/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Look at the sticky, bro.

Maybe take it to /k/.

>>91593
but isthis really a weapon? I mean it sounds like more of a hobby than ya know, lets go on a city wide knee genocide

relevant to my interests

>>91593

lets just say for the sake of this thread we are making a bow for a bowdrill to start fire

>>91589
Hrm, I think the mods might want to rethink their rule/clarify here. I think the spirit of it is "no bombs/boobie traps/improvised weapons" which wouldn't really include something like a bow, but then again, maybe they just want a carte blanche ban on anything that could be construed as a weapon for harming people, but then that would also cover say forging your own knife...

I think clarification is definitely in order.

It was clarified before that hunting weapons do not break the rules.

>>91625
clarification would certainly be good.

is a bow a weapon, if its only going to be used on straw targets?
is a home-made pen-knife passable?
what about a bowie, a sword, etc.

is DIY sharpening of that machete that's rustingin the garage a weapon?
is making a set of caltrops?

I'd say caltrops, yes, obviously.... but the resharpening a machete? grey area.

and is DIY knifemaking a craft and art, or a weapon...
and how big is a knife. etc.

reporting solely in the hopes that a mod will come and take a look, and leave a response as a guideline.

>>91628
indeed. I honestly want to make a bow for the sake of making a bow. I played a bit of skyrim and RS and thought if people like this (yeah yeah avatars all that bull) and the ancients were able to make bows then what is to stop me from making one.

>>91628

I'd report this post just to draw attention to it, but I don't want banned for submitting frivolous reports.

>>91628
oh, and to add - what about "weapons" that are designed not to cause harm. for instance, larp/nerf stuff, boffers etc, in much the same way that since creation, the board has had a consistence presence of threads for making maille armour, etc.

Pic related: a completely blunted sword, designed specifically for sports sparring. may be called a sword, but a weapon? only if you turn it back to front and hit someone with the heavy blunt end...

>>91641

Yeah, I mean, technically ANYTHING can be used as a weapon. The mods definitely need to clarify on this.

Back to the matter at hand fellas,
OP, if I were you, I would buy a normal bow first, to kind of get a feel of how much your draw-back strength is. I would start with a 30-40 lb strength one, and strengthen up from there.

>>91648
Hm. What about a 20 pound one? Is there a difference between the strength of the two (distance). I guess if any of my bow work I'd use them for hunting

>>91647
not least as there are a lot of DIY crafts that could be "that's a weapon!" if you're a hand-wringing interfering granny, and there's a lot of things that are inspired by history.


I would hope that a definition of "no items designed and intended for causing harm", or something.

so a walking stick-making thread's fine... a thread for making a club is'nt. a knifemaking thread's fine discussing tempering and what alloy to use, a combat knife thread discussing the best point for stabbing into someone, is'nt.

some sort of clarification like that would be lovely.

>>91655
a 20lb bow is pretty much the sort of thing you get a 10-year old for a toy. while with a sharp arrow it could injure, its unlikely to have range or strength to hit when hunting and kill humanely.
30lbs is what reenactors use when firing arrows at the other side, with arrows with rubber blunts on the heads. they'll bruise, not hurt.

40lb is pretty weak, not long range, and still little force.

60lbs is pretty strong, 80-100 is very strong, and 120+ is "I killed french knights at agincourt" levels of force...

>>91667
HAHA mutherfuger. You got me at the last part. But what about small game ie birds. Would a 20lb bird be suffice? And I am a pretty weak man that can barely lift 30 lb, would i require that much strength for a 30lb + bow?

I have instructions, does /diy/ want?

Its from a book, but don't have a scanner, so gunna be raw text.

>>91675

You probably wouldn't want to go below a 40lb draw for any kind of hunting. In most places, hunting with anything less powerful is illegal.

>>91689
I'm interested... but if you gave me the title, i could try finding if a pdf exists first.

>>91689
whats the title of book as well? Cos ill go shoopiing. But does want.

>>91693
Found it kicking around in my attic, called "the Dangerous book for Boys"

Lots of great stuff in it, stuff /diy/ likes to do

>>91696
welp, closest thing i found was it in audiobook form on piratebay. Thanks for the title, it seems worth the purchase.

>>91695
>>91693
Alright, I'll post. Please don't ban me mods.

The Bow
Ideally, the wood for your bow should be straight and springy. It should be cut green and then left somewhere to dry for a year.
Oak works well, as well as maple and birch. However the most powerful bows are made with a combo of heartwood and sapwood.

Remember, the bow MUST BEND - so don't pick the thickest sapling. Anythng thicker than a few centimeters is probably too thick.

If you have access to carpentry tools, they would be of use - however, this can be done with a Swiss army knife as well.

Cut notches as shown in picture in the head and foot of the bow, 5 cm (2") from the end. Use common sense and don't make the notches too deep, just enough to hold the bowstring without it slipping.

The bowstring has to be thin, strong string - nylon tends to be the best. The knot to use is the "round turn and two half hitches"

Learn to tie that here: (too hard to draw in MS paint, I tried guys)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAnn5b2bNfE

Make sure to use gloves when using this apparatus - the arrows travel at very fast speeds and can take skin off - that is unless you don't really care.

Instructions on arrows coming up next!

>>91716
oops forgot notch pic.

http://youtu.be/MGz6Pxx31FE

Watch this series, OP.

It'll walk you through most things you need to know. Just make sure you're using seasoned wood.

>>91716
please don't ban me mods

Arrows and arrowheads; Materials:
Flint or bone for arrowheads
Baked Bean Can
Strong scissors and penknife
Straight 0.9m (1 yard) lengths of dowel for arrows
Thread, glue
Crosshead screwdriver
String
Feathers (can be found or bought at your local butcher)
Leather

First off, you'll need some large chunks of flint - the book never says WHERE you can get it, so you're on your own for that /diy/

To turn these little seemingly harmless rocks into arrowheads, simply strike two flint rocks together. Make sure to wear long sleeves, gloves, and eye protection because the shards will go everywhere, and they are SHARP.
Once you have found a piece that is fairly close to the shape you want, use the phillips head screwdriver to "nibble" away at the edge and get the shape you want. This was used in the Stone ages as an actual technique of getting a nicely shaped arrowhead.

With bone, you can easily shape this down into an arrowhead using a sanding block.

If you don't have access to either flint or bone, you surely have access to tin cans - baked beans, spaghetti, soup, it can be anything. Use the lid or bottom as your arrowhead material. Make sure to use gloves and a good pair of scissors, or you may have a nice day long stay at your local hospital. These may be sharp and easy to make, however they bend very easily and probably can't be used for much else than target practice or maybe hunting rabbits. If you're going to do target practice, why not just sharpen the end of the dowel and aim at an old sweater?

>>91733
as for the flint arrows...yeah no. Don't even bother trying unless you want to spend quite a lot of time ruining flint rocks (did that as part of a merit badge waaaaay back in the day). It's not easy, it's not intuitive. It takes a ton of practice to get even marginally acceptable results.

As for where to find them? Go to where there are rocks. Look for red ones. Quartz also works but you won't be able to get as fine a point.

>>91733
Because we live in the 21st century, why not just make your arrow out of a perfectly straight, smooth wooden dowel? Unless of course you want to go and find a stick that suits your needs.

The next important part is attaching your arrowhead. Simply push the arrowhead against the tip of the arrow and tie strong thread securely around the arrow shaft to keep it steady. This will work if you have a flat arrowhead (if it isn't flat, get sanding!)

Once your arrow head is attached, the last thing to do is to attach feathers to the end. These help with stability of the arrow so it travels in a straight line. Goose feathers are the traditional favourite, but not easy to find (unless you live in Canada - too many Canada geese up here)

With your penknife, cut the feather so it looks like this (see figure 1 of pic). Make 3 of these. Make sure to leave about 2cm (roughly 1") of wood at the end to grip with your fingers, and place the feathers 120 degrees apart from each other (see fig 2 of pic). You can attach these with glue, but if you want to stick to tradition, use string to hold it in place.

Make sure to make at least 5 or 6 of these arrows - its inevitable you're going to lose/break a few.


I hope you guys enjoyed my summary from The Dangerous Book For Boys - Make sure to buy it, its worth the money.

>>91738
Awesome, I'll keep that in mind to just use bone or tin.

Also, here's a screencap of the info for anyone who wants it in an info folder or somethin.

>>91667

>while with a sharp arrow it could injure, its unlikely to have range or strength to hit when hunting and kill humanely.

have you ever fired a bow? 20lbs is actually more than youd think, you could for sure take out small game like rabbits

I have an old 1960s Boy Scout Archery merit badge book, has instructions for a longbow, flatbow, strings, arrows, etc.
If you guys like I can scan and upload it

Here, I'll just post.

>>91799

>>91802

Anybody finding these useful/interesting?

>>91810
I'm still waiting, thanks a lot for these

I use to want to make a short bow but then ...

>>91808

>>91816

>>91818

>>91820

>>91821

>>91825

>>91830
Bowstrings are coming next, after that I'll probably post Compound Flat Bow.

>>91832

>>91840

>>91842

>>91810
I would say yeah, but I've got that same book myself. Still useful type stuff.

Flat Bow Time (Sorry, was a "modern" flat bow, not a compound flat bow. Completely different, I know, but I still mix those up when talking about bows.)

>>91844
Ah. Well I'm almost done scanning it anyway so I guess I'll finish the useful stuff for anyone that doesn't have it.

>>91850
Anyone still lurking this thread that found this helpful?

About to post stuff about bow woods and stuff.

>>91854
All hail Captcha, primordial devourer of images.

>>91855
Useful Info for the next 3-4 posts and then I'm done.

>>91856

>>91854
yeah saving is all mang

>>91857
Any idea where to get the mentioned bow woods? Internet resource? Regular lumber yards? Specialty places I should know about?..... Nature?

>>91862
>wat wood is gud

all of that information is going to specific to your region/biome

>>91862
Last one.

Sorry for the wait, got a "file too large" so I had to resize.

>>91863
Not asking about which woods, but just where to get wood like this; I'd imagine it isn't exactly "available in every hardware store" kind of common but I don't know.

>>91866
specifically, wood mentioned in >>91856

>>91772
he said kill humanely.

no nice clean .pdf, brah?

>>91870
Maybe someday, but it was just more convenient to scan and post images.

>>91866
Actually, call around to lumber yards. You might be surprised. But really, you'll probably be better off wandering about in the woods and cutting your own.

As far as what types, yew was what they made the english longbows out of wasn't it? I figure ash and most of your oaks would be too hard...live oak may be an exception to that. You'll want straight grain for strength.

>>91882
Tell me more, I live in california and have no idea how to identify a bow wood (although we mostly have pines out here so I may be SOL)

>>91743

I think the book this fellow is referring to is called
"The dangerous book for boys" it's an awesome book lots of interesting stuff in it.

Bumping, I may have something here.

Bump

>>91891
Yeah I said that in the last line.