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WILD LIFE

WILD BUILD 001 · Wood / Fiber / Flight

SELF BOW
+ ARROW

Begin with a tree. End with a working relationship between wood, string, arrow—and you.

Follow the making ↓
01

A bent stick is not yet a bow

THE WOOD
HAS LAWS.

A self bow is made from one continuous piece of wood. No fiberglass. No laminations hiding weakness. The bow works because the maker learns to read a tree and remove only what the finished form can spare.

The back must remain trustworthy. The belly must compress. Each limb must bend as part of one balanced movement. You do not force the wood into submission. You pay attention until the shape already inside it becomes clear.

“You aren’t just making a bow. You are becoming someone who can make one.”
Read the grain
Balance the bend
Make the first arrow

A tree becomes a tool

THE
PROCESS

This is the complete road at a glance. The future field guide will open every stage into instruction, film, mistakes and deeper practice.

  1. 01

    SELECT

    Learn species, season, grain, knots and the difference between available wood and suitable wood.

    Tree → stave
  2. 02

    SHAPE

    Establish the back, lay out the handle and limbs, and remove wood while preserving strength.

    Stave → form
  3. 03

    TILLER

    Bend a little, read the curve, remove a little. Repeat until both limbs share the work.

    Form → bow
  4. 04

    BUILD THE ARROW

    Straighten shafts, cut nocks, fit points and fletch for stable flight.

    Shaft → flight
  5. 05

    TUNE + SHOOT

    Match bow, string and arrow. Let real shooting reveal what the measurements could not.

    Object → relationship

Three roads into the same understanding

HOW FAR
WILL YOU GO?

Pilgrim

MEET THE BOW

Shape a prepared stave with modern tools. Learn grain, tiller, string and safe first shooting.

Pathfinder

FOLLOW THE TREE

Select and split the wood. Work with hand tools. Make a matched arrow and tune the system.

Pioneer

BEGIN WITH LAND

Build with stone tools, natural string, gathered shafting, sinew, hide glue and earth pigments.

Maker 001 · Shane Steel

THE BOW
CHANGED
THE MAKER.

Shane teaches primitive skills and has built self bows and arrows across modern, hand-tool and ancestral methods. His finished work—and the failures behind it—will become the first complete maker story in this library.

Practice
Bowyer · Teacher · Builder
Based in
Southeast Idaho
Field notes
Founder archive being prepared

The door into the build

THE SELF BOW
WILD KIT

A prepared path through a difficult first build: the right starting material, an honest field guide, the essential tools and a sequence that gets you making quickly.

Concept in development · Not yet for sale

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