Scotland's Source - How to...Make a Bow and Arrow

How to.......
Make a Bow and Arrow

Building a bow should be simple;
you just take a stick and bend it,
right?

Wrong!

Unless you live in a forest that grows planed, seasoned yew trees, bending sticks won't give you the power and springiness needed.

A far better technique is to make a sandwich of flat strips of wood (you can find these in the dowel section of D.I.Y. shops, or make your own if you have a table saw).
Cut the strips into a series of three or four decreasing lengths and stack them on top of each other: bind the centre with tape.
When you now fix a string to each end, bending the bow so the shorter strips are on the inside, you'll have a bow that really works.

Arrows can be made from any straight pieces of dowel or bamboo - twigs from your garden won't be straight enough. Cut a notch in the end for the bow string to slot into, and tape a feather or scrap of paper slightly further down for a flight,
Fix a blob of Blu-Tack or Plasticine on to the business end; this will provide extra weight to ensure better flight, as well as minimising damage to windows and corneas.

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