For more of my work and all my tutorials, here’s my new blog dansantanabows.com/journal/ And check out more of my cousin’s awesome music on iTunes music.apple.com/us/artist/marcos-topolanski-quintero/1467836157
I've heard that heating PVC tends to release chlorine gas, so if you're doing this, please either use a paint/chemical rated mask or do it in a well ventilated place and avoid breathing the fumes as best you can. Stay safe out there folks, and happy bow-making!
Good advice. This is definitely best as an outdoor project if possible. I do have my fingers slightly tied as far as where I can film well, but this is something I try to be cautious about when I can. From what I can smell, there is not a big issue if you heat the pipe gently enough, but you get the nasty odors if you heat too aggressively and especially if you burn the pipe-which does happen when you’re still learning to control the heat gun.
I use to make Three different versions of PVC pipe. Aka Polyvinyl Chloride pipe. When improperly overheated, it gives off TetraHydra Chaloric Gas. That's what killed all of the wildlife in Ohio
Hi brother am from India i unexpectedly success to first pvc bow making in my first attempt you lot of help for that really Heartfull thanks to your work... God with you
Great video Dan. I've made a few PVC bows with good success. One is a 1" PVC with a 40 lb draw weight at 24"s. I did a camo paint on it and will hunt with it this year. A lot of people underestimate PVC for bow making. They dont know what they're missing.
Hi Bienyamien i saw you wanted to send me some pictures. The best place is to post on reddit on r/bowyer and I’ll see them there www.reddit.com/r/Bowyer/
This is a great tutorial. Super accessible, and for what the bow is made out of, it looks impressively well crafted. I am curious as to what set these PVC bows take on over time though.
Thanks Kentus! Just like wood, PVC will only take any set that you do to it. high set designs can always be improved by making the bow a bit more overbuilt or otherwise changing the design. Since PVC is such an easy material to work with, many try out very ambitious designs which of course will take set. But you can’t blame set on the material, it’s a design problem and fully within the bowyers control.
You recommend schedule 80 pvc , backyard Boyer recommends 40 schedule pvc. Can you explain your your preference for schedule 80 . Thanks so much really enjoy all your videos. Sincerely Arthur
I don’t recommend schedule 80 over schedule 40, that’s just what I used here and it results in a higher draw weight for the same dimensions. My other pvc tutorial uses schedule 40. The Backyard bowyer regularly uses both as well
@@jamesrobertson6959 If you’re interested, last year I had Nic (the backyard bowyer) over on the r/bowyer subreddit for an AMA www.reddit.com/r/Bowyer/comments/iagiqq/hey_fellow_backyard_bowyers_nick_here_ask_me/?
@@DanSantanaBowsthat's why I like saying "inspired" by etc.. because saying someone is just copying someone else degenerates the labor and innovation in individual builds by that other person.. And what the original person was trying to proliferate.. I like everyone's twists and their methods to reach and also teach an end goal. :)
All your videos are very educational and amazing. Do you plan to do some workshops this summer or in the fall. If you do, please let us know. I imagine that a lot of people like me, will enrol . Thanks for your excellent videos, you are a great teacher.
I made pvc bows for years but be warned they will be prone to exploding at cold temps.. Pvc becomes brittle in cold weather, also the power will be less.. Ive had a few shatter round the handles in cold temps.. Just a warning to be careful... I had to get stitches over my lip and eye after a bad failure on a cold winters morning last year... I stopped making them after that..
Hi Stephanie sorry I missed your comment. In the tutorial I just used paracord which isn’t good bowstring but is very common. As far as buying a roll of actual bowstring material my favorites are Dacron B-55, D-97, and fastlight
I want build a pvc bow, but I do want to possibly hunt with it. I've seen alot of controversy on this, speed, energy, etc. In your opinion, are pvc bows usable to efficiently hunt whitetail deer? Nice build. Thank you.
A small handful of questions: 1. Do you find that Schedule 80 tends not to deform over time with the heat and shaping you do, or does it still deform and lose draw weight with repeated use? 2. Would adding fiberglass rods (such as reflective driveway markers) to the inside for added durability and draw weight still be effective with this particular design? I recognize a lower grade of PVC would likely be required to keep the draw weight in a similar range. 3. Do you know of any sort of quick-and-dirty math to determine the most advantageous length and degree of curve for the siyahs, or for recurved limbs without siyahs? For context, another UA-camr by the name of ZNA Productions made a recurve PVC bow a few years ago, and it was less effective in a penetration test compared to another, roughly equal size PVC recurve bow a subscriber sent him despite the subscriber bow having roughly 10lbs less draw weight. His hypothesis was that the subscriber bow was somehow more efficiently releasing energy through the arrow than his own bow was, to the point the arrow had more energy when fired from the subscriber bow despite it's lower draw weight. The whole situation has had me questioning why that was, and exactly what the math is behind an effective recurved limb, all these years later, and I haven't been able to find any answers. So, seeing as you're quite knowledgeable about bows yourself, I figured I'd ask and see if you can shed any light on the subject(s) listed above for me. Thanks in advance and lovely video!
Whether the bow “takes set” is a matter of the material but also the design. If you design the bow so it doesn’t exceed the elastic limit of the material-it won’t take set. In other words set is the bowyers fault not the material, and can be controlled through the design and quality of the tiller. ZNA makes fun videos but I can’t vouch for the bow making content. The whole driveway rod thing is an awful design. See my comments about it on other threads under this video. The technique is a very brute way to raise draw weight for little performance gain at all. The core of the bow is the worst possible place to put working material You don’t need to calculate siyah length, just keep to a modest amount of 3-5 inches and you should be ok for designs in this ballpark.
Hi, thank you for the video Could you please let me know exactly type of PVC pipe which you use to make bow, I see many kind of PVC pipe and some of them are easy to be broken
This is 3/4” gray schedule 80 but my other video used 3/4” schedule 40. 1” pipes are also common for higher weight bows. The problem you’ll have is that these are US standards. If you want to test a pipe for use in bowmaking, it should be able to bend without breaking, and when it fails it should buckle rather than shatter
Hello again mr. Dan! I saw a video of backyardbowyer explaining that not all pvc can be used as bow material and that some will crack and shatter regardless of the tiller and his way of testing it is hammering it to see if it shatters, do you know of any less intrusive method to test the pipe? Thanks!
Yeah this is actually very important. The only pvc bow that's ever shattered on me was made from hardware store pipe which didn't pass the hammer test. I don't know of a less intrusive way to test it per se, but I like to cut off a ~3-5 inch sample from the pipe I plan to use and hammer test it separately. That way you can avoid causing any stresses in the part of the pipe you'll actually use. You can also use furniture grade pvc pipe instead. I've had a few failed furniture pipe bows collapse relatively safely and gently and I have not seen any cracks on any of them. One of them was drawing over 80lbs before it collapsed and I am very grateful for how gentle that particular failure was. Also, all of my failed bows (except the one that shattered) have been ones that I tapered by hand. I'm still fairly unskilled at it. Using a jig for forming tapers makes the resulting bows much safer, but bad pipe can still be dangerous, jig or not.
@@Evan-rj9xy I can vouch for furniture grade PVC on at least one account. Can't comment on how brittle it may be in cold temps but I had one failure which simply bent/collapsed the bow, didn't shatter or crack at all. Was able to repair the bow and make the limbs more balanced, hasn't failed again since.
Depends on the design and tiller of the individual bow. As with any material if you stay within the elastic limits of the material you won’t have any set. This one only took an inch or two of set and holds reflex so there’s no string follow
@@DanSantanaBows That's actually really impressive, I always thought that pvc would take a big set. I've made hundreds of bows over the years. I think I was the very first person to purchase the bowlers bibles lol. I'm happy to see so many people taking interest in it these days. Love your channel
Ive seen other comments asking for a higher draw weight bow, would it be possible for you to do a 90-100 pound pvc bow, would be awesome to see you pull that off... great content keep archery alive ❤
Loved the video. Nice music as well. I'm inspired to try this but with a lighter pull because of my bad shoulders. I have a 6' D section longbow that I can barely move.
I built a take-down bow with 1/2” inside 3/4” PVC arms. It works great, won’t buckle or break and is very powerful. I had tried just PVC, but it always buckled.
@@DanSantanaBows I'm not sure if I can do it correctly, but I'll try and post it on Reddit. Will do more research about Hankyu and Yumi 😂 Thanks man! Hope our Arrows fly true.
Hey the tips where you call them static recurve... anyways 1 did you glue them together, or was it just melted together? Anyhoo I'm not sure why more people don't go with schedule 80, I think your the only guy so far. Minus 1 dude that did some weird stuff.
The tips are just pressed together, no need for glue. Nick Tomihama (The Backyard Bowyer) had made some similar schedule 80 bows. The idea to press a flat taper into pvc pipe was his originally
Great tutorial. Short and simple. The PVC I could find is flexible but it's not shiny like yours and becomes sticky and dough-like when a heat it until I can shape it. And when I press it, sharp lines and some small creases emerge around the contact points. I'm not in the US or Canada, by the way.
Bu adamın videolarında herşey anlatılıyor, çoğu zaman yayı elektirik bandı ile güzel kaplıyor, bant kestiği yerlere japon damlatıyor, yani malzemenin önemi kalmıyor, milyon tane videosu var. ua-cam.com/video/dJlwQv8BeK4/v-deo.html&ab_channel=BackyardBowyer
It’ll last thousands of shots if well tillered, but that’s the issue. Most of the pvc bows that break prematurely have major tiller issues and wear out in one particular spot. If the bow wears out quickly this is a design issue, not a materials issue. It’s the job of a design fluent bowyer to design and tiller within the elastic limits of the material
Any ideas for making a recurve or reflex/deflex bow from aluminum? I’m a welder/fabricator and would like to make a traditional style bow with my more modern skill set.
Aluminum is a pretty lousy material for bows. Yes you can make springs out of it but compared to something more elastic it’s not a great choice. I’ve seen spring steel bows from india but they have a reputation for being very loud and vibrating a lot. A totally design fluent bowyer would be able to workaround the stats of the material and make a great bow from aluminum but that would involve a lot of extra work and fine tuning the design
Im very curious to see how would you manage making a PVC penobscot/double limb bow :0 Im sure you would do an excelent job! (and hopefully and in-depth tutorial video)
Yes. This one is called schedule 80 pipe in the US, and in my other tutorial I use schedule 40. International dimensions vary so just find the closest you can. If you search you may be able to find which local sizes are similar to US sizes
I’ve made pvc bows , & the only thing I have to say about them is that there good for something in a pinch . Over time they lose there power & there really not as good as people make them out to be . There subjected to cold & heat , cold will crack them & with heat they will become rubbery with loss of power if you want a good bow then stay away from these pvc bows & buy a good recurve .
IMO these are the bowyers errors and not the pipes fault. If it loses power over time it’s taking set- this is a design or tiller issue, it’s not the materials fault. Same with wood, if you force too hard a design on it it will take set. The difference is wood will break much sooner and illuminate the bowyers mistakes more obviously. Regarding cold and uv. Yes, PVC bows are UV and cold sensitive, but in my opinion most pipes that break are burnt and poorly tillered. From my own trials, and speaking to the Backyard bowyer, I have not been able to reproduce a cold break or a UV break in a well tillered bow. I think you need a bow that was close to breaking anyway and then these factors push it over the edge.
Pretty much any heat source that gets hot enough. You could use a stovetop, a heating radiator, or if you’re very careful an open fire, but that takes patience and a gentle hand.
They can last a long time like any bow. But with poor tiller they will shatter eventually. PVC has a bad reputation for this mostly because it’s usually used by beginner bowyers. It’s not really true that the material is inherently not durable
Hi, ive tried to make this bow today, but the end just melted together and wont come back to its original round form, also i had problems with heating the pipe evenly, even with the foil and constant movement of the heatgun, any tips for that ? thanks
Thanks for the tutorial! I've made this bow from the first attempt. I used CPVC (white) pipe 22mm and, other measures exactly as in this video. And I got roughly 17 pounds. Is PVC better?
Good advice. The nasty fumes seem to really start coming out if you exceed the ideal working temperature so it’s a way worse issue if you aren’t gentle with the heat gun. If you do it right you shouldn’t be smelling the fumes, but you’re right that this is better as an outdoor activity
As a easily accessible and straight forward build this is a brilliant idea. Definitely need to try make one myself. I have to ask though, Have you ever made a PVC bow with an arrow rest?
Wondering if anyone has any tips for the durability of this bow? I’m creating one and figured maybe adding fiberglass ridding at the center? Or would simply making this out of the pipe entirely with no handle reinforcement? Thanks in advance!
Just design the bow properly so it doesn’t take set (exceed the elastic limit of the material.) If the bow takes excessive set design longer next time. Fiberglass in the middle of the bow is a lousy design since the neutral plane of the bow is the least mass-efficient place to be adding working material. You want tension strong material on the back, compression strong material on the belly, and a stable core. Putting heavy material in the core is the worst place to put it
Only if the pipe is decent quality and the tiller is good. With poor tiller you can break the bow without it even being cold. Differently sized pipes yield different draw weights. You can also change the length of the bow to change the draw specs as discussed in the video
I think that's pretty fantastic. I've always wanted a decent-ish longbow for target shooting in the yard, but with a 31" draw, they seem very troublesome to find. I guess the real question is how long the plastic bow would last. How many shots are you going to get from it before you have a catastrophic failure? What about inserting a wooden core, especially for the riser area or nocks?
Whether you’re making a wooden bow or pvc, long before the bow breaks or kinks it will start to take set (exceed limit of elastic deformation) Bow design is all about staying inside that limit and design fluent bowyers have all sorts of tricks to help them.
I’m curious as to how a Penobscot PVC design would function in comparison to a regular PVC Bow design depicted here. I’ve heard a Penobscot design adds a functional purpose to get more weight from your draw, but I’m not sure how difficult it would be to replicate a design as such with PVC.
I would like to make a video about them because the misconceptions are getting out of hand. Adding weight isn’t a big deal really because the best way to add draw weight is not by adding materials but by starting with the right amount. If you want to add more weight the better way to do that is just design a conventional bow to accommodate the target draw stats. Much more efficient and less fiddly. You can easily spend more time adjusting and fiddling with a double bow than actually shooting the thing. Plus it would not be fair to compare a penobscot to a selfbow. This is like beefing up a boxer by 30 pounds but keeping them in the lower weight class. Penobscots already do not perform impressively compared to self bows. Compared to other composite designs they have lackluster performance are are very bulky. Where the double bow design makes sense is if you already have a bow that does not live up to the draw stats you want. Then you can increase the weight with a second bow. This also raises the early draw weight part of the f/d curve, a bit like a recurve. (Where all they hype comes from) But again, there are much more efficient ways to ‘add’ that power and early draw weight rather than using an inefficient second bow.
I’ll definitely be revisiting PVC bow tutorials. If you’re hunting ready and have a good grasp of PVC design basics you can definitely make a hunting bow following the tutorials already out there. Unfortunately i think for most people the limitation isn’t making the bow, but getting hunting ready in terms of archery skills. That’s not a short term project, so there’s a bit of mismatch with quick and dirty pvc bows. For a big game hunting I’d rather put in the time to make a nice bow
A tiller the Hun Actually I have made a few of these that shoot very strong. Arrow weight was tricky though unless you want industrial made arrows. Those work best, But if you make your own, the range is shorter. Because of arrow weight,a 3/8 dowel rod can make a very hard hitting arrow, but like I said about the range. It's a very short range. 30 yards maybe top range, with the longest shot being about 75 yard's This is a good build for a immediate need survival bow 🏹 that has power enough for hunting and defense in closer spaces It's able to be made in a matter of minutes ( about a half hour or less ) Cheap easy to acquire materials for both bow 🏹 and arrow making 🎯 Paracord makes excellent bowstring after it's stretched from use and readjusted for length
Legally yes, at least where I live. And it’s strong enough to take large game. But it’s not a very long bow so I really wouldn’t want to hunt with it. PVC suffers in longer bows so personally I wouldn’t make a pvc bow for hunting
Sure! Feel free to post as much as you need. Just post on the link i sent you and i’ll drop in when i can. I honestly give better help on the forum because other bowyers have my back and can fill in the details and correct me when i’m wrong. I think you’ll like the community as well
Glad to hear it worked out! That’s an awesome draw weight for shooting all day. Personally I think duct tape on bows doesn’t do anything useful and is just dead weight. It’s not going to hold together an exploding bow. PVC doesn’t really benefit from backings in my opinion since the weak link is the belly taking set
@@DanSantanaBows I put 2 layers of duck tape on not to hold a exploding bow together but to make sure that any fragments of pvc are more contained and to try and limit the speed of the fragments that could fly off. A guy at my club injured himself with a bad pvc bow, a shard of pvc got stuck in his hand. But the bow looks cooler too with some camo duck tape too.
It’s all in the video. If you look up this type of pipe you’ll see all the dimensions listed as standard. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it
@@abdurrahimkagan4154 Just be very careful not to burn the pipe or make toxic gas in the kitchen. it’s easy to heat too much with a stove. You can also use a red hot heater, ideally outside if you can. Or a campfire using the red coals, but be extra gentle with that method
I have done it and think it’s a bad design. Putting working material in the neutral plane is very mass inefficient and the worst place to put it. If you want a heavier bow you can simply design it that way from the start by using thicker pipe or making a shorter bow.
Dude I'm going to be honest with you, I've tried 3 of these "PVC Bows" and all have ended either in disaster or with reduced force ...Things like 'How Long you Flatten the PVC for(average) before you switch to the next step are HUGE Helps for us who aren't as skilled as you. I really like this bow, I want to make it, but am currently Financially Insolvent...If you could perhaps, PM me some Notes or.. Re-Make a Bow Tutorial of this nature using just House hold things(I haven't many tool!) You'd get a ton of views more than Usual and be helping us currently less fortunate out with an easy build for hunting game. I Want to make a Bow that can Kill game for a Year in Rural Canada. So any help, tips, whatever would be appreciated, tbh, I got lost at the Re-Flattening of the "Ends" and how they were curved because after you heated the PVC it was flat...in the clip after, it is not flat...😅
Good video. I made one going pretty much tit for tat what Backyard Bowyer made, and it came out good, then I tried to make another from furniture grade pcv in a recurve style, kinked it more or less, and it failed. Can't get very thinned out on that pipe.
I mostly make self bows and my minimum for custom orders right now is $500. I don’t lower this price for PVC as i’d rather be making wooden bows. You can get great PVC bows on etsy and ebay for $60-$200. Personally I don’t recommend buying a PVC bow unless you have a very specific fantasy or cosplay need that requires a highly moldable material. PVC shines for DIY friendliness but for manufacturers doesn’t make sense compared to popular options. I highly recommend trying to make it yourself-it might take a few tries but anyone can learn. Let me know if you need tips and post on r/bowyer on reddit if you need any help troubleshooting
@@DanSantanaBows didnt know you made wooden bows I have only seen this video so far. Just found your channel. Estimate on a wood recurve traditional bow? Between35-45 pounds.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
For more of my work and all my tutorials, here’s my new blog dansantanabows.com/journal/
And check out more of my cousin’s awesome music on iTunes music.apple.com/us/artist/marcos-topolanski-quintero/1467836157
Bunch
اريدك تصنع واحد هدية 😂 لي
I've heard that heating PVC tends to release chlorine gas, so if you're doing this, please either use a paint/chemical rated mask or do it in a well ventilated place and avoid breathing the fumes as best you can. Stay safe out there folks, and happy bow-making!
Good advice. This is definitely best as an outdoor project if possible. I do have my fingers slightly tied as far as where I can film well, but this is something I try to be cautious about when I can. From what I can smell, there is not a big issue if you heat the pipe gently enough, but you get the nasty odors if you heat too aggressively and especially if you burn the pipe-which does happen when you’re still learning to control the heat gun.
Chlorine gas is the same as the chemical weapon?
@@Elfaropurpura
Yea. Sames thing you get mixing bleach and ammonia.
No, that would be chloramine.
I use to make Three different versions of PVC pipe. Aka Polyvinyl Chloride pipe. When improperly overheated, it gives off TetraHydra Chaloric Gas. That's what killed all of the wildlife in Ohio
You’ve made me respect the PVC bow. I might even try one!
Glad to hear. Go make a bow!
Hi brother am from India i unexpectedly success to first pvc bow making in my first attempt you lot of help for that really Heartfull thanks to your work... God with you
I enjoy the hell out of everything about this. So relaxing.
Thanks! Really appreciate it
Great video Dan. I've made a few PVC bows with good success. One is a 1" PVC with a 40 lb draw weight at 24"s. I did a camo paint on it and will hunt with it this year. A lot of people underestimate PVC for bow making. They dont know what they're missing.
Awesome! Good luck on that hunt!
Let us know what you shot with bow 🏹 on your hunting trip 👍🏼✌🏼
I will never make a bow, but I still love watching these! Amazing music
Maybe one day! You never know
greetings master dan and gentlemen.that bow performs powerfull enough for hunting.i have to build one and add it to my bow rack.thanks master dan
Hi Bienyamien i saw you wanted to send me some pictures. The best place is to post on reddit on r/bowyer and I’ll see them there www.reddit.com/r/Bowyer/
This is a great tutorial. Super accessible, and for what the bow is made out of, it looks impressively well crafted. I am curious as to what set these PVC bows take on over time though.
Thanks Kentus!
Just like wood, PVC will only take any set that you do to it. high set designs can always be improved by making the bow a bit more overbuilt or otherwise changing the design. Since PVC is such an easy material to work with, many try out very ambitious designs which of course will take set. But you can’t blame set on the material, it’s a design problem and fully within the bowyers control.
Another great video sir!! Thank you!!
Thanks again steve, truly my pleasure
Love it . Thanks. My brain is already making stuff.
I love this. Definitely will try it out. Thanks for sharing!
Good luck and let me know if you have any issues I can help with
Wonderful as always Dan! Excellent channel. Thanks again
Thank you so much for making this video! I just made one and even though it didn’t turn out perfect like yours, it still shoot amazing and accurate!
Woooow, amazing, thanks for the tutorial....
You recommend schedule 80 pvc , backyard Boyer recommends 40 schedule pvc. Can you explain your your preference for schedule 80 . Thanks so much really enjoy all your videos. Sincerely Arthur
I don’t recommend schedule 80 over schedule 40, that’s just what I used here and it results in a higher draw weight for the same dimensions. My other pvc tutorial uses schedule 40. The Backyard bowyer regularly uses both as well
Thanks for the clarification about pvc , Arthur
@@jamesrobertson6959 If you’re interested, last year I had Nic (the backyard bowyer) over on the r/bowyer subreddit for an AMA www.reddit.com/r/Bowyer/comments/iagiqq/hey_fellow_backyard_bowyers_nick_here_ask_me/?
Backyard Bowyer inspired? He had some great pvc bow builds back in the day…
This one is awesome too.
Nic invented the design with flattened tapered limbs. We’re all copying him to some degree. Great guy, we often talk about bows and design
@@DanSantanaBowsthat's why I like saying "inspired" by etc.. because saying someone is just copying someone else degenerates the labor and innovation in individual builds by that other person.. And what the original person was trying to proliferate.. I like everyone's twists and their methods to reach and also teach an end goal. :)
All your videos are very educational and amazing. Do you plan to do some workshops this summer or in the fall. If you do, please let us know. I imagine that a lot of people like me, will enrol . Thanks for your excellent videos, you are a great teacher.
My mom wants to do one for a video, I’ll invite you!
I made pvc bows for years but be warned they will be prone to exploding at cold temps.. Pvc becomes brittle in cold weather, also the power will be less.. Ive had a few shatter round the handles in cold temps.. Just a warning to be careful... I had to get stitches over my lip and eye after a bad failure on a cold winters morning last year... I stopped making them after that..
O snap! I had one bust but I had overheated it I think.
Suggest what kind of string to use? Thank you like your videos
Hi Stephanie sorry I missed your comment. In the tutorial I just used paracord which isn’t good bowstring but is very common. As far as buying a roll of actual bowstring material my favorites are Dacron B-55, D-97, and fastlight
I want build a pvc bow, but I do want to possibly hunt with it.
I've seen alot of controversy on this, speed, energy, etc.
In your opinion, are pvc bows usable to efficiently hunt whitetail deer?
Nice build.
Thank you.
There’s no reason why not if its a well designed and tillered bow. You’ll definitely get better performance from other materials though
Keep it up!!!
Thanks my friend. Maybe the bow gods will forgive the pvc bow 😂
Could you achieve similar results with the schedule 40 pipe and some of those orange fiberglass driveway markers inside for extra poundage?
Not at all. See my comments on other questions about this topic. That is an extremely inefficient design
A small handful of questions:
1. Do you find that Schedule 80 tends not to deform over time with the heat and shaping you do, or does it still deform and lose draw weight with repeated use?
2. Would adding fiberglass rods (such as reflective driveway markers) to the inside for added durability and draw weight still be effective with this particular design? I recognize a lower grade of PVC would likely be required to keep the draw weight in a similar range.
3. Do you know of any sort of quick-and-dirty math to determine the most advantageous length and degree of curve for the siyahs, or for recurved limbs without siyahs?
For context, another UA-camr by the name of ZNA Productions made a recurve PVC bow a few years ago, and it was less effective in a penetration test compared to another, roughly equal size PVC recurve bow a subscriber sent him despite the subscriber bow having roughly 10lbs less draw weight. His hypothesis was that the subscriber bow was somehow more efficiently releasing energy through the arrow than his own bow was, to the point the arrow had more energy when fired from the subscriber bow despite it's lower draw weight. The whole situation has had me questioning why that was, and exactly what the math is behind an effective recurved limb, all these years later, and I haven't been able to find any answers. So, seeing as you're quite knowledgeable about bows yourself, I figured I'd ask and see if you can shed any light on the subject(s) listed above for me. Thanks in advance and lovely video!
Whether the bow “takes set” is a matter of the material but also the design. If you design the bow so it doesn’t exceed the elastic limit of the material-it won’t take set. In other words set is the bowyers fault not the material, and can be controlled through the design and quality of the tiller.
ZNA makes fun videos but I can’t vouch for the bow making content. The whole driveway rod thing is an awful design. See my comments about it on other threads under this video. The technique is a very brute way to raise draw weight for little performance gain at all. The core of the bow is the worst possible place to put working material
You don’t need to calculate siyah length, just keep to a modest amount of 3-5 inches and you should be ok for designs in this ballpark.
Briliant! At 3:15 I noticed a small curve to the left of the handle/grip. Is it intentional or I jsut misinterpret what I see?
Hi, thank you for the video
Could you please let me know exactly type of PVC pipe which you use to make bow, I see many kind of PVC pipe and some of them are easy to be broken
This is 3/4” gray schedule 80 but my other video used 3/4” schedule 40. 1” pipes are also common for higher weight bows. The problem you’ll have is that these are US standards. If you want to test a pipe for use in bowmaking, it should be able to bend without breaking, and when it fails it should buckle rather than shatter
@@DanSantanaBows thank you so much
that bow making was awesome ... i will do one for my self.... please give more videos
Hello again mr. Dan! I saw a video of backyardbowyer explaining that not all pvc can be used as bow material and that some will crack and shatter regardless of the tiller and his way of testing it is hammering it to see if it shatters, do you know of any less intrusive method to test the pipe? Thanks!
Yeah this is actually very important. The only pvc bow that's ever shattered on me was made from hardware store pipe which didn't pass the hammer test.
I don't know of a less intrusive way to test it per se, but I like to cut off a ~3-5 inch sample from the pipe I plan to use and hammer test it separately. That way you can avoid causing any stresses in the part of the pipe you'll actually use.
You can also use furniture grade pvc pipe instead. I've had a few failed furniture pipe bows collapse relatively safely and gently and I have not seen any cracks on any of them. One of them was drawing over 80lbs before it collapsed and I am very grateful for how gentle that particular failure was. Also, all of my failed bows (except the one that shattered) have been ones that I tapered by hand. I'm still fairly unskilled at it. Using a jig for forming tapers makes the resulting bows much safer, but bad pipe can still be dangerous, jig or not.
@@Evan-rj9xy I can vouch for furniture grade PVC on at least one account. Can't comment on how brittle it may be in cold temps but I had one failure which simply bent/collapsed the bow, didn't shatter or crack at all. Was able to repair the bow and make the limbs more balanced, hasn't failed again since.
One of the better pvc bow tutorials ive seen. Question, whats the string follow on this type of bow like?
Depends on the design and tiller of the individual bow. As with any material if you stay within the elastic limits of the material you won’t have any set. This one only took an inch or two of set and holds reflex so there’s no string follow
@@DanSantanaBows That's actually really impressive, I always thought that pvc would take a big set. I've made hundreds of bows over the years. I think I was the very first person to purchase the bowlers bibles lol. I'm happy to see so many people taking interest in it these days. Love your channel
“I hate to sand when I can avoid it” I felt that lol
Ive seen other comments asking for a higher draw weight bow, would it be possible for you to do a 90-100 pound pvc bow, would be awesome to see you pull that off... great content keep archery alive ❤
Loved the video. Nice music as well. I'm inspired to try this but with a lighter pull because of my bad shoulders. I have a 6' D section longbow that I can barely move.
Very good Thanks for the instruction and advice.
great work
How beautiful was that , everything ❤️🔥
Loved the video and the bow
Thank you for sharing your skills
I built a take-down bow with 1/2” inside 3/4” PVC arms. It works great, won’t buckle or break and is very powerful. I had tried just PVC, but it always buckled.
Would it be possible to Create a Yumi bow out of PVC? At atleast a handle positioning like a Yumi Bow
Absolutely. Better to go with hankyu bow lengths, but you can scale as needed to get a full kyudo draw length
@@DanSantanaBows I'm not sure if I can do it correctly, but I'll try and post it on Reddit. Will do more research about Hankyu and Yumi 😂 Thanks man! Hope our Arrows fly true.
Do you have any recommendations for scaling down the size for kiddos? I have a bunch of old polypropylene tubing from making hula hoops years ago
Thank You,Sir.
You got it! Let me know if you have any issues or questions with the build
Thanx I am very much impressed
Hey the tips where you call them static recurve... anyways
1 did you glue them together, or was it just melted together? Anyhoo I'm not sure why more people don't go with schedule 80, I think your the only guy so far. Minus 1 dude that did some weird stuff.
The tips are just pressed together, no need for glue. Nick Tomihama (The Backyard Bowyer) had made some similar schedule 80 bows. The idea to press a flat taper into pvc pipe was his originally
Great tutorial. Short and simple. The PVC I could find is flexible but it's not shiny like yours and becomes sticky and dough-like when a heat it until I can shape it. And when I press it, sharp lines and some small creases emerge around the contact points. I'm not in the US or Canada, by the way.
Bu adamın videolarında herşey anlatılıyor, çoğu zaman yayı elektirik bandı ile güzel kaplıyor, bant kestiği yerlere japon damlatıyor, yani malzemenin önemi kalmıyor, milyon tane videosu var.
ua-cam.com/video/dJlwQv8BeK4/v-deo.html&ab_channel=BackyardBowyer
Dan, im curious about how long that bow lasts, will it eventually wear out, or stay powerful for thousands of shots?
It’ll last thousands of shots if well tillered, but that’s the issue. Most of the pvc bows that break prematurely have major tiller issues and wear out in one particular spot. If the bow wears out quickly this is a design issue, not a materials issue. It’s the job of a design fluent bowyer to design and tiller within the elastic limits of the material
Any ideas for making a recurve or reflex/deflex bow from aluminum? I’m a welder/fabricator and would like to make a traditional style bow with my more modern skill set.
Aluminum is a pretty lousy material for bows. Yes you can make springs out of it but compared to something more elastic it’s not a great choice. I’ve seen spring steel bows from india but they have a reputation for being very loud and vibrating a lot. A totally design fluent bowyer would be able to workaround the stats of the material and make a great bow from aluminum but that would involve a lot of extra work and fine tuning the design
Im very curious to see how would you manage making a PVC penobscot/double limb bow :0 Im sure you would do an excelent job! (and hopefully and in-depth tutorial video)
That faster than I thought. 👍
good day, may I ask what type of PVC and thickness the bow is made of, thank you for the answer, otherwise great work
Hello, a question that has occupied my mind. We have several types of PVC pipes available. Are these PVC pipes water pipes?
Yes. This one is called schedule 80 pipe in the US, and in my other tutorial I use schedule 40. International dimensions vary so just find the closest you can. If you search you may be able to find which local sizes are similar to US sizes
@@DanSantanaBows Thanks for your reply. Can you make a fiberglass bow? Please make it with fiberglass. I am waiting for you.
One day I’ll turn to the dark side…but not yet
Shihan Buen trabajo con los ninja kids. Desde el dojo mangetsu bujinkan en madrid es mando un saludo.
Muito bom, vou ver se acho um PVC igual aqui no Brasil e fazer um pra mim.
Boa sorte!
I’ve made pvc bows , & the only thing I have to say about them is that there good for something in a pinch . Over time they lose there power & there really not as good as people make them out to be . There subjected to cold & heat , cold will crack them & with heat they will become rubbery with loss of power if you want a good bow then stay away from these pvc bows & buy a good recurve .
IMO these are the bowyers errors and not the pipes fault. If it loses power over time it’s taking set- this is a design or tiller issue, it’s not the materials fault. Same with wood, if you force too hard a design on it it will take set. The difference is wood will break much sooner and illuminate the bowyers mistakes more obviously.
Regarding cold and uv. Yes, PVC bows are UV and cold sensitive, but in my opinion most pipes that break are burnt and poorly tillered. From my own trials, and speaking to the Backyard bowyer, I have not been able to reproduce a cold break or a UV break in a well tillered bow. I think you need a bow that was close to breaking anyway and then these factors push it over the edge.
What if we dont have a heat gun,then how would you make this specific type of bow?
Pretty much any heat source that gets hot enough. You could use a stovetop, a heating radiator, or if you’re very careful an open fire, but that takes patience and a gentle hand.
@@DanSantanaBows thank you
Try heating sand then and put the pvc pipe inside
Excelent video!, How long would a PBC bow last?
They can last a long time like any bow. But with poor tiller they will shatter eventually. PVC has a bad reputation for this mostly because it’s usually used by beginner bowyers. It’s not really true that the material is inherently not durable
@@DanSantanaBows Thanks for the info, I hope to put it to the test one day,
Have a great day
Hey just wondering if u put fiberglass inside of the PvC does it help with durability?
No this a bad design the core is the worst place to put high density working material
Hi, ive tried to make this bow today, but the end just melted together and wont come back to its original round form, also i had problems with heating the pipe evenly, even with the foil and constant movement of the heatgun, any tips for that ? thanks
Great video!!
Thanks for the tutorial! I've made this bow from the first attempt. I used CPVC (white) pipe 22mm and, other measures exactly as in this video. And I got roughly 17 pounds. Is PVC better?
FYI heat PVC outside and use a respirator, heating PVC releases fumes that are quite toxic.
Good advice. The nasty fumes seem to really start coming out if you exceed the ideal working temperature so it’s a way worse issue if you aren’t gentle with the heat gun. If you do it right you shouldn’t be smelling the fumes, but you’re right that this is better as an outdoor activity
How is this bow affected by temperature fluctuations?
Is it possible to shoot with it both on a hot summer day and in a cold winter?
If the tiller is bad it could break during the winter. Humidity is no issue. You could shoot it in a pool
Beautiful voice!!!! 🥇
Thanks for listening!
As a easily accessible and straight forward build this is a brilliant idea. Definitely need to try make one myself. I have to ask though, Have you ever made a PVC bow with an arrow rest?
I don’t usually make bows with an arrow rest. If you want one the easiest way would be to add a floppy leather rest
@@DanSantanaBows yea that would work too I imagine, I suppose i can also just learn to shoot without a rest too haha.
Looks like the old 3/4” pipe bow I made years ago… pulled about 40-45lbs. I’m making another soon I miss archery. Good survival training too
Wondering if anyone has any tips for the durability of this bow? I’m creating one and figured maybe adding fiberglass ridding at the center? Or would simply making this out of the pipe entirely with no handle reinforcement? Thanks in advance!
Just design the bow properly so it doesn’t take set (exceed the elastic limit of the material.) If the bow takes excessive set design longer next time. Fiberglass in the middle of the bow is a lousy design since the neutral plane of the bow is the least mass-efficient place to be adding working material. You want tension strong material on the back, compression strong material on the belly, and a stable core. Putting heavy material in the core is the worst place to put it
Perfect, good job
Will the bow shatter or still bend even in cold climates? Is it possible to make a PVC bow that has a 20lb -25lbs draw weight?
Only if the pipe is decent quality and the tiller is good. With poor tiller you can break the bow without it even being cold.
Differently sized pipes yield different draw weights. You can also change the length of the bow to change the draw specs as discussed in the video
I think that's pretty fantastic. I've always wanted a decent-ish longbow for target shooting in the yard, but with a 31" draw, they seem very troublesome to find. I guess the real question is how long the plastic bow would last. How many shots are you going to get from it before you have a catastrophic failure? What about inserting a wooden core, especially for the riser area or nocks?
i honestly cannot see a large draw pull without the pvc pipe kinking straight away does not seem logical
Whether you’re making a wooden bow or pvc, long before the bow breaks or kinks it will start to take set (exceed limit of elastic deformation)
Bow design is all about staying inside that limit and design fluent bowyers have all sorts of tricks to help them.
I’m curious as to how a Penobscot PVC design would function in comparison to a regular PVC Bow design depicted here. I’ve heard a Penobscot design adds a functional purpose to get more weight from your draw, but I’m not sure how difficult it would be to replicate a design as such with PVC.
I would like to make a video about them because the misconceptions are getting out of hand.
Adding weight isn’t a big deal really because the best way to add draw weight is not by adding materials but by starting with the right amount.
If you want to add more weight the better way to do that is just design a conventional bow to accommodate the target draw stats. Much more efficient and less fiddly. You can easily spend more time adjusting and fiddling with a double bow than actually shooting the thing.
Plus it would not be fair to compare a penobscot to a selfbow. This is like beefing up a boxer by 30 pounds but keeping them in the lower weight class. Penobscots already do not perform impressively compared to self bows. Compared to other composite designs they have lackluster performance are are very bulky.
Where the double bow design makes sense is if you already have a bow that does not live up to the draw stats you want. Then you can increase the weight with a second bow. This also raises the early draw weight part of the f/d curve, a bit like a recurve. (Where all they hype comes from) But again, there are much more efficient ways to ‘add’ that power and early draw weight rather than using an inefficient second bow.
Супер! Перше відео, лайк і підписка😉
TEST YOUR PVC BEFORE STARTING: Wrap in cloth hit with hammer, if shatters do not use.
Buena guitarra de fondo!!❤
Thank you, that’s my cousin playing open.spotify.com/album/44lqpD75lZcDI9WkQDD2Ld?si=GlBZjoUARhuRr52ZnPINVg
Can you please make a PVC bow that is able to take large game🙏
I’ll definitely be revisiting PVC bow tutorials. If you’re hunting ready and have a good grasp of PVC design basics you can definitely make a hunting bow following the tutorials already out there.
Unfortunately i think for most people the limitation isn’t making the bow, but getting hunting ready in terms of archery skills. That’s not a short term project, so there’s a bit of mismatch with quick and dirty pvc bows. For a big game hunting I’d rather put in the time to make a nice bow
@@DanSantanaBows can't wait to see it
A tiller the Hun
Actually I have made a few of these that shoot very strong.
Arrow weight was tricky though unless you want industrial made arrows.
Those work best,
But if you make your own, the range is shorter.
Because of arrow weight,a 3/8 dowel rod can make a very hard hitting arrow, but like I said about the range.
It's a very short range.
30 yards maybe top range, with the longest shot being about 75 yard's
This is a good build for a immediate need survival bow 🏹 that has power enough for hunting and defense in closer spaces
It's able to be made in a matter of minutes ( about a half hour or less )
Cheap easy to acquire materials for both bow 🏹 and arrow making 🎯
Paracord makes excellent bowstring after it's stretched from use and readjusted for length
Hello, can you please tell me which PVC pipe it is?
TOP ! Sensacional ....🎯
Can you hunt with this bow?😊
Legally yes, at least where I live. And it’s strong enough to take large game. But it’s not a very long bow so I really wouldn’t want to hunt with it. PVC suffers in longer bows so personally I wouldn’t make a pvc bow for hunting
Excelente video gracias
indeed, i would love to send you some pictures.i need your expertise[skill and knowledge] about my bow building please
Sure! Feel free to post as much as you need. Just post on the link i sent you and i’ll drop in when i can. I honestly give better help on the forum because other bowyers have my back and can fill in the details and correct me when i’m wrong. I think you’ll like the community as well
What size piece of barrel do you use on this bow?
What do you mean? There’s more information in the description of the video
I made this a month ago and used duck tape to back the bow, it works well. It’s only 35ish pounds but that's okay.
Glad to hear it worked out! That’s an awesome draw weight for shooting all day. Personally I think duct tape on bows doesn’t do anything useful and is just dead weight. It’s not going to hold together an exploding bow. PVC doesn’t really benefit from backings in my opinion since the weak link is the belly taking set
@@DanSantanaBows I put 2 layers of duck tape on not to hold a exploding bow together but to make sure that any fragments of pvc are more contained and to try and limit the speed of the fragments that could fly off. A guy at my club injured himself with a bad pvc bow, a shard of pvc got stuck in his hand. But the bow looks cooler too with some camo duck tape too.
What length before you heated?
@@ghostdog2898 52”
Love this
I love your vids, I would like ti have half of your skills but I must say too much work for a PVC BN bow 😅
Pretty cool 😮
Pvc What is the size, how thick and how many inches are the pipes? Pvc
It’s all in the video. If you look up this type of pipe you’ll see all the dimensions listed as standard. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it
@@DanSantanaBows I mean to him this is a yung or 1/2 half of a yang, which means fish
Cool!
Very nice
Can I make it using the stove instead of the heater
@@abdurrahimkagan4154 Just be very careful not to burn the pipe or make toxic gas in the kitchen. it’s easy to heat too much with a stove. You can also use a red hot heater, ideally outside if you can. Or a campfire using the red coals, but be extra gentle with that method
@@DanSantanaBows thank you! I will be careful, thanks for the warnings.
Every put fiberglass driveway makers in the pipe ??
I have done it and think it’s a bad design. Putting working material in the neutral plane is very mass inefficient and the worst place to put it. If you want a heavier bow you can simply design it that way from the start by using thicker pipe or making a shorter bow.
Dude I'm going to be honest with you, I've tried 3 of these "PVC Bows" and all have ended either in disaster or with reduced force ...Things like 'How Long you Flatten the PVC for(average) before you switch to the next step are HUGE Helps for us who aren't as skilled as you. I really like this bow, I want to make it, but am currently Financially Insolvent...If you could perhaps, PM me some Notes or.. Re-Make a Bow Tutorial of this nature using just House hold things(I haven't many tool!) You'd get a ton of views more than Usual and be helping us currently less fortunate out with an easy build for hunting game.
I Want to make a Bow that can Kill game for a Year in Rural Canada. So any help, tips, whatever would be appreciated, tbh, I got lost at the Re-Flattening of the "Ends" and how they were curved because after you heated the PVC it was flat...in the clip after, it is not flat...😅
I’ll work on a more detailed tutorial. Have you seen the Backyard Bowyer’s channel?
Homie could make a bow out of balsa, I'm positive
would have to be like a foot wide for a normal draw weight 😂
@@DanSantanaBows video idea? 👀👀😂
Good video. I made one going pretty much tit for tat what Backyard Bowyer made, and it came out good, then I tried to make another from furniture grade pcv in a recurve style, kinked it more or less, and it failed. Can't get very thinned out on that pipe.
Can you make a Recurve penobscot pvc bow?
Yep that would work!
It's pprp c hot good for bow?
Bamboo wood and carbon fiber are useful for support
See my other comments. Putting working material in the core is the least efficient place to put it
Could i do this with a blowdryer?
Too weak unfortunately
@@DanSantanaBows Hah oh well, thanks for the insanely quick answer tho :) Guess i will just go with wood then lol.
@@lexyp155 Check out the backyard bowyer’s videos. You could also use an outdoor stove or open fire if you’re very gentle
@@DanSantanaBows hehe thanks, i will literally just hop over to your other video where you build a wood one.
Good that’s a way better bow anyway!
How much would you charge to make one for me?
I mostly make self bows and my minimum for custom orders right now is $500. I don’t lower this price for PVC as i’d rather be making wooden bows.
You can get great PVC bows on etsy and ebay for $60-$200. Personally I don’t recommend buying a PVC bow unless you have a very specific fantasy or cosplay need that requires a highly moldable material. PVC shines for DIY friendliness but for manufacturers doesn’t make sense compared to popular options.
I highly recommend trying to make it yourself-it might take a few tries but anyone can learn. Let me know if you need tips and post on r/bowyer on reddit if you need any help troubleshooting
@@DanSantanaBows didnt know you made wooden bows I have only seen this video so far. Just found your channel. Estimate on a wood recurve traditional bow? Between35-45 pounds.
Dobar video.
Начебто дуже круто! 🖖🤘💪🇺🇦