How To Make A Recurve Bow

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A recurve bow is a specific type of bow separate from the longbow and simple bow that has tips which curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung. If one is unfamiliar with recurve bows this can cause

one to believe the bow is meant to be strung on the side opposite from the correct one–this occurred with many Native American recurve bows when they were found or captured by European settlers, resulting in their destruction. A recurve bow is capable of storing more energy than a straight-limbed bow of equal length, thereby

launching the arrow with a higher velocity and consequently more force. This means that a recurve will allow for a shorter bow than the simple bow or longbow for a given arrow energy which resulted in recurve bows being preferred by archers in environments where long weapons could be cumbersome, such as in brush and forest terrain, or while on horseback (Mongols).

Now, today I’ve got a video series here for you of a professional bowyer showing you how to make your own recurve and long bows:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9 (last one!)

Additional Resources and Further Reading

The very first thing I’d recommend you do if you’re serious about bow-making is pick up a copy of Traditional Bowyers Encyclopedia: 2nd Edition (you can get it here from Amazon for a nice discount) by Dan Bertalan, it really is not only THE bow-building encyclopedia, but it’s precisely what you need if you’re just getting started, it’s an excellent guide. Another excellent series of books (there are 4 volumes) I recommend is Jim Hamm’s “The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible”, here’s volume 1 (Amazon has all 4 volumes): The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible, Volume 1.

Excellent Article on ‘How to make a bow’ (I think it’s a recurve) at WikiHow