How to Cut an Arrow Rest

Archery is a sport that requires patience and precision. But archers sometimes need a little bit of help. An arrow rest allows archers to better line up their shots, increasing their accuracy. If your accuracy is suffering from a lack of an arrow rest, you can simply cut an arrow rest into the riser of your recurve bow to help make your shots more consistent and accurate. With this minor bow improvement, you can improve your aim.

Things You'll Need

  • Wooden recurve bow
  • Arrow
  • Pen
  • Hand saw
  • Wood-carving knife
  • Fine-grit sandpaper
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Hold the recurve bow securely in your nondominant hand. Nock the arrow and draw back the string to line up your shot as you normally would when shooting. Take note of where the arrow shaft is resting on the riser of your bow. Mark the location of the arrow shaft using a pen.

    • 2

      Cut into the wood as little as halfway to as much as all the way to the middle of the riser's width. While cutting the arrow rest into the middle of the riser will give you a more accurate shot, it will compromise the strength of the bow, so only cut the arrow rest deep if your riser is made from strong wood.

    • 3

      Carve out the wood above the arrow rest cut using a wood-carving knife. This will give you room to load the arrow. Leave the arrow rest cut as it is, as you want it to remain smooth and level.

    • 4

      Sand away any splinters, bumps or blemishes using a piece of fine-grit sandpaper.