Primitive Bow from Live Tree in 24hrs!
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- Опубликовано: 28 апр 2021
- This week we'll be building a primitive whitewood bow from a live tree in under 24 hours! After watching a video where Keith Shannon and Thad Beckum made a very nice high performance selfbow from a green hickory tree in just three days I was inspired to give it a try. So I went out and cut a small American elm tree and started roughing out a flatbow. In just a few hours I had the selfbow roughed out and starting to bend. Once the limbs were thinned out I build a long fire, suspended the bow over the heat, and covered it with canvas to create a primitive kiln. The next morning the stave was measuring below 10% moisture content and was ready to move into tillering. A few hours more, and the primitive survival bow was ready to hunt!
I've built a lot of primitive bows over the years but I've never tried to force dry wood like this. I was impressed to say the least. Not only was this bow quick and easy to make, but it has no string follow and shoots great. In short, this is a fine shooting bow that I'd feel very confident hunting big game with. If you're looking for a way to build the best survival bow you can, this video will show you how to do it with nothing but a big knife!
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Hey folks, thanks for watching. I've been asked several times about what woods can be force dried like this. To date, I've only tried this with American Elm and Pignut Hickory. But I suspect other species like hophornbeam, American hornbeam, and maybe ash would work fine. If you guys start experimenting with different woods, please let me know what you find by tagging me @clayhayeshunter in any social media posts you make about your findings. Thanks again and please check out my videos at patreon.com/clayhayes if you haven't already! Stay Tuned!
Is it true ylu dont have to chase the rings on elm? Just carve it out and shape it up.
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Im in the uk - I'm going to try hazel - but use a heat gun. Living in a flat isn't great for big fires for hardening. Do you have hazel in the states?
@@Stewartthorp we do, its called Filbert here.
No band saw,no power sander, no draw knife no tillering tree ,no shaving horse, ready in less than a day from the cut with no string follow and a sabilized reflex shape, Clay rocks. Chapeau from tuscany. Great video great bowyer.
Thanks 😊
Bro you're still in tuscany? What wood do we have here to do this?
@@reen6904 sei toscano o, importato dall estero?( nel secondo caso tradurrai con google) legni bianchi, quindi , olmo, rovere,acero, sorbo , sambuco o frassino, col nocciolo eviterei troppo leggero non m azzarderei a temperarlo sulla brace., so elm, oak( quercus petrae) , mapple, serviceberry, elderberry, ash
There’s not enough people that have seen this video. This is stupid hard to do in a day. Clay makes this look easy and that just goes to show how good he really is
I tell this to people all the time. Natives didn't haul around bow staves for a year waiting for the wood to cure. Awesome video showing how they did it.
The natives in different part of the world that used bow for hunting knew howe to use fire to drie the bows and when they made the arrows
@Fred Soltveit That's exactly right.
That’s hardcore skill on display! No scale or tiller equipment, just eyeballing measurements and using just arms and knee to do it.
You rock dude.
And he made his own handmade knife/mini machete and tomahawk out of a farriers rasp. Thats some Rambo skills right there! That’s just as cool as it gets right there. This type of content is awesome because it brings a sense of hope in making a bow without owning or renting all the fancy tools.
I really like how you keep the tools basic and your jigs basic too. You really understand what the general novice bowyer finds inspiring and will help us. Great content. Respect from the UK
Thanks Ray
When you know what you’re doing it’s second nature. Thanks man!
You bet!
Very impressive! I just spent almost a week helping folks make bows at the Tennessee Classic, and your making a bow with those tools so quickly and a great looking tiller demonstrates a lot of skill!
Thanks Greg
Absolutely brilliant job 👍. Great film.
You and Keith Shannon are as good if not the best at building self bows that I have ever seen and you shoot very similarly. Impressive...........
Clay knows more about primitive bow building than most men on the planet, his osage self bows are epic! I've made quite a few osage self bows myself, but the knowledge that I have is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to what Clay has. If you've ever thought of building your own self bow subscribe and watch all of his videos, the info you will find here is priceless.
Best videos out there. commentary explaining all relevant details, clear concise no stupid music just paradise. well done my man. wish i could spend a few days makin a boy with ya. I do solar installation and electrical work if you interested in work hang out trade. And work on twin cam Harleys from 2000 to 2008 know real well. Can work from manual on other years.
In the background just hearing those cows was so peaceful, and also watching you shave off the inner wood, and the sound of wood shaving.
Man you are good !!! I can’t imagine how efficient you would be in a shop,shucks you make you surroundings a shop with a very few basic tools
Watched you on alone, now I'm watching your bow videos. You just keep on giving me content to watch lol made my first bow the other day and it came out great! A little weak only about 20 pounds but no cracks and it shoots decent. My next bow will be better and this one's going to my little brother so it works out.
I want to make a bow very badly but limited on tools, how did you about making yours? If you doing mind me asking , thanks!
@@recemottashed8114 I used a hatchet and a decent knife. Then some sand paper. Took a while but it's worth it to go slow
I started watching him last year as I got back into archery after 40 years. I didn't know about Alone until recently. He has the best vids on shooting trad bows.
You are a hard working skilled craftsman,with lots of experience and expertise.
Thanks Allen
Clay I can state how appreciative of this video I am...I do not make bows full time anymore or as often as I did in my youth...but the methods I see many teaching these days with their "drying" and other modern "wood machinist" approaches just are wrong on so many levels...Can you make a bow from "dry wood"...???...Yes, you can make that work...but traditionally it was seldom to never done in most (not all) indigenous wood cultures...To this day I still either store my bow blanks (and other wood) under water (traditionally called "resting" you wood) or I oil and wax it heavily...then work it later..."Green" bow work, as you showed in this video was the norm and produces fantastic bows...IF...you know what your doing...!!!
Thanks Jay C
I imagine our forefathers did something like this in wartime. You take whatever resources you have available and make the best out of it.
good video)) I immediately remembered my childhood))) we also constantly made bows for ourselves and ran with them from morning to night)) they were made from willow. after watching this video, I was struck by the similarity of the buildings we have and yours))) Greetings from Russia)))
Hows it doing in Russia?
@@levisteben5118 If you mean how bows are made, then our children make bows to play with.Or masters who make sports bows or replicas of medieval bows.In our country, bow hunting is very poorly developed, it was allowed a couple of years ago, but still hunters do not understand what they were allowed to extract from onions. And only a few are engaged in sports shooting. So bows are practically not made in our country at the moment.It used to be when a movie about North American Indians was shown on TV, after watching a movie, we took to whittling our bows)))
@@alekskom6206 thats cool! I think that shooting sports and hunting should be a part of everones life! Shooting sports and hunting should be something all can enjoy regardless of where the live.
@@levisteben5118We now have a lot of people who are bad about hunting, if you put a photo of the trophy on your page in the social network, then people who consider themselves animal rights activists will immediately start writing.And hunting is not all smooth, earlier in Soviet times, the lands on which you can hunt belonged to the state and you could hunt there by taking a ticket to the hunting collective.Now a lot of hunting grounds have been bought by rich people and to hunt there you have to pay a large amount of money. And how are you with hunting? are there many animals in the grounds?
I can only imagine the disappointment I'd have if I spent a few hours trimming and shaping my bow just for it to snap when putting it in that straightening jig :(
If it's green, it won't snap at all. Green wood bends easy.
Nice job! The cattle in the background are fun to listen to.
They like to watch me work
They are extremely happy to have the opportunity to watch you build an awesome bow.
Your a true inspiration and a great teacher. thank you for all the entertainment and lessons you've given me.
Thank you for your shooting form. It is always nice to see!
Thank you sir i want to made a bow to kill demons in my town you helped me very much love from India 🇮🇳
Great job Clay. I believe we have only scratched the surface on fire-hardening bows. Thanks to you, Keith, Thad and others for sharing practical knowledge so that every bowyer can benefit whether you're a novice or experienced.
Thanks Steve
Love the little cabin or whatever type building it may be, great work. I figured the elm would not split, tried as a teen when splitting fire wood.
Really cool to see this done. I've made bows from living green to shooting in about a week that lasted a couple years of heavy shooting. But figured it could be done quicker with the right methods.
Primitive people had to have had a way to quick build a good bow. With as much as they relied on them.
Really nice work Clay, you make it looks so easy. That's some good looking dirt you have over there!
Thanks much
At about 2:46, when you found out each growth ring acts different on an elm sapling stave, I was like, "Welcome to elm, Clay!". It's my primary wood, and American elm is actually fantastic stuff.
I was impressed with it!
@@clayhayeshunter Good! Osage isn't an option where I live, but plenty of white woods. They work.
As always very interesting and instructive, you got me into archery, I bought my first bow a few weeks ago and I’ll be giving a shot at making my own. Thanks for the great channel!
Awesome! Good luck with the build!
@@clayhayeshunterI have to say that just to learn how to shoot is a very humbling experience 😆
That’s great that you showed us what you did, but you didn’t show us how or why you did it. After watching this, I could not recreate it, which for me is the whole point of watching. Thanks!
If you're looking for super detailed videos on how to build bows then check out some of my older bow building videos. This one wasn't about how to build a bow so much as the possibilities of force drying wood.
Love the bow Clay, looking forward to see what append with the fire hardening 🤘
You and me both!
Man, you make that look easy. Great video.
Good work Clay. Nice bow that would take deer or pigs. Fun to watch your bow skills. Me and Keith shot another video today. I think you will like it. I will send you a link when I get it edited. It is good to see an experienced bowyer using his ability to walk the unknown path.
Thanks Thad, this was fun and I'll be doing more for sure.
Cool project Clay! Good job on that, looking forward to the fire hardening👍
Thanks 👍
I’m impressed. Congrats
excellent bro, I am very interested in the construction of bow and arrows
Awesome video, thank you very much for sharing these skills 👌
Absolutely!
Love that your doing more with white woods now. I’d love to come do a bow building class doing this type of building!
I might put together a class once I get it dialed in a bit more.
Very Cool man love the VIds and all your info is great, Keep coming back for more
Thanks! Don't forget to share it!
It’s impressive how you make sometimg from nothing and repurpose other things for little or no money . ThT knife is a true survival item . It’s a knife a froe a scraper a draw knife a wedge hammer or whatever u need it for . Maybe a hide scraper too . Then u make a bow with it from a live tree . That is commendable
Thanks Charles
This is awesome content Clay you make it look so easy
Thank ya!
This is pretty amazing
Really enjoyed your video thank you
Nice. After watching this video, I want to build . . . . . . . . . . . one of those chair, bench, wood support, thing you used !
How often did you need to touch up the edge of that knife as you worked down that stave to finished bow?
Very rarely
This is why i love my kukri so much
As always, well done!
Thanks again!
Thankyou for this! I've seen most of ur stuff but I enjoyed this alot! it's also nice for us noobs starting out to have hope that u don't have to wait a yr b4 making a bow if u cut your own wood!
Glad I could help!
IKR
Way way way freaken cool. See ya soon!
Thanks
Very impressive mate! Was a good vid to watch!
Thanks a lot!
Great one, Clay. You should do a video on that knife you made. It looks like a good all purpose tool! I'd love to make one.
Way ahead of ya! ruclips.net/video/YvT8VYsP3Dk/видео.html
That IS impressive! Elm I think is a more available source of bow wood for me here in Pennsylvania. I have no Osage at all on my property but do have a good deal of hickory and elm. My efforts at making a functional bow have been not great but I keep trying! Thanks Clay!
Thanks Wayne, keep making them. They'll get better and better.
This video is so cool! Thank you so much, I did an assessment at school with this video it helped alot thanks 😊
Thanks Lily, I’m glad it helped
Awesome! Thanks for this vid!
No problem!
I am an Expat American living in Costa Rica, could you do a bamboo bow? Bows and hunting is illegal here and I’d only make a bow if it was a survival situation for that reason. Thanks.
Great video and it amazes me how you used that self forged knife and a Leatherman to make it.
Hey Clay,loving the shed door hinges 👌🤣
Horse shoes!
another great video thanks and keep them coming
You bet
You sir have a skill
Thanks much
This reminds me of that guy we all used to watch on public tv when we was kids. You know the guy who used all the none power tools.
The woodwright i believe
@@nooneyouknowhere6148 yes! loved that guy. Him and bob ross... lol
Should have put a couple of cuts of meat and some sausages at the same time as smokin your bow!👊🤠👌
Dang. Excellent work 👌
Thanks Bob
Elm is used in alot of crafts like baskets and such so it's definitely a good candidate for a bow nice choice. I always thought it wouldn't have enough memory to do a bow so I gotta try it. Have you tried to reinforce it with sinue
I learned that you shouldn't remove the bark on the bows outside. The bark gives it more strength and durability. But thats just what I've learned maybe it's better without it. I may try it next spring.
Great video! This is so similar in sound and picture, to a Swiss scene! (Greetings from Switzerland 👍🏼)
Thanks
Very interresting, I've seen this video you are talking about as reference and it certainly was interresting. Sugar Maple is pretty much the only vastly available bow wood I have arround here (South Quebec, Canada), so I might give this a try also including the fire hardening process with this wood. I've heard about that process many times now but it seems like a long process to me, overall. Can't wait to see your next video for more precisions on complexity of the process. Also, with those methods, it is unclear to me how to order all the steps like, example: Floor Tilelring, Recurving, Straithening, Drying, Tillering, Fire Hardening. Anyways, if you can comment on that I would be extremely happy :) Thanks a lot for your awesome videos! Always happy to see new posts from you.
You can make a bow out of all sorts of wood. You probably have birch, chokecherry, apple, Hawthorne, ash, etc.., you can make a bow out of pine if you have to, but need to change the DESIGN of the the actual bow to make it work !
@@charlesleblanc6638 thanks. And you are right! Since my last comment here I've read the bowyer's bible vol. 1 and Clay's book. I completed 2 bows, up to now and have another one on the go. To put it simple: if you haven't the best type of wood available, build wider and focus on good tiller. I also located some great kiln dried peaces of white oak. And found very nice ash and elm spots in the woods around here. Thanks for your comment! I never tried fire hardening yet and could give in a try with very light wood. This process makes amy white wood perform better. Can't wait to give it a try 😊.
That's the spirit Martin just give it a try, show respect to the piece of wood you chose to make a bow, and it will make itself into a bow for you !! If you have completed two serviceable bows, you are now a bowyer ! Haven't read Clays book yet which I'm sure is great, but did learn a lot from reading Paul Comstock, Jay Massey, Jim Hamm and the bowyers bible and practicing some of what these great bowyers have to teach. Clay made a really nice serviceable bow out of green wood, with very limited tools which is really all you need if you pay attention to details and be patient to what the wood has to offer you as a bow !! And yes tillering and design are quite important for durability.
That's a good job
The knife he used has such a patina! I wonder if it was forged with such a profile in mind so that it could be used as an improvised draw knife.
Yep, I’ve got a video showing how I forged it.
I watched that video you talked about. I have thought about giving this a go. I have a smokehouse so, that should make it easy.
go for it!
Great video! I have heard of this technique being used to make the Holmsgaard bows unearthed from the mesolithic period. This technique was hypothetical though and to my knowledge never replicated. Maybe until now. Bravo for a job well done! Also, as far as I know thats just how elm splits. Wedges never work, even with big logs. Makes little difference whether its wych elm or slippery elm. No fun either way.
Thanks
I would like some suggestions on taking the grandkids out in the woods, making a bow to shoot from a limb, or tree, in less than an hour. Not for survival hunting. Just for knocking around. What type of limb works good, etc.. Thanks
Hickory works well
Good work Sir. Flaxen Saxon,
Brother,you are amazing. some times it is soo sad when the bow cracks after hours of work ,you did this well keep going
Thanks
This is awesome!
Thanks much!
I get what you are trying to show. I have watched a few veteran’s bow making videos and it was revealing but didn’t leave me feeling the wood could be worked by myself. I know about heating the wood to get the lignins to soften. I also know that you can wrap the wood in green grasses to protect it from burning if you bury it in clay. The string is my last step. I don’t feel confident yet in making a bow string unless I use animal tendon, something I won’t have. Fibers from dogbane look strong enough, but that’s just one resource. I read once that nettle can be used for string, but would it work for a bow? Not sure yet.
Elm is the wood of choice for wagon wheel hubs
Interesting 🤔
How frequently do you sharpen your tools during a build?
I remember reading, maybe in one of the Bowyers Bible Series,that Elm is particularly hard to split because of interlocking grain.Makes a great bow though.
elm seems super, hazel would probably work too for that procesd
Man great video, love the content
Appreciate it!
Love it!
So glad!
활 잘만드시네요 ~~^^
สวยงามมาก
Very nice! What local wood could I use for a survival bow in Alaska? Unfortunately our selection is very limited. We have alder, willow, birch, cottonwood, spruce and for driftwood AYC and WRC.
Good sir👍👍
this might be a dumb question but if you already have an axe for chopping why not use something like a drawknife for shaping the wood? seems like you’d have more control over it…
I just wanted to show it could be done with minimal tools
I like elm, its a pretty tough and forgiving wood, but can be S to work with. if you fire hardened it, I wonder what sinew backing would do to it?
I've used those red heat lights you can buy at any hardware store to dry wood quickly. The bulbs get hot enough to ignite things.
that would work
Hey man really getting into your videos, I’d love to try make my own bow soon, just wondering what length of timber you should start out with
Split an elm, maybe 6 inch diameter, a couple years ago and I noticed that same thing with twisted grains. Split it anyways with pegs I made from rebar, I just cut all those joining fibres with a hatchet and sawzall. I still got a couple staves stored somewheres must be two years or so old by now.
I think I’ll just run a skill saw up it if I cut a big one.
Super brat 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Surprised to see a store bought shovel 🙂
I’m amazed that there are no checks from the rapid drying on top of the fact that it was clamped in a form that reflexed and straightened it. Also do you like that leatherman? Though about picking up one like that.
I was amazed as well. And yes, I do like that model of leatherman. I'll do a review vid on it later this summer.
Amazing vidio tetorial
Great video 👍. How do you think aspen would do if you fire harden it?
Elm never splits good. Got that interlocking grain 😎
You got that right!
Yeah, that's why the made wheel hubs out of them!
I like it.
What poundage did this end up being @28? Also if Fire hardening worked, have you considered auctioning the bow for conservation efforts?
This one ended up right around 40lbs. I've donated other bows for auction to benefit non profit conservation organizations. This one is pretty rough though.
Amazing! This survival stuff is more fun than actually good for survival though. Anywhere in the lower 48, if you are uninjured enough to build this bow in 24 hours, you are probably uninjured enough to walk out of whatever survival situation you are in in 24 hours. It's hard to be more than 20 miles from a road these days.
True, but it's still good to have the knowledge.
I agree with Clay
@@charlesleblanc6638 so do I
Clay that was quite impressive, from green to a good bow in 24,
and doing it all with a hatchet/knife. Watching you check the tillering brought back memories of the many bows I've bent across my knee !
I believe hop hornbeam which is an excellent bow wood, would split /crack on you. I remember splitting staves out of this wood and they would start S/C in no time just air drying. Your probably familiar with Jay Massey's Book ( The book of Primitive Archery )
which is an excellent book and has a chapter on Quickie Bows, which he suggested chokecherry wood as a good wood. I would think Birch might also be a good choice? As an experiment I made a chokecherry Quickie Bow with a rasp/knife which is 44 inches tip/tip and Draws 45 lbs @ 21" ( fallows the string like it was braced ! ) but I've killed rabbits with it and I'm positive it would kill deer at close range with a well placed arrow and sharp two blade head.
Really enjoyed watching you make this nice efficient bow almost as much as the fishing rod !! The bow I could make, the rod I could only maybe make ? after watching how you made that great primitive rod.
Thanks Charles