Making an American Flatbow: Hickory

Today in the shop we are making another bow, but this time around it will be a Native American flatbow, from Hickory. I am really excited to bring you all along on this journey, as this is the style of bow that I made for my first bow, back in 2013. Hickory is a great beginner bow wood, because you only have to remove the bark, and you have the back of your bow ready to go. The rest of the process is cutting to general dimensions, and then tillering until your bow is bending evenly, and you are happy with the draw weight. Take your time, remove even amounts from the top and bottom limb, and don't over draw your bow too early, and you should come away with a really effective Native American Flatbow.

We want to give a huge THANK YOU to Cromwell Valley Park, and Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks, for donating the hickory staves for the bow. Also, thank you to Ranger Kirk for leading the class and all or your encouragement over the years.

Thanks also to our Uncle Jack Tuttle for the gift of the Shinto Rasp. This thing is amazing for bow making. I'm definitely a fan, and am surprised it took me this long to realize its potential.

To see the video where I made the new tillering tree, view our "Building a Tillering Tree” video here...
https://youtu.be/t4t9RQCQRM0

To see the creation of my Osage Orange bow, using the previous tillering tree, check out our "Making a Longbow: Osage Orange" video here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnvbDP00p0U

To see the video where I made the custom bow string, view our "Making a Bow String with Flemish Twist Loops" video here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr1cGPVe-oY&t=951s

Check out our podcast, The Art of Craftsmanship, on the Makery Network, where we talk about making things, shop tips, fun stories, and YouTube content creation here...
https://www.makery.network/show/the-art-of-craftsmanship/

If you are interested, please follow us on Instagram @theartofcraftsmanship to see what’s happening in the shop on a daily basis, and catch sneak peeks of our up coming videos.

To those of you who feel like you got something special from our videos and want to know how you can support us further, head over and check out our Patreon page here... https://www.patreon.com/theartofcraftsmanship