Original subtitles

throughout history wood from the yew

tree has been in preferred material for

making bows in part one of this video

series I showed you how to harvest a yew

tree using a 5,000 year old style copper

axe this tree was cut in the spring when

the sap is flowing and the bark peels

easily from the log this smooth layer

under the bark will become the back of

our bow

great care should be taken to protect

the single smooth layer as any damage

from cuts or nicks in the back of the

bow would compromise the integrity of

the wood and could cause the bow to

break

after letting the wood season for over a

year I was ready to begin work on our

bow I began by splitting the log along

its natural grain using wooden wedges

[Music]

once the log was split I began shaping a

bow stave using my copper axe a 5000

year old yew bow state was found high in

the Italian Alps near the frozen body of

Otzi the Iceman his bow stave had

similar chop marks in the belly of the

bow from his copper axe although it is

likely that he shaped his bow stave why

the wood was still green and unseasoned

the basic design of the longbow I will

be making will be thicker in the handle

and gradually taper to a thinner

diameter near the NOx as you form your

bow stay if you begin to see the unique

characteristics of you wood that makes

it ideal for making a bow the darker

heartwood is able to withstand the

compression forces and the lighter SAP

wood is able to withstand the tension

forces that are put on it as an arrow is

drawn when shaping the bow stay Phi

begin by marking the center of the bow

in the area where the handle will be

I then begin to shape the bow using

stone tools for this bow I will be using

plates of obsidian which are incredibly

sharp we've become dull very quickly

these obsidian plates can be used as a

draw knife to shave down the wood I

usually get about 5 minutes of use out

of each flake before it becomes too dull

and needs to be replaced another useful

stone tool to have on hand is a piece of

pumice or sandstone obsidian draw knives

work best on a flat surface so as bumps

and the irregularities develop an

abrasive stone can be used to return the

wood to a smooth surface as you remove

excess wood the basic form of the bow

begins to take shape it is at this point

that you want to see how the limbs are

bending this process is called floor

tailoring and it lets you see what areas

of the limps are still too thick and

need to have wood removed and it lets

you see how each limb is bending in

proportion to each other once the limbs

of the bow are bending evenly is time to

form the knocks to fit the bowstring the

most simple way to do this is to cut two

grooves into the wood at the end of the

bow another method that has been used

for hundreds of years is to glue horn

knocks on the tip of the bow for my

hunting bows I like to form the knocks

out of the teeth of a large carnivore

such as a bear or cougar I begin by

shaving down the tip of the bow staves

so that the hollow mountain lion tooth

knock will easily fit on the end

it is also at this time that I cut

grooves into the wood to accommodate the

bowstring

to secure the tooth knocks to the bow I

use a natural birch tar glue this is the

same natural glue that would see the

IceMen used more than 5000 years ago to

glue his fletchings onto his arrow

once the glue has cooled and hardened I

further secure the NOx to the bow by

using back sinew from a deer

these thin strips of sinew must first be

soaked in warm water or chewed on in

your mouth until they become soft and

pliable these wet pieces of sinew can

then be wrapped around the tooth knocks

the area where the bowstring will go and

directly below the docks to help

reinforce the tip of the bow as the

sinew dries it will shrink forming a

tight layer of tendon that will help

protect the bow and the tooth from

splitting and cracking my final step is

to spread a layer of warm hai glue on

the sinew to help secure it as it dries

you

now that the knocks are complete we are

ready to string the bow and start the

final tillering process

the most important part of this step is

to make sure that each limb of the bow

is bending evenly

you can see here that the lower limb is

bending more than the upper limb and

that the tips of the bow are still very

stiff

to correct this problem I shave down the

thicker areas on the upper limb and

lightly shave down the tips of the bow

well it's still not perfect yet you can

see that the upper and lower limb are

bending much more evenly with each other

after some final fine-tuning adjustments

we are ready to put the finish on the

bow I do this by using a plant called a

scour rush which is in the horsetail

family this primitive plant contains

silica in it cell walls which allows it

to be used as a fine grit sandpaper to

put a smooth finish on our bow the final

step is to waterproof the wood using

natural oils I like to do this by

rubbing the entire bow with chunks of

deer fat now our bow is ready to shoot

in all kinds of weather

this Finnish bow shoots incredibly well

and pulls about 75 pounds and draw

weight you would self longboats have

been used by skilled archers for

thousands of years it is incredibly

satisfying to learn how to develop the

skills to make and shoot the simple

deadly primitive weapon I encourage

anyone to take on the challenge of

hunting with a primitive bow and arrow

to learn more about making new self

boasts I suggest you read the first

volume of the traditional bowyers bible

the section on you would Bose was

authored by John Strunk who is a master

Bowyer and a good friend of mine he

offers one-on-one classes on how to make

bows cells you would staves and finish

bows at the email address listed above

another great place to buy primitive

bows and staves is from a fellow organ

bowyer named Carson Brown

he sells primitive archery supplies on

his website Eko archery comm

you