Lumberyard Hickory Flatbow

[Cedarsavage]

I finished this bow the other day. I used a hickory board from menards, and some antler from another project for the arrow rest and tip overlays. This is my most diy bow, I even used bear grease from my bear last fall to seal it. I think I’ve said it on here before, one of my big goals is to take a big game animal with a “scratch build” bow, arrows and broadheads. I can’t ever be happy with anything as is, so I’m testing a couple styles of everything before I go out and hunt with that setup. I’ve always been curious about these wide flat hickory bows. I’ve read a lot about them, but most of the longbows I’ve built have been around 1.5” wide, with recurves usually around 1.75”. This one is 2.5” mid limb, with ½” tips, 66” overall and 51@28. I was shooting for 45@ my 27-27.5” draw length. I think I’m a touch over, but pretty dang close, my jig has a positive stop at 28”. Now I’m back down the bow rabbit hole, I’d like to make a few different styles. But, next on the list is some “trade” style points, to haft on some arrows and try out hafting and self nocks. I’ll put a hot link to full step by step video of the build click here to watch. Check it out, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

[LostArra]

Your board selection is much better than any found around here.

 

[Cedarsavage]

Your board selection is much better than any found around here.

Yeah I kinda got lucky. I didn't realize they had hickory, I was looking for something else and saw that. It's definitely nice to be able to able to put your hands on the board and look at grain, rather than order online, and get what they give you. I went through every 4" piece they had and that was the best piece. Part of why I had never done a flatbow is you usually couldn't get the wide boards even from bow building supply places. Hoping that wasn't just a fluke and I can get more. At some point I'd like to try a "California" style bow.