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*Before you even attempt to make a bow; please note the minimum requirement is 10 ranks in short bows for a short bow and 20 ranks in longbow for a longbow.

Short Bow Fletching - Longbow Fletching - Longbow Appraisal Chart - Short Bow Appraisal Chart

Equipment:

Steps For Short bow:

• With the knife in your right hand, and your limb in your left hand: SHAPE SHORT BOW FROM LIMB -  you should see: You shave the bark away from the limb revealing the clean wood beneath and forming it into the shape of a bow.

• With the knife again, SHAPE BOW - you should see: Working with the knife, you carve out the upper and lower limbs leaving the bulk of hand riser for later.
• Grab your shaper and SHAPE BOW - you will see: With care and caution, you shape and form the upper limb of the bow, keeping in mind the flex for power.
• And again SHAPE BOW (for the lower part of the bow) With care and caution, you shape and form the lower limb of the bow, keeping in mind the flex for power.
• Get the knife again SHAPE BOW - Testing it constantly by holding the bow out in front of you several times, you carve the hand riser to a balance that fits well in your hand.
• With shaper, SHAPE BOW - With care, you shave and then test the upper limb of the bow with your shaper, getting just the right flex for power.
• Again SHAPE BOW, for the lower part - With care, you shave and then test the lower limb of the bow with your shaper, getting just the right flex for power.
• With knife, SHAPE BOW to carve the tip - You carve the tips of the bow so that the bow string will be secure and not slip.
• Then again, SHAPE BOW to nock it - With great care you carve the nock just above the riser assuring a flat surface for the arrow.
• Appraise the final product (to assure that it is balanced--if you messed up a carve it won't have any balance)

Steps For Longbow:

• With the knife in your right hand, and your limb in your left hand: SHAPE LONGBOW FROM LIMB - you should see: You shave the bark away from the limb revealing the clean wood beneath and forming it into the shape of a longbow.
• Get out your shaper and SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: Working with the shaper, you shape out the upper and lower limbs leaving the bulk of hand riser for later.
• Again, with the shaper SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: With care and caution, you shape and form the upper limb of the longbow, keeping in mind the flex for power.
• Once more with the shaper SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: With care and caution, you shape and form the lower limb of the longbow, keeping in mind the flex for power.
• Get out your knife and SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: Testing it constantly by holding the longbow out in front of you several times, you carve the hand riser to a balance that fits well in your hand.
• Get out your shaper and SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: With care, you shave and then test the upper limb of the longbow, getting just the right flex for power.
• Again, with shaper SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: With care, you shave and then test the lower limb of the longbow, getting just the right flex for power.
• Get out your knife and SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: You carve the tips of the longbow so that the bow string will be secure and not slip.
• And again with the knife, SHAPE LONGBOW - you should see: With great care you carve the nock just above the riser assuring a flat surface for the arrow.
• Appraise the final product (to assure that it is balanced--if you messed up a carve it won't have any balance)

Notes:

Please keep in mind, fletched bows are extremely fragile and are subject to breakage if exposed to the rigors of melee combat.  You can get a bow fixed if not badly damaged at any Leather Repair Shop in the lands.

Every 10 ranks in a bow skill allow you to carve a better bow. Hence a longbow I carve at 40 ranks will be superior to one I carve at 30. However, a longbow I carve at 48 will likely be about the same as one I carve at 45. Appraising a bow can tell you it's approximate value. It currently seems that for a given wood, all flawless bows made by persons with 40 ranks appraise at about the same value.

I've included the Old Appraisal Caps for longbows listed here BEFORE the changes made to bows in 2002 to show how much of a drop the GM's made. I'm still angry over this...so before I start my rant, let's move on. There are many different ways to assess the point value of a bow, long and short. The most popular way has always been to take the appraisal value, and divide it by 100. If you make a bow that appraises at 750 copper, it would be a 7 point bow. A bow that appraises at 1500 would be a 15 point bow, etc.

Wood Type	Ranks Needed	Old Appraisal Cap	New Appraisal Cap
Mistwood
Ebony	300	5060 - r/r	2437 - r/r
Rosewood	250	4122 - r/r	1875 - r/r
Teak	250	4122 - r/r	1875 - r/r
Walnut	200	3748 - r/r	1687 - r/r
Elm	200	3000 - r/r	1687 - r/r
Oak	230	3748 - r/r	1687 - r/r
Alder	180	3000 - r/r	1500 - r/r
Ash	180	3000 - r/r	1500 - r/r
Willow	150	2437 - r/r	1125 - r/r
Mahagony	140	2250 - r/r	1125 - r/r
Fir	140	2250 - r/r	1125 - r/r
Birch	100	1687 - f/f	750 - r/r
Spruce	90	1500 - f/f	562 - r/r
Maple	80	1312 - f/f	562 - r/r
Pine	50	750 - f/f	187 - r/r
Ironwood	?	?
Apple	?	?
Cherry
Spruce
Bloodwood
Redwood	?	?
Yew	?	?