From Stave to Floor Tiller
Days one and two: clean the back down to one unbroken layer, snap a centerline, lay out the Holmegaard shape, rough out the sides and belly with hatchet, drawknife, and rasp, shape the stiff handle, cut rough nocks, and floor tiller until both limbs begin to bend evenly.
- 3 min
- 6 steps
- 2 questions
- Lesson 173 of 204
In this lesson
- Clean the back
- Lay out the bow
- Rough out
- Rough nocks
- Floor tiller
- Try it
Picking up where you left off.
Clean the back
On a white-wood stave the back is the surface just under the bark, which keeps its fibers unbroken from tip to tip 1. The Holmegaard makers used the de-barked surface of a thin elm trunk as the back 2 3. Peel the bark and scrape off the soft inner bark with a dull blade until clean, hard wood shows everywhere, without cutting into it. On a purchased stave the back is already prepared; mark it with an arrow and never tool it again.
Lay out the bow
- Centerline. Snap a chalk line down the back from tip to tip. If the stave has a gentle sideways curve, let the line follow the grain rather than run dead straight.
- Handle. Mark a handle about 5 inches long at the center, about 1 1/8 inches wide. The original’s was 2.7 cm wide and 14 cm long 2.
- Inner limbs. From the handle, mark the limbs out to 1 3/4 inches wide, parallel, for about a third of each limb’s length. La Varenne starts at 45 to 50 mm 4.
- Steps and outer limbs. At the step, the width drops; the outer limbs narrow to about 1/2 inch at the tips.
The inner limbs must be of parallel thickness: a taper running into them concentrates the strain and causes frets 4.
Quick check
A taper running into the inner limb concentrates strain and can cause frets.
Rough out
Vesterheim’s class works with drawknives, rasps, files, scrapers, and shave horses 5:
- Saw or hatchet the sides down to the layout lines, leaving 1/16 inch.
- Turn the stave belly-up on the shaving horse and draw-knife the belly down. Aim for an even thickness through the inner limbs, about 3/4 inch for now, tapering only in the outer limbs.
- Leave the handle thick: a shallow hump on the belly that you’ll reduce in stages until it looks as if it is just beginning to bend 4.
- Rasp the sides and belly smooth so you can see the thickness clearly.
Never take wood off the back.
Quick check
The back stays one unbroken layer of fibers.
Rough nocks
File a shallow groove into each side of each tip with a round file, angled toward the belly, about 1 inch from the end. Keep them shallow for now; you’ll finish them in lesson 3.
Floor tiller
Stand the bow on one tip on the floor, hold the handle, and press the other limb gently forward. Look at where it bends. Scrape or rasp the belly only where the limb stays stiff, a little at a time, and exercise the limb after each removal. The 3Rivers guide flexes the limbs 30 to 50 times after every change before judging again 6. Stop when both limbs flex a few inches in a smooth, even curve. Then move to the long string (lesson 3).
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Try it
Before roughing out, lay a straightedge along the back and sight down the stave from one end. Mark any twist or bend on the back with chalk; plan the layout so the handle sits where the stave is straightest.
Lesson complete
Nice work.
Sources for this lesson
- 1Self bow. Wikipedia. verifiedThe back's fibers must be continuous: the under-bark surface of white woods, or a single chased ring. Maple, ash, elm, and oak make excellent flatbows; bending length about 2.3 times draw length; flatbows need a narrow, thick, non-bending handle.
- 2Jan H. Sachers. The Dawn of Archery. Bow International. 2022. verifiedFirst given in 2009. Holmegård IV: a complete bow and a fragment, about 6,500 BC, wych elm (Ulmus glabra) with very narrow rings; the complete bow about 152 cm; handle 2.7 cm wide, 2.5 cm thick, about 14 cm long; flat, wide limbs about 4.4 cm wide and 1.8-1.9 cm thick, tapering to narrow tips; made from an elm trunk about 5 cm across with the de-barked surface as the back. About a dozen bows of the type, 6,500-1,700 BC, 115-194 cm long.
- 3The world's oldest bows. National Museum of Denmark. verifiedElm bows the length of a man are known from Ertebølle settlements; yew had not yet reached Denmark. The hunter 'used a thin elm trunk' with 'the flexible sapwood… at the back' and the harder heartwood at the front. Remains of five bows 'dating to around 7000 BC' were found at Holmegårds Mose, Zealand.
- 4Dennis La Varenne. Tillering the Holmegaard Bow. Fiarc forum (archived). 2005. verifiedFive sections: a non-bending handle, two bending inner limbs, two stiff outer levers. The inner limb must be of parallel thickness; a taper running into it causes frets; aim for a circular bend. Reduce the handle hump in stages. For a 50 lb+ bow, a stave 45-50 mm wide and about 10-12 mm thick at the crown; one 60-75 mm log can give two staves. Judge tiller with a straightedge between the steps. His bows 62-64 in.
- 5Build Your Own Holmegaard-Style Bow. Vesterheim Folk Art School. verifiedSteve Daughton, June 18-21, 2026, 9-5, beginner friendly. Inspired by the 'Holmgaard Bow', 'thought to date from around 6,000 BCE', with 'narrow limbs, a defined handle, and balanced tiller.' Students shape, tiller, and finish a functional bow with drawknives, rasps, files, scrapers, and shave horses; physically demanding. Materials fee $150 to the instructor for a premium seasoned white-wood bow stave and use of tools.
- 6Beginner's Guide to Building a Hickory Longbow. 3Rivers Archery. 2015. verifiedNever pull the bow past the desired weight. Start with a 2-3 in low brace; exercise the limbs 30-50 times after each removal; pull 1 in more at a time on the tillering stick; a bathroom scale works without a bow scale; first milestone about 30 lb at 20 in; a block slid along the limb finds hinges; longbows rarely braced below 6 in.