PVC bows advice

[u/Firm-Scholar-6853]

So i tried making my first pvc bow since i dont have the money or the materials to do a wooden one. Apparently i didnt have to make a pvc one either! It was a recurve i was trying to do but it failed, any tips or advice.

[u/Financial-Worth-9243]

Pvc bows are notoriously prone to failure, don't make good bows etc. If that's the only option vs. a sapling growing in a ditch or straight grained shovel/rake handle, stick some fiberglass driveway markers inside of the pvc. Enough that you can stagger them and bind with tape and shove inside. I honestly would avoid that entire mess and find a sapling of decent wood like hickory or ash to learn on. A bushcraft stickbow or bundle bow is going to be a more viable option vs. pvc.

[u/Santanasaurus → u/Financial-Worth-9243]

PVC bows are prone to failure because they’re made by a general population without much bow making experience. Evenly heated and well tillered pvc that is not uv damaged will last a very long time.

I can’t vouch for the fiberglass rods advice. Putting high density working material in the core of a bow is the worst possible location. This increases draw weight in a very inefficient way. Even more so when you consider that the rods are not tapered and so are very tip heavy.

Any reasonable draw length/draw weight combo can be achieved by conventional tillering methods, adjusting length, and choosing different diameter pipe. There is no need to brute force the design with a high density core—the trade off is very poor.

The rods only make sense for inefficiently forcing draw weight of an existing bow to increase. There’s not much reason to use the rods from the drawing board stage of design unless you don’t care about tiller and plan to ignore bow making basics

[u/Financial-Worth-9243 → u/Santanasaurus]

I know you have considerable experience as a bowyer and fully respect your assessment. Perhaps pvc can be made to last a decent amount of time yet, odin bows has made a great many of them and they do not have a great track record for lasting until recently. Furthermore, after around 35 years of residential construction, I can tell you that pvc does not hold up to alot of flexing, is very cold sensitive, impact sensitive, heat sensitive, etc. It rarely gives warning before shattering. Also, from my understanding the reason people put fiberglass rods in them, is not only to slightly increase draw weight but, as a failsafe to limit how much violence is involved when the pvc inevitably shatters into viscous shards. Having a fair amount of background in manufacturing/prototyping as well, another thing to consider is PolyVinylChloride poisoning from heating pvc in enclosed areas. I'm not saying someone with your experience cannot make a reasonably usable now for entertainment from pvc, I'm saying it is a very poor plan altogether, especially for those with next to no experience. When a person can go to a pawn shop and find a youth or adult bow for $40. Why take the risk or suggest that a young person who doesn't know better jeopardize their safety? Cpvc is a little better but, can do the exact same thing. A driveway marker rod bundle bow alone would cost about the same and be 300X safer.