The Bow and Arrow is always popular with boys who are forbidden the use of guns. Authorities claim that the best materials from which to make bows are mulberry, sassafras, Southern cedar, black locust, black walnut, apple, and slippery elm, in the order named; but if a boy selects what appears to be a good sound piece of wood, with straight grain, he has something which will suit the purpose.
Fig. 241.—A Boy's Bow.
The Length of the Bow should be about the height of the person using it. [Figure 241] shows a five-foot bow, with the other proportions such as are on makes to be found in the stores. Cut your piece of wood five feet long, and, after placing it in the bench-vise, shape it down with a draw-knife or plane until it is one inch wide by one-half inch thick at the handle and three-quarters of an inch wide by one-quarter inch thick at the ends. The bow can be made round on the inside or face toward the archer, and flat on the outside or face away from the archer, or the two faces may be made round. Cut a notch in the bow two inches from each end, as shown in the illustration, from which to attach
The Bow-string.—A cord with as little elasticity as possible should be used for this. If you care to spend the money for it, a good cotton string can be purchased from a dealer in archery goods for twenty-five cents. With a home-made bow-string, a loop should be made in one end and bound with thread, as shown in [Fig. 242]. Slip the loop over the upper notch, bend the bow until the centre of the string is about five inches away from the handle, and attach the loose end to the lower notch by means of a slip-knot similar to that shown in [Fig. 243]. The bow should be sand-papered until smooth, and thoroughly oiled with linseed-oil. A piece of velvet about three inches wide should be glued about the centre for a handle.
For a five-foot bow, cut
The Arrow-shafts twenty-four inches long and one-quarter inch thick. Whittle them out of straight-grained strips of wood, round them nicely, and cut a notch in the ends large enough to fit over the bow-strings.
It is not supposed that boys would care