Homemade bow accessories

[inonickname]

Hey,

I recently purchased a new compound bow, and I'm looking at making my own accesories for it. I'd like to make a release aid, or extension of some kind (I need about 2-3" more length, or a handle for it to be comfortable to shoot), a stabiliser, an arrow holder/quiver mounted to the gun, a whisker biscuit/arrow guide, and perhaps some sights. (I'm not a fan of a plain pin).

I have plenty of materials to work in, a lathe, mill attachment, drill press etc. so equipment isn't a big deal. For the whisker biscuit I'm thinking of finding some bottle cleaning brushes similar to how joerg did, and turning the ring on the lather, and cutting out the entry point on the mill.

I'll update with some ideas I have soon, but what I'm mainly looking for is help on designing a release aid. I'd rather not add an extra loop, but it can be done if required.

All input is welcome

Thanks

[metalmeltr]

It shouldnt be too dificult to mill out a quick release from aluminum. Just need a spring to hold it closed.

[Fnord]

Well, a release aid will probably be fairly simple, though the biggest problem with making your own sights and stuff is probably going to be just getting stuff aligned well.

A stabiliser will be easy so there isn't much to say there.

Obviously a bow quiver will stabilize it a bit more but I've found they kinda get in the way sometimes.

A whisker biscuit? Haha, I admit I had to look that up, cause I've never used/seen one before. Heat up the spine of a hair brush and bend it into a circle

Personally I'm against the swiss-army-bow aproach. At one point I was getting 6" groups at 25 yards, which isn't really spectacular, but I could do it without aiming... Not even sighting down the arrow. Also this was with a 59" hickory flatbow which I made myself. I'll put up some pictures eventually.

When you look at what some guys can do with just a simple wood longbow, it's pretty amazing. If you ever make a traditional bow, you may never touch anything as modern as fiberglass or aluminum again.


This is just a target-shooting contraption right?

Edited by jrrdw.

[inonickname]

Well, a release aid will probably be fairly simple, though the biggest problem with making your own sights and stuff is probably going to be just getting stuff aligned well.

A stabiliser will be easy so there isn't much to say there.

Obviously a bow quiver will stabilize it a bit more but I've found they kinda get in the way sometimes.

A whisker biscuit? Haha, I admit I had to look that up, cause I've never used/seen one before. Heat up the spine of a hair brush and bend it into a circle

Personally I'm against the swiss-army-bow aproach. At one point I was getting 6" groups at 25 yards, which isn't really spectacular, but I could do it without aiming... Not even sighting down the arrow. Also this was with a 59" hickory flatbow which I made myself. I'll put up some pictures eventually.

When you look at what some guys can do with just a simple wood longbow, it's pretty amazing. If you ever make a traditional bow, you may never touch anything as modern as fiberglass or aluminum again.


This is just a target-shooting contraption right? Seems a bit excessive for hunting

Primarily target, and some hunting. Bows are a nice weapon to own in Australia, being one of the few weapons you can buy OTC with no licensing or rego.

Any thoughts on the release aid? handle with a slot the bowstring slides into, with a polished rod the slides past the slot to capture the string, with a trigger on the end?

Edited by jrrdw.

[Zeus]

Just out of interest, what's the draw weight, I'm using a 50lb Darton SL50 secondhand, I can't get a good backstop (the DYI of bows?) and I keep losing arrows which doesn't agree with my budget.

50lb can give deer a hole all the way through, foxes are hard to get considering bows are good to maybe 30m.

As $75 release aids are way out of my budget I find I draw it to it's full extent and still don't get it back far enough. Arrows seem to be too short as well.

If you come up with a releaser that can be made with "the poor man's mill" do post them, I can't figure out the positioning of the sear.

[Crna Legija]

if you can buy stuff of ebay this works without a loop tied to your bow string, and it 26 bucks. its also pretty simple to make your self with a drill file and some aluminum

[inonickname]

I use my bow set to 55 pounds usually, but I can easily handle 70. 55 is just more comfortable to shoot (and really, you don't need 70 pounds of draw on a very efficient bow against light recurves).

When I build my arrow rest/whisker biscuit I'm planning on moving it back a few inches so overdrawing isn't a problem.

Any opinions on how the sear should be set up? I'm thinking that it might be best to use the draw weight to help keep it closed (i.e. the sear wont be holding 70 lbs) and use a lever to lift the bowstring from a latch.

4" or so of corrugated cardboard will stop a field (fairly dull arrow) nicely. Keep a very solid backstop up. Fuck ups happen, and an good arrow from a heavy bow will be very lethal out to a rather large distance. (plus, if you fly an arrow 150+m away you might not get it back, you're better off losing a nock or something, which is replaceable.

[Zeus]

In regards to the whisker biscuit, I'd sandwich the fibres between two rings of the material of your choice, then cut out some plywood to the ID of the rings.

G clamp the plywood on either size and drill a hole of the requisite size in the centre. You then have a perfectly centered hole through the biscuit.

For the release, I'm thinking about something akin to a crossbow rolling nut, I'm working on one for my big (many expletives) crossbow.

Pushing the bowstring from a fixed pin will require some force and could affect accuracy to a degree.

[irisher]

As $75 release aids are way out of my budget

You must be getting ripped off at your archery store. In my area releases can be had for less than $20 which kinda eliminates any advantage of making your own.

[Fnord]

Bump.

Finally got to get some pictures uploaded... late as usual.

50lbs at 26", though it can be drawn to 28".
2.5" wide at the base, plus it made of hickory so It's about as indestructable as an all-wood bow can get(Horrible growth ring violation on the back, and it holds up just fine).
I heat treated the belly and it improved cast noticably. Currently shoots about 155 fps max with a 30 gram arrow, which is about average for a slightly longer bow.

I have no idea where the string went. It was a nice kevlar string too. Oh well I can always make another.

Edit: Gee, NOW the uploaded decides to work right, after I reverse my upload order.

[clemsonguy1125]

Nice bow, what tools did you use to make it?

[JDP12]

awesome bow, looks like a holmegaard design? I'm currently building a hickory bow made in the holmegaard style

[Fnord]

Thanks.

Tools used... let's see,
All the tillering was done with a small 1/2" planer and some really rough sand paper. I cut out the rough shape with a bandsaw(at work) and a homemade adz. A belt sander was used, mainly to shape the handle section. Adz wood make a good scrabble word.

To work the rings down perfectly flat on the back, I used, I kid you not, a 9" angle grinder with 40 and 80 grit pads. Traditional bowyers would probably burn me at the stake for that, but it's much quicker than working it down by hand. It's just really easy to screw up.

The design I used is just based on simple logic. Most of the bending and energy storage happens in the wide, heavy section. The tips are very light and thin, so not much energy is wasted accelerating them. The near-handle limbs don't move very fast compared to the tips.

The belly was heated over a hotplate; what this does is essentially "melt" the cell walls in the wood and allow them to contract, driving air out. This has the effect of making it more dense, and raising its compressive strength.

Alright, back to the original post...

If you're going to make your own release aid, start with something simple, and modify it as you go. Personally I'd start by making a simple lever design.