Bows

A "composite bow" is one that is made from layers of different
material. The most common type was a base of wood, with bone (horn)
glued to the side towards the archer and sinew glued to the side
towards the target. The bone resists compression, while the sinew
resists tension, thus delivering much more force than a normal bow.

A "recurve bow" is one which, when un-strung, bends in the *opposite*
direction from when it's strung, rather than being straight, like a
normal bow. Since a recurve bow is already bent twice as much from
its "rest state" as a normal bow, pulling its string requires more
force, which means that more force is given to the arrow when it's
released.

A "compound bow" is similar to a recurve bow, but with a system of
pulleys and cams at the end of its limbs. This allows the archer to
shoot arrows farther, faster, and with more accuracy.

To make a bow, you need the 'bowery' skill.  See 'help skill bowery'

NOTE: this data was scoured from old old wiki's datadump. I do not know how accurate it is.

If bow is crafted specifically to some person, it gets a damagebonus (when used by that player), or so they tell me.

Type	Base damange	Stiffness	Balance	Aiming time	Loading time	Durability
Normal bow	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Recurve bow	116%	100%	33%	150%	150%	92%
Composite bow	110%	129%	0%	150%	250%	75%
Compound bow	130%	57%	33%	150%	200%	67%
Crossbow	240%	0%	100%	50%	350%	92%

Branches

Type	Accuracy	Speed	Power
Elm branch	150%	150%	50%
Ash branch	125%	125%	75%
Spruce branch	100%	100%	100%
Juniper branch	75%	75%	125%
Yew branch	50%	75%	150%