Impossible Bow: Building Archery Bows With PVC Pipe

I bought this book by Mr. Tomihama after benefiting from reading / studying his "Simple PVC Pipe Bows" as well as his "The Dowel Arrow Handbook."I love this book as much as the two aforementioned.Observations:1. I have found it to offer more bow design plans than "Simple PVC Pipe Bow." Both texts are well written & well illustrated.2. I immediately found useful the Chapter, "Ye Old Stick Flinger." ~That Chapter is about how to build a bow (30lb pull at 32 inches of draw) in, what took me, less than one hour.I use the Stick Flinger Bow all the time for warm ups to using a 'harder pull' Longbow.It is a really decent bow .... it think the name "Stick Flinger" is a super duper understatement ! :- ).I intend to build 3 or 4 more of the exact same design for friends and family.After having put the first one together, I anticipate each additional bow will take no more than 20 minutes.Costs of materials? > PVC + String (I used paracord) cost is less than $3.00.I added (NOT in the book) a "3/4 -1 1/4 inch Hose Clamp" + plastic arrow rest * from Amazon which increased my materials cost less than $4 more, resulting in a fully functional target (not for hunting) bow for under $10.If you buy a * plastic arrow rest from Amazon be sure it has an area above or below the rest on which the Hose Clamp can GRAB such as ...https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2H0475/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1OO5DKRILR87L&colid=3RF3CJTL12OX4&psc=0On the Hose Clamp I put little piece of tape (e.g., vinyl electrical tape) to protect the arrow from the Hose Clamp metal.BTW, I am unclear as to why the author entitles this book "The IMPOSSIBLE ** Bow."All the bow designs in this book (13, by my count) apparently ARE possible !!!!Perhaps I missed an explanation by the Mr. Tomihama ... I am a more than happy repeat customer without one.My guess is that many folks maybe told him that it would be ** IMPOSSIBLE to make effective bows out of PVC and he has CERTAINLY :- ) proven otherwise. < Would welcome reader comments ... thx.Ok ... I know that I am getting tooooooo long winded, but just one more reason I really appreciate this author -He even has a Chapter on "Signs of Bow Failure and Bow Care."

Nicholas Tomihama, the Backyard Bowyer, has opened up a world of fun for my family and I with this simple, easy-to-digest tome. While not the creator of the idea of using PVC for archery, he's certainly refined the process of turning plumbing into bows in a way I never thought possible!YouTube has much of the same information available, as another reviewer mentioned; nevertheless, for under $10 (eBook edition), you really can't go wrong with this. The instructions on YouTube are thorough, but it's often hard to find out exactly where in the video he mentions specific measurements, and so on - here, you're really set up for success from the get go, with no fuss beyond reading the chapter you're interested in. Really, the videos are a great supplement, but that's how I used them - when I wanted to try a different technique for forming, assembling, and so forth.He doesn't go into string-making, and for my first few bows, I purchased strings. The bigger difficulty was that suggested string lengths weren't to be found - I had my wife measure between nocks when I bent the bow to give a brace height of about 5-7 inches. Other than that, there's no shortage of good information on tap.Of particular interest are the more advanced flattened recurves present, including the "Banded Krait". They're fast, beautiful when decorated, and... did I mention cheap? I mean, I've made a good dozen bows now, spending under a dollar a bow in the form of PVC pipe. The paint probably comes out costing more per unit. But the bottom line is that you'll have lots of fun, and without spending very much money.I'm truly grateful to the Backyard Bowyer for opening up this world of possibilities! In fact, I already purchased the Dowel Arrow Handbook as well, and it's a great match.Have fun, and happy bow-crafting!

Nic has allowed us to follow along with him as he walked a path of personal discovery in the modernist creation of the PVC bow. This book is a good introduction to the process, and although some would have you skip to his other, (as in last most recently published), book on the subject, I can tell you that each of his tomes has within them bits and pieces of helpful tips, guides, and answers to just about any situation that may pop up in the building process. In trying to recreate his work, I myself have had the same troubles and issues with the materials, and he almost always has the answer right where it needs to be when "fixing" a mistake or a failure. Add his Youtube videos, and you can be building a bow in a day... I'm making one a day now, and giving them to children who would not have ever had a chance at archery before. The most expensive outlay is still the arrows, but the rest of the equipment can be made from this amazing plastic. Watch, see, learn, and try it yourself! Yes, I bought ALL of his books, and they are great for Scouts to Preppers, Novice to the Experienced. Buy them, enjoy them, and shoot straight....

The author has done a great job and his knowledge of PVC bows is second to none. Coupling this book with his youtube channel will help if you are a visual learner.My one issue is that it is written for U.S readers leaving those who use the metric system of measurements (the rest of the world) in the dark a little bit. Not a big issue to do the maths on a calculator but it would be nice if we had cm, mm, kgs etc in brackets behind the imperial measurements to make it easier on us.Because it is written for Americans some things like the gradings of pipe do not translate either, for example; here in Australia we do not have schedule 40 or 80 pipe, we use another class rating (PN9, PN12, PN18) so be aware of that if you are reading from anywhere other then the U.S.A.Overall, a fantastic

very interesting looks like a winter project

Nicholas Tomihama knows his stuff .I couldn't put this book down untill I had red it through twice. Late for work that day but worth it.

It is about building cheap easy bows out of cheap and easy to get plastic plumbing pipe. It is excellent for thatI did build 3 bows following his instructions, and they were quick and easy.OK, his book is not about building strong hunting bows or olympic grade target bows. Then again you are not paying hundreds of dollars for these PVC bows or spending very long crafting them.A hot air heat gun works much better than a stove does to soften the plastic for shaping and wearing gloves makes it far easier to handle the hot plastic when you are shaping it.

Simples e objetivo, o livro vai direto ao ponto de interesse de quem o comprou. Como um manual para uma atividade "hobistica" um tanto incomum : arqueria com arcos de PVC. È para um público muito especifico e, para mim, serve bem a seu proposito, didatico porem simples, não defende essa atividade como uma bandeira, não se leva mais a sério que sua propria proposta: mostrar um modo simple e acessivel de se iniciar numa atividade interessante e prazeirosa.

super, gefällt mir mir gut, recht fix geliefert, alles bestens gelaufen, ist empfehlenswert, find ich Klasse - vielen herzlichen Dank!!!!