# A different kind of bow



## frankp (Nov 10, 2014)

Over the last year I've decided I was going to start hunting again. To that end I started looking at bows and accidentally came across a youtube video for pvc bows. Being the cheap bastard and engineer-at-heart that I am, I had to build one. I started by building two light 48" long bows for my kids out of 3/4" and 1/2" schedule 40 pvc. Then I had to make one for myself but I went for the take-down recurve. I made 2 sets of limbs, one with 3/4" pvc and the other with 1" pvc. At 64" bow length (knock to knock) the 3/4" is probably about a 25 pound draw and the 1" gets closer to 40, just by guestimate. Still haven't bought a reasonable scale so no official pull-weight testing. A couple of pictures are attached. One strung with the 1" limbs and the 3/4" limbs next to it, one just strung and one unstrung but standing against a wall.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 3


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## Kevin (Nov 10, 2014)

That's pretty cool. What are the limbs made from?


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## frankp (Nov 10, 2014)

Shortly after the pics in the previous post were taken, I added a homemade whisker biscuit to the bow. I had installed some threaded inserts in the sight window for this purpose but I won't do that again. With the screws added, I think I limited the flex of the riser and the thing just collapsed on my first draw using the rest. I'm in the process of making a new riser that will just have the rest glued into place, rather than screwed in. Live and learn.

Pics of the failure attached.


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## frankp (Nov 10, 2014)

Kevin, the limbs are schedule 40 pvc as well. They're just painted with black and "hammered bronze" spray paint as a rudimentary cammo.

The pvc becomes very pliable when you heat it so you can flatten the limbs and make the curves pretty easily. It's a great poor man's recurve. I think the kid's bows cost about $1.50 each and mine was probably $24 including the dacron bow string I bought.

Reactions: Way Cool 1 | Informative 1


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## Kevin (Nov 10, 2014)

Now you got my interest up..... How did you form the limbs like that from sch 40 - I know you heated it obviously but how did you do that? And did you have preformed jigs to clamp them to and let them cool to that form?


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## frankp (Nov 10, 2014)

Kevin, this is the youtube "tutorial" I used as a basis for mine. It's a two part video and much better than I can do. 





I'm working on building the new riser and taking pictures as I go, this time. I'll include here as a sort of build thread for the riser and include some pics of my "jig" for the limbs. I ended up preferring to do the limbs by hand as my jig makes it hard to keep the limbs straight. The youtube link has a better jig than mine that solves that problem.

Reactions: Like 1


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## frankp (Nov 10, 2014)

I'm also working on a design to do a more traditional screw in limb for the take down riser. That way I can eventually use a nice wooden riser rather than the pvc riser here.


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## DKMD (Nov 10, 2014)

Who'd a thunk? That's super cool!

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Mike Jones (Nov 10, 2014)

Thanks for posting the video! Cool project, and I like that he got through it without any more than needed!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## frankp (Nov 11, 2014)

Other than the pins, which are completely unnecessary, I very much like his design. It shoots well, is easy to use, and breaks down quickly. Not having any "tools" to assemble it or parts that could be lost make it very nice for field use as well. That's one drawback to making a more "traditional" type break down with screw in limbs.


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## manbuckwal (Nov 11, 2014)

Very creative ! Thanks for sharing !


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## NeilYeag (Nov 11, 2014)

Yep pretty clever. You Tube is amazing, the range of stuff that can be found. I had no idea about this concept. Good luck with the new builds.


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## Strider (May 10, 2015)

Oooh, I saw these things being built. Cool stuff, cheap, thus forgiving. They can get pretty powerful, can't they? I twined a 3strand bow string, that was an awesome project. Hemp.


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## frankp (Oct 8, 2015)

Looks like I promised more details. Just putting this here so I remember to put new pictures up once I get home tonight.


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