A few months ago when searching youtube on archery I found some videos on PVC bow making. The guy that came up with heating PVC for more complex designs than a simple pipe and a string, the "BackyardBowyer", has a lot of instructional videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BackyardBowyer/videos

I have built three so far and I am rather pleased so I thought I'd share. From the pictures I'm attaching, the top bow is made from 3/4 inch pipe (~40 pound pull at 28" which is the max draw). I rigged up an attachment to hold bow fishing line. The second bow is made with 1/2 pipe (~15 pound pull). The third bow is made from 1 inch pipe (40 pound+ pull). It is a snakey bow which allows for a center shot. This bow took several hours to build but the other two only took about an hour. The middle bow was something I improvised from watching youtube, but the top and bottom bows are built following instructions from Ebooks. (see PVC Bows on Amazon). The string for all three is quickly improvised with braided fishing line and duct tape. All in all, these bows shoot about 75% as strong as a comparable pull fiberglass recurve bow. However, like a lot of PVC projects this falls into the cheap, easy, and expendable category. Too, it's fun to shoot something you put together yourself.

Looks good. I would not let it get to cold and then use it as PVC get verying brittle when cold. I have broken many many pipes just picking them up when cold.

Hi Bruce, thanks for taking a look. Avoiding using them in colder weather sounds like good advice. I notice below 50 degrees or so they stiffen up a lot just stringing them.

Ever since the Hunger Games have been out my kiddo has wanted a bow. I believe that it may be a fad for her so I haven't spent the money on a store bought bow. The pvc bow just may be the answer. Thanks!

You're welcome throwback. I sort of got into this stuff for the same reason. My daughter wanted to make a bow from wood around the yard and that's when I saw the youtube videos. I ended up buying her then buying me a bow, etc, etc, but circled back to PVC eventually.

From this link, this is an example of a good bow for kids in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oqZQ9ekOVQ

However you could really just take a piece of 1/2" PVC and tie a string at both ends with some duct tape for a handle and it would work for awhile at least.