylene.

That's it, the workpiece is prepared for drying.

Attention! Wood is dried in the bark; it does not need to be removed. The bark is a natural regulator of the speed of the process. If you remove it, the “bare” tree, when it dries, literally cracks in just a few days, often quite large. This makes the workpiece unsuitable for creating a bow.

Proper drying of wood for making bows

Drying is the longest stage, and the maximum requirements are placed on it. Compliance with all conditions is very important, since proper drying guarantees that the onion will have the necessary flexibility, that cracks will not appear in it and that it will last long enough.

Natural drying

The optimal drying time is from 2 to 5 months. In this case, the moisture content of the wood should decrease from the initial 40-50% to the optimal 8-10%. To determine this indicator, a needle or non-contact moisture meter is used. If this equipment is not available, weighing techniques are used. In this case, it is necessary to know the initial moisture content of the wood used in the corresponding climatic zone.

The best place for drying the workpiece is a ventilated room with a normal complexity of 40-65%. Dry air is undesirable, as the wood dries out and loses its elasticity. Cracks may appear in it and it becomes brittle.

The workpiece is placed vertically in a place where direct sunlight does not fall. There should be no changes in humidity, since sudden drying damages the structure of the material, compromising its integrity.

2 months after the start of drying, the humidity is measured. If it is higher than 8-10%, the workpiece is dried to the desired condition.

Accelerated drying

Since we live in an age of technology, it is only natural that the natural drying process can be accelerated. This allows you to proceed much faster to the subsequent stages of making the bow.

Accelerated drying can be carried out by several methods, each of which has its own subtleties.

Boiling/soaking

Although this technique gives results faster than natural drying, it still requires a lot of time, although much less.

First, in natural conditions, the workpiece is dried to 18-20%. At the same time, the tree still remains in the bark.

When the humidity level reaches the specified figure, soaking/boiling in water is carried out. This technique was used back in the Middle Ages, preventing cracking and rotting.

Then the workpiece is pulled to the beam with clamps until it dries completely. It occurs much faster than with natural drying.

The process takes several weeks.

Infrared drying

If you can’t wait that long, there is another option - infrared drying. To do this, just one thermomat/thermal cassette with an infrared heater is enough, which can be used as a household heater at home.

The workpiece is placed directly on the thermomat and left to dry. Depending on the type of wood, the process will take 3-7 days. In this case, the result will correspond to natural drying. The material will reach the required level of humidity, maintaining its elasticity and avoiding the appearance of cracks.

Making a bow with your own hands is a complex and often unpredictable process; the behavior of a tree cannot always be guessed. Even experienced amateurs who have been doing this for years say that mistakes always happen. There is no escape from them, and wood is a capricious material. The result is rarely exactly what it seems.

The bow is a beautiful weapon, known to man since ancient times and still popular not only among romantic teenagers, but also among athletes, as well as hunters. is amazing. You can purchase this accessory in a store, or you can make it yourself, if you wish. And today we will tell you how to make a classic, compound and hunting bow with your own hands with arrows at home.

This type of weapon works by transmitting a pushing force to the bowstring through the straightening shoulders, which causes the arrow to fly out at a certain speed. This speed depends on the tension force. Popular models in this category are, and.

The video below will tell you how to make a classic bow for shooting with your own hands at home:

What you will need

You need to prepare:

• Plane.
• Hacksaw-saw.
• Insulating tape.
• Jigsaw (for compound bow).
• Drill (for compound bow)
• Glue.
• Sandpaper.
• Varnish, finishing paint.
• M6 bolts (for compound bow).
• Material for the bowstring (fishing line, synthetic rope or silk thread).
• The material for the bow is a PVC pipe or wood (yew is best, you can also take ash, juniper, cedar, willow, walnut, rowan, larch, elm).

DIY classic bow

Technologies

Option one

The easiest way to make a one-piece bow is to take a PVC pipe 4 centimeters thick. The length is measured based on the distance between the ends of the fingers in an extended state and the middle of the thigh. Notches are made at the ends of the pipe where the bowstring is attached.

The product is not very durable - it will only last a few times.

Option two

This is a composite model that will require some tinkering. But the structure will be more durable and reliable.

1. Here you first need to cut out the central part (base) from wood, to which the shoulders will be attached. The width of the base in the center is 5 centimeters, and at the edges - one and a half centimeters. The block for the workpiece has dimensions of 40 by 4 by 6 centimeters. Material – oak or birch. You can glue a blank from several layers of maple, beech or other wood.
2. We make the arms from the same PVC pipe and reinforce them with pieces of smaller diameter pipe inserted inside. We make notches at the edges, where we attach a bowstring woven from silk thread.

You can also make shoulders from ready-made spring slats taken from a sofa or bed. The length of these elements usually ranges from 70 to 120 centimeters. The optimal thickness is 12 centimeters. Cut out the parts obliquely (preferably two at once). Notches are made on the edges for the bowstring with a depth of 7 to 8 millimeters. The arms are connected to the base with M6 bolts (for which holes must be drilled).

It's even easier to make shoulders from skis - they fit perfectly. It is best to take narrow skis, but wide skis will have to be sharpened. Both plastic and wooden products are suitable. In this case, the total length of the bow should be from 120 to 140 centimeters.

Compound Bow

These models differ from the classic ones in that due to the presence of eccentric blocks, less effort is required when shooting. And accuracy and accuracy, as well as firing range, increase. Block models such as and others are popular among athletes and hunters.

This video will tell you about making compound bows with your own hands at home:

What you will need

A very simple option requires:

• Two powerful springs (you can buy them at the car market).
• Two metal wheels (parts of a car lift, also bought at the car market) and two metal pins 4 centimeters each (will be the axles).
• Eight furniture corners and two corners of 4 centimeters each.
• Two furniture hinges.
• Four metal brackets in the shape of the letter “P” (attach the wheels).
• There are 30-35 regular self-tapping screws and 4 extended ones.
• Synthetic ropes (strings).
• Wooden blocks 46 centimeters long (2 pieces for the shoulders), 40 centimeters long, 4 centimeters wide and 2 centimeters thick (2 pieces for the base) 16 centimeters long and the same length and width with grooves along the edges (2 pieces for attaching springs) .
• Hacksaws.
• Jigsaw.
• File.
• Screwdrivers.
• Sandpaper.

DIY compound bow (drawings)

Technology

We make the base by attaching two small, sixteen-meter bars along the edges of a forty-centimeter bar. We use corners for fastening. We strengthen the structure with long self-tapping screws. Bring the surface smooth with sandpaper. We attach wheels to the shoulders using U-shaped brackets (for which we make slits at the ends of the arms). The axles will be the studs.

We attach furniture hinges (curtains) along the edges of the base. We paint all the parts (spray paint is best, it dries quickly). Then we attach the shoulders to the hinges (in the middle), and screw the corners to their front part from the end. We will hook the springs onto them, the other end of which will hook onto the recesses in the base bars. All that remains is to tighten the bowstring.

Below we will tell you how to make a hunting bow with your own hands at home.

Hunter bow

Modern bows for hunting can be simple (solid) and composite, recurve and block, having different lengths and power. The cost of some ready-made branded models is quite high, so we’ll tell you how to make a hunting bow yourself. Moreover, in “field” conditions.

A simple hiking option

What you will need

• Durable wood (cedar, spruce, bird cherry, pear, apple, elm, pine, birch, larch).
• The knife is sharp and comfortable.
• Animal fat.

Technology

1. We choose a suitable flexible branch in the forest.
2. We try it on for size, placing one end to the thigh, the other to the end of the outstretched arm.
3. We clean the bark and cut out the desired shape.
4. In the middle we make the thickness 5 centimeters, at the edges - 1.5 centimeters.
5. For the bowstring, the grooves are 1.25 centimeters from the ends.
6. Rub the finished product with animal fat.

DIY hunting bow

Composite model

What you will need

• The wood for the base (otherwise known as kibiti) is single-layered, dense, and not flexible. It's best to take it close to the root of the tree.
• For the shoulders (aka, horns), we take bird cherry growing near the water.
• For the bowstring - a cord, a leather strip three millimeters wide, or twisted nettle stems.
• For gluing parts, use glue made from crushed fish heads.
• Birch bark, a plate made of spruce “Kremlin”.
• Animal fat.

Technology

We clean the workpieces from the bark and dry them well in a dark place. After rough processing, a second drying is carried out. When all the parts are cut out, they are dried in the sun. If you want to shoot from the knee, then one horn (shoulder) is made shorter. If this is not expected, we make them the same. The edges of the bow can be up to 1.5 meters. The dimensions of the base are the same as in the composite model described above.

The parts are glued together with fish glue and secured with animal tendons for strength. The base is impregnated with fat (or cedar resin). Inside the onion we paste a plate of spruce “kremlin”, on top - from warm birch bark, boiled and softened (we place the fibers lengthwise). All that remains is to attach the bowstring.

As for arrows for a hunting bow, they are made with a diameter of 6 millimeters, from wood without cracks. Bird's flight feathers are inserted into the back part.

Light wood is suitable for small game, hard wood for large game.

If you want to hunt birds, just sharpen the tip of the arrow. If you have your eye on something larger, make a tip. Metal, bone, silicon.

This video will tell you how to make a bow for hunting underwater with your own hands:

What are bows and arrows used for? There are several reasons for this. The children imagined themselves to be brave Indians or elves. Perhaps you yourself are planning a hike in the context of the TV show “The Last Hero.” To be fully armed, let’s consider making arrows with our own hands, especially since any person can do it.

Preparation of material

First you need to select a suitable tree and cut down a branch. To make an ancient one, you can use ash, rowan, willow, juniper, oak, and birch wood. It is best to start harvesting material in winter, after frost hits. Before making a bow and arrow, you need to take into account the arm span of the future shooter. The branch must be cut to a greater length than is required for making a bow - the margin can be up to thirty centimeters. A branch 3-4 cm thick should be smooth, without knots. There is no need to remove the bark from it. It will come off on its own during further steaming of the workpiece.

Drying workpieces

Mastering the method with your own hands is not at all difficult. The process takes place in several stages. The ends of the branches are coated with oil paint. After this, the workpiece is left in a vertical position to dry. Dry at room temperature for at least three months, but future weapons can dry for a year. In any case, it will be ready for the summer season.

Shaping the bow

To make a bow and arrow with your own hands, you will need a knife and an ax. When processing a dried branch, it is given the required shape. It can be lentil or rectangular. To give the desired bend to the shaft, just steam the bow limbs at home. Moreover, both of them are processed at once. They become flexible. After this, the bow is placed in a curved slipway. So the workpiece is left for a couple of weeks. Then the notches for the bowstring are cut out.

Since you need to be very careful when making a bow and arrows with your own hands, you should handle the workpieces with a knife with care so as not to damage the wood. The branches, freed from the bark, are covered with a 3 mm layer of wax. Melted fat will also work. These measures will protect the wood from damaging environmental factors. It is recommended to tighten the bowstring only before shooting. To make it, thin rope or twine is suitable. When storing onions, it is better to remove it.

Making arrows

Now you are familiar with the way to make a bow. And making arrows with your own hands is also quite easy. Pine or birch wood is useful for them. A smooth board is processed with a plane until a thickness of 1.5 cm remains. Then blanks are cut out of it. The length of the future arrow is from 60 cm. When making projectiles, it is necessary to take into account the height of the future shooter, the force with which he will pull the bowstring, and the span of his arms. The workpieces must be processed using a knife, file and sandpaper to a diameter of 8-9 mm. To fletch one arrow you will need three crow feathers. Each is cut along the groove, the pile is cut off from their ends. Then the prepared feathers are attached to the shaft with thread. They are positioned to each other at an angle of 120°. A triangular metal plate is suitable as a tip.