BE A BACK-TO-BASICS BOWYER

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OK . . . you've formed your arrowheads — steel, stone, or bone — and cut the slots they'll fit into on the arrow shafts. Now it's time to bind the points to the shafts: Just slip the heads down into their notches and apply a good wrapping of spittle-moistened sinew, as you did with the fletchings.

Once the heads have dried in place, your arrows are ready to shoot.

For hunting, it's best to leave the shafts more or less natural or to crest them with subdued colors. But for target practice, you might apply decorative stripes to your arrows . . . an artistic touch that will also help you follow those erratic shots that will inevitably send an arrow slithering beneath a cover of grass and leaves.

Set a large pot of water (a big coffeepot is perfect) on the stove to boil. When it's bubbling, dip one end of the bow into the water, up to about 9", and let it "cook" for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. While the bow-end is in its hot bath, cut out a recurve form — as shown in an accompanying photo — from a piece of scrap 2 X 4 lumber (you'll need one for each limb). The exact curve of the form is up to you, as long as it is not beyond the bending capabilities of your stave.

When the first bow-end has finished boiling, place it over the convex side of the form and secure it with two C-clamps. The best approach here is to fasten the tip of the limb in place first, then — using the bow as a lever — slowly bend the limb back over the form and clamp it down securely. (To keep the limbs from getting dented, use small blocks of soft wood between the clamps and the bow.) At this point — with the first end of the bow locked over the bending form — start cooking the other tip . . . then repeat the clamping process. Now, give the bow a full day of rest in a warm, dry place.

The next step is to remove the clamps and fine-tune your newly recurved bow. Tuning is accomplished by removing a little of the belly wood at the point just before the recurve begins. I usually take off 1/16" to 1/8" of belly wood, starting at the base of the recurve and working back about 6" toward the handle. I find that after I've done this fine-tuning, the bow has a faster action and reduced kick, or jolt. (Some bowyers say that this final shaving keeps the recurve's "ears" from snapping off, too.) Once your bow is tuned, you can either sinew-back it or finish it up as you would a longbow.

And if you want to give your hunting tool even more zip and zing, you can add a reflex to the bow by bending the back slightly forward. Just heat the handle area over a steaming kettle of water for a couple of hours, then lay the bow — its back facing down — over a small log, and stand barefooted on the limbs until the wood has cooled (it doesn't take all that long). This will produce a forward curve, or reflex, adding even more punch to the weapon. (Reflexing is especially important for extremely short bows similar to the stubby "horse bows" that the Plains Indians used so effectively against the tough-hided buffalo.)

SINEW-BACKING BASICS

The two ingredients necessary to sinew-back a bow are sinew from the leg and back tendons of animals, and hide glue (made from hide shavings and hooves).

I prefer to use the leg sinew of deer and elk . . . though horse, buffalo, cow, goat, and moose sinew work just as well. If you're not a hunter — and don't know one — arrange to buy tendons from the local slaughterhouse. Usually, the people there will just give them to you (and probably decide that you're a bit strange).

After cutting the tendons from the legs and back of an animal, prepare the sinew by removing the clear sheath that holds the tendons together. Then place the exposed bundles well above a heat source to dry. When they're no longer moist, pound the tendons on a board, using a wooden mallet or a smooth rock as a hammer to separate the bundles of tissue into individual threads.

To prepare hide glue, put hooves, hide scrapings, and dewclaws into a pot with just enough water to cover them, and boil the "stew" for several hours. (To get a finer consistency, you may want to skim off the scum that bubbles up to the top of the boiling pot.) You'll end up with a thick, glompy mass of glue that's perfect for the job of welding sinew strips to wood. (An alternative to homebrewing is commercial hide glue, available at many hobby shops in both liquid and powder form. But the store-bought stuff lacks the authen ticity — and rousing aroma — of the homemade material. You can forget about epoxy and other chemical binders: They definitely won't work.)

When you get ready to use the glue, keep the container warmed in a water bath atop the stove (120°F or thereabouts is perfect), since at room temperature the adhesive gets gummy and sets up too fast, especially if your workroom is cool to begin with.

Prepare your bow to receive the glue and sinew by roughing up the back with a hard, abrasive rock. Make sure the wood is cleaned of any greasy fingermarks or dirt, then paint the bow's back with hide glue that's been thinned in a ratio of about two parts glue to one part warm (preferably distilled) water. Next, wet the sinew strips and place them — a few strands at a time — into the hide glue to soak for a few minutes.

Squeegee off excess glue as you remove each piece of sinew from the glue pot, and — starting at the longitudinal center of the bow and working out toward the tips (or the other way around, if you prefer) — apply strips of glue-soaked sinew, laying them parallel to the limbs and as straight as possible. Cover the entire back of the bow with the sinew, and try to make a smooth job of it, staggering the ends of the strands to avoid making seams. Apply sinew all the way to the tips of the limbs, then fold about 2" over to the belly side to strengthen the tips. Once the back is sinew-covered, let it dry awhile . . . then apply two or three more coats of sinew and glue. When you're finished, let the bow rest for at least a couple of weeks.

After the sinew has cured, shoot your weapon a few times at half draw to see if it needs any more fine-tuning. If you find that you need to even up the pull of the limbs again, simply tiller the sinew just as you did with the belly wood earlier. (Sinew works well under a mill file.) Finally, finish your bow with a mush of rendered fat and deer brains, as described for the longbow. This time, however, don't place the bow near heat.

As time goes by, you'll find that the sinew continues to pull against the bow's belly, producing a forward curving, or reflex . . . but don't be alarmed, since more reflex will only strengthen the weapon. After a year or two, the sinew will have pulled all it's going to, and your bow will have assumed its permanent shape and shooting characteristics . . . and will last a lot of years if properly cared for.

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