small hickory self bow

[the green man]

i saw a short hickory bow made for a young lad at a local shoot it was made from a sledge hammer handle i have started to make one for my son but have no real knowledge of bow making a friend of mine who is a joiner is cutting out the basic shape for me but what is the best way to tiller it to get it to bend in the first place it will be only three foot long any idea what sort of draw weight i could expect from this type of bow my son is now shooting a 25lb hunter bow with ease so if it could be got to round this sort of weight it would be ideal any ideas on this would be most helpful many thanks
the green man

[LineCutter]

Get the shape correct (left-right as you hold it), then start tapering the ends, keeping to the D profile.
Once it starts to look thinner at the tips put one limb tip on the floor & make like you're stringing it. You only want a couple of inches of movement, but you want to see a nice progressive curve.
Keep whittling & bending until you have a shape, profile & depth, that will make 6" of bend.
Now cut your temporary nocks & use your tiller & an old bow string to do the rest. I did the kids first few bows with a simple tiller, but moved to using a pulley & rope too when the poundage went up. Makes it easier to see the movement on longer bows too.

[Macbow]

I would just order the Traditional Bowyers Bible Volumes 1 & 2. Both are a great read and give in depth explanations and advice regarding every aspect of bow building including dos and don'ts which will save you a lot of work and heartache. It's amazing what can be achieved with the right design and these books will open your mind as to what woods are best for making bows.