how to make a bow out of of PVC

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Comment count is 9

Callamon

- 2012-10-21

You know I never understood all the bullshit with bows. I currently use a 60lb wooden re-curve. Though it's only 54 according to my fish scale.

I never understood all the bullshit arm guards, special string holders, and sights. Anyone should be able to make a bulls-eye at 20ft with minimal practice. The demonstration shots here are laughable.

I regularly make heart shots at 50 yards and further without any of this gimmicky bullshit. If you're going to do it learn to do it well like any damn sport.

So 4 for do-it-at-home I guess.

simon666 - 2012-10-21

Arm guards because getting hit in the forearm with the bow string gets annoying really quickly. Also they are useful at holding back long sleeves that might get in the way.

heyitslozeau

- 2012-10-22

You dont need arm guards if you just bend your arm correctly.

garcet71283 - 2012-10-22

Hey, I taught an after-school program and we did this as an activity once.

The kids thought it was the most awesome thing ever.

If I knew about this as a kid, I would have only wasted my money on a PVC bow arms race.

memedumpster

- 2012-10-22

Neat!

Bort

- 2012-12-09

I tried following the instructions but I just couldn't get the one pipe into the other pipe. So I have come up with an alternate way to make a fuck-around bow, all parts available at Home Depot:

1) Get a six-foot length of 1" PVC pipe. Also get some caps that you can put on either end.

2) Fill the pipe with six-foot fiberglass rods, like the kind you could stick in the ground alongside your driveway. You can put up to seven fiberglass rods in the bow, depending on how much tension you want on it.

3) Drill holes through either side of each cap; the holes will be for your bow string. Get a length of string, tie one end into a loop through the two holes on one cap, and do the same thing with the other cap. So the act of stringing the bow is really fitting one cap and then the other on the bow.

If you don't know how to tie a bow line, learn it here:

http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/bowline/

Bort - 2012-12-11

Update: parachute cord is probably a better bowstring option; it's a little thick but it will withstand more than the nylon cord will. At a certain point one should perhaps consider buying a real bowstring, but that gets away from the aesthetics of craptasticism.

Bort - 2013-12-08

More update, after some experimentation: you actually get far better performance with just a 6-foot length of PVC and a parachute cord string. No fiber rod inserts, no plastic caps at the end. (For stringholders I just stick a lightweight bolt through the holes and let the string hold on to that.)

So why is that better? Because, while the more complicated build may make for a heavier draw weight, weight isn't what matters -- what matters is how quickly the bow can snap back. The fiberglass rods cause a lot of internal friction (mechanical waste), and the caps on the end are just extra mass that has to be accelerated, at the worst possible place (i.e. where a great deal of torque is required).

The result is a physically lighter bow with a lesser draw weight, but quieter, and much faster arrows.

Bort - 2013-12-08

"through the holes"

You'll need to bore holes through the PVC pipe, not the caps that you're not going to be using. Derp.

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