In this video I make a bow from a piece of yew wood. The bow is reinforced on the draw side with a covering of animal tendon and hide glue.
The ends of the bow are additionally protected from abrasion with a piece of rawhide.
The bow is protected from moisture with birch bark.
This type of bow was used by the Wintu tribe from northern California.
Like the originals, the bow also has a leather grip winding and the ends of the bow have a silencer made of hide.
The bowstring is made of rawhide.
Data on the bow:
-Draw weight 50 pounds (22.5kg) at 28inch (71cm)
-Maximum draw 28inch (71cm)
-bow length 49inch (125cm)
-string length 47inch (119cm)
-bow weight 12oz (340grams)
Additional information:
All gluing is done with homemade hide glue.
However, I glued the birch bark with isinglass glue (similar to hide glue). When dry, this glue is more flexible than hide glue and increases the durability of the birch bark. For the sake of simplicity, however, the subtitle says hide glue.
The bowstring consists of 3 strands of rabbit skin, each 0.4inch (10mm) wide and 0.012inch (0.4mm) thick.During test shooting, the string broke after 50 arrows. It would be better to use 4 strands or wider strips of skin.
I got the inspiration, materials and dimensions for this bow from the book “The Traditional Bowyer's Bible“ Volume 1.
Have fun.....
0:00 Intro
0:30 Yew wood
4:43 Preparing the hide glue
5:18 first tendon covering
9:46 second tendon covering
11:18 Bow ends
11:44 Tiller
15:10 Birch bark
19:12 Finish
23:48 Test shooting
