Years ago I'd look at a beautiful bow and wonder "how did they build that?" Being more than a bit inquisitive, I set out to learn the secrets.

Almost every beginning Bowyer thinks "If I change this or that, I'll make a bow superior to everyone else." That is a tough nut to crack. Longbows have been around for thousands of years. Recurves at least a few hundred. Flat limb technology advanced to it's peak 10 to 20 years ago to the point most of the best bows preformed very close to each other.

Attention to detail and asking the right questions is the key. Will you take more game with one of my bows? Well, if I could build a bow that makes people better hunters, I'd get rich, but, shooting a bow you are proud of and have confidence in, will make you a better archer. The hunting part is up to you. A favorite quote, I'm not sure where it came from says, "an archer tries to see how far away they can hit a target, a bowhunter tries to see how close they can get and not miss!" If you appreciate the time, care, and love for the sport that I put into designing every bow, you are on the right track.. A bow you appreciate will become a part of you. An extension of the passion that you have for the sport and of the person who built it. That passion, in itself, will make you a better hunter. Many archers who grew up in our compound world cannot relate to what I'm saying. All they know is cold metal , wheels and pulleys. A traditional bow is alive. Both before as a tree and now in the hands of a bowhunter.

By designing and building quality bows, a part of me will be sitting in the woods pursuing game long after I'm gone. That's why I do it.

I know many folks probably don't care what is involved in building and designing bows. All that matters is the arrow going where you want it to. That's fine but some of you may be shopping around and if nothing else after reading this, you can ask good questions that can help you make a decision. Some bowyers may get a little irritated with some of the things I'll point out, some will flat out disagree. That's just fine. Since there is no definitive book, that leaves lots of room for subjectivity and opinion. The only subjectivity and opinion that matters is yours! Some bowyers will claim to have a "Super quadrilateral domaflathie" design that is better than anything out there. Well, if that were true, they'd have a patent on it or everyone one would be building them that way. Many of these claims can not be proved in an objective way so are merely marketing hype that preys on the lack of understanding of the claims being made.

Being a good woodworker doesn't mean you can build a good bow. So many different disciplines come into play and a strong understanding of them all is necessary. Most any bow shooting out of a machine will be extremely accurate, blending that bow to the hand of a human is a totally different matter. First lets compare production bows with those built by a custom Bowyer that is worth his salt and explore some details.

Production bows are built with different "priorities" in mind. They are built to fit the average person with a 28" draw. If your draw length is above or below this "average", the bow may not perform as well as it could or will be uncomfortable to shoot. Not being happy with the shooting qualities of production bows is what got me into this business to start with. You see, being 6'4" and dragging my knuckles, I don't fit into the average! Also, production bows are going to be built with the most economical materials and as rapidly as possible to keep costs down. Many things have to be considered to build you a bow that will perform well and be useful for the kind of shooting you want to do. Lets tear apart some of those variables.

A very important consideration. If you have not shot traditional bows before, I recommend going to a proshop or hooking up with a stick shooter in your area to find out what your draw length is. Draw length is measured from your anchor point to the back of the arrow shelf. (the side away from you as you hold the bow. ATA draw length is to the low point of the grip plus 1 3/4".) If you shoot compounds, your draw with traditional equipment will usually be 1 1/2" to 2" shorter than with a compound. The draw weight you chose should be based on two things, the weight you can shoot accurately and what you are going to use the bow for. A compound shooter just crossing over, this is usually 10 to 15 pounds less than you shoot with a compound. A heavy draw weight that you can not shoot accurately is just going to tick that moose off! You may need to start out with a lower weight and work up to the weight you need for what ever it is you are going to hunt. Deer, bear, and hogs, 40 to 55 pounds is plenty. Elk, I recommend over 55 lbs, and moose, as much as you can over 60 lbs. These are general guildlines that can be less for high performance bows or more in low performing ones. Those with short draw lengths need to shoot as much weight as they can accurtaly and seek out the highest performing bow you can. Now for draw weight at your draw length, take a look at this draw force curve, here comes the Bowyer stuff....

Doing a draw force curve allows a Bowyer to judge the performance of a bow design compared to other designs and at what draw length the bow will perform best. Note the draw weight in pounds is plotted on the vertical and draw length in inches is plotted horizontal. As a bow is drawn, the weight goes up in a fairly linear fashion, maybe 2-3 pounds per inch depending on the bow weight. At some point the weight will begin to jump up rapidly. This is called "stacking" and is caused by the limbs beginning to straighten out and can no longer work in a linear fashion. A bow will perform it's best just below the point where it starts to stack. If you try to shoot the bow above this point, it will be very uncomfortable to shoot, like you are pulling it into a brick wall. Remember I said productions bows are built for the average, well...... a good custom Bowyer can move that stack point anywhere on that draw force curve by changing how much of the bows limbs are "working". This is done by changing riser length, bow length, tapers in the limbs, shape of the limbs, or a combination of these. This is why a bow built for you will perform better than an off the shelf bow.

In combination with a draw force curve and actual measurements of arrow weight and speed, the efficiency of a bow can be determined. Without getting into a bunch of math, if at full draw a bow is storing 50 foot pounds of energy and the arrow leaves the bow with 40 foot pounds of energy, the bow is 80% efficient. Of course the more efficient the better and nothing is 100% efficient. Typical recurves are 75-80% efficient, typical longbows from 65-75%.

Well then, if the bow had 50 ftlbs available but only 40 ftlbs went into the arrow, where did the other 10 ftlbs go? The laws of physics says it had to go somewhere! Energy not transferred to the arrow goes into the bow and is dissipated in the form of hand shock, vibration, noise. Most of the energy loss is spent accelerating the heavy limb mass. The lighter the limb mass is for it's stiffness, the more efficient it will be. When any bow out performs another, it can always be traced back to mass in the limbs. A deflex/reflex doesn't out perform a straight limbed bow because it has deflex/reflex, it does so because the D/R has lighter limbs for it's draw weight. With any bow, the heavier the arrow is, the more energy it will absorb from the bow, increasing it's efficiency. For hunting purposes, 8 to 12 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight is considered the best compromise. An arrow too light doesn't absorb much energy and could damage the bow as it is getting closer to a dry fire. Too heavy and your trajectory suffers. In my tuning page, I'll help you get the most out of your bow.

You've heard the commercial for cars,"Wider is better", in bows "Longer is better". As a general rule, the longer a bow is the more accurate it will be..BUT...Try shooting a 70" bow out of a ground blind or tree stand and you will see that size does matter! I always try to encourage folks to shoot as long a bow as you can, more accurate sure but more comfortable as well. Less pinch on the fingers due to the string angle. Anyone that claims they have a 58" bow that has no finger pinch is blowing smoke or it's a radical forward handle design that hurts performance! A 70" bow will pinch if you draw it back far enough. The more comfortable and fun the bow is to shoot, the more you will like practicing with it. If something starts to hurt after only a few shots, the fun is gone. Having a 30" draw, I prefer a 64" or 66" bow for still hunting or targets but for tree stands or blinds I shoot a 62" or 64". So, choose a length as long as possible for the kind of shooting you will use it for most.

Besides the difference in price, which should you choose? Both have advantages and disadvantages so lets look at them. Most folks feel the TD's are more accurate, they have more mass weight in the riser, reducing any "human" induced torque. (See my link on tuning.) In a 3 piece design you can get multiple limb sets of different length/draw weights and still keep the familiar feeling riser you have grown to love, and if you back the truck over it, it's cheaper to replace the limbs than the whole bow. That's not covered in the warranty, by the way! Convenience of packing away in less than 34" is nice too if you travel. Some folks are concerned with limb alignment, don't be with mine. I use 2 guide pins and a bolt. About the only down side is having limb bolts that can get lost.

One piece bows are very light weight. A pleasure after a 15 mile hike chasing elk but a down side is most folks can't shoot them as accurate due to less mass. A one piece is quicker pointing if you like shooting running or flying targets. They can be built as a 2 piece TD. This allows the bow to be taken down to less than 36", no bolts or knobs to lose, but the down side, cost, and some grip and riser material limitations.

For the most part, the wood used in the riser is personal preference. Most bows do benefit using a riser wood with good mass and stiffness to it. Dymondwood has good mass and is very strong. Exotic woods can be very pretty and can have exceptional mass but strength and durability can become an issue.

Limb laminations can have a marked impact on performance, stability, and shooting qualities. The stand out in the crowd from a performance stand point is Bamboo. Subjectively it just has a "feel" to it that is better then other core materials. Actionboo is very consistent in nature. The BEST core material is what ever is the lightest in mass with the most stiffness and that is the way I select which I'll use. If I was asked to rank limb woods by performance, Bamboo/laminated bamboo, Walnut, Red Elm, Juniper, and Actionwood would top the list. I only offer the ACS design with laminated bamboo.

Carbon?? Carbon when used in such a manner to replace heavy fiberglass, performance gains are seen and doing so on the back and belly even more gains are seen. Carbon also is a "dead" material in that it doesn't "ring". It dampens vibration and just makes a bow "feel" better.

Many details go into a bow design that either makes the bow shoot well or appealing to the eye. Without going into great detail, here are some of the things that effects how a bow shoots. The grip must be shaped in such a way to put the center of pressure in line with the arrow and in relation with the bows center. Most any style is doable if you have a preference but the locator and contoured grips are by far the most popular and is hard to beat. The arrow shelf must be cut and shaped so that the arrows contact with it is correct in relation to the pressure point of your hand. If it isn't, you get an under-draw or over-draw effect that makes the bow torque sensitive.

Limb tips are a huge compromise. They take a tremendous beating with modern string materials so they require great strength. The problem is, any excess weight added to gain strength, hurts performance. I use linen micarta for it's strength and sculpt the tips to remove as much excess weight as possible and provide a pleasing appearance. If requested I'll use other materials such as, horn, antler, or wood overlays. I discourage using decorative tip overlays due to performance loss however.

This was intended to give you a brief overview of just a few of the considerations involved with building bows. In no way have I even scratched the surface of the multitude of details involved. Complete books can and have been written on the subject, and none that I've found covers it all. Maybe the next time you look at any bow, you can see through it's outward appearance and appreciate the knowledge and skill that has been handed down for millennia in books, word of mouth, or re-discovered through trail and error, to build a functional bow......