To craft your first bow in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, turn Flax into Coarse Thread at a sheltered Spinning Wheel, then use 12 Ash Logs and 3 Coarse Thread to make an Ash Shortbow. Craft arrows too: this gives you a ranged weapon for hunting deer and damaging enemies before they reach you.
Unlock the Ash Shortbow recipe
Making Coarse Thread is the key unlock. Gathering logs alone will not complete the process, and the Crafting Table cannot produce the thread you need.
IGN’s bow guide and GameTyrant’s walkthrough agree on these material requirements:
| Crafting stage | Materials needed | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Build a Spinning Wheel | 12 Ash Logs, 4 Flax, 2 Stone | Station for making thread |
| Spin enough thread for the bow | 3 Flax | 3 Coarse Thread |
| Craft the Ash Shortbow | 12 Ash Logs, 3 Coarse Thread | One bow |
Follow these steps:
- Collect Flax. IGN identifies it as tall blue flowers growing between Temple Woods and Bramblemead Valley.
- Build a Spinning Wheel. Open the Build Menu with B and place the station at your camp.
- Put it under a roof. IGN notes that an uncovered Spinning Wheel cannot be used.
- Process three more Flax. Each Flax produces one Coarse Thread. Collecting the thread unlocks the Ash Shortbow recipe.
For the Spinning Wheel and bow together, those recipes total 24 Ash Logs, 7 Flax, and 2 Stone. That total excludes your shelter, the station used to craft the bow, and ammunition.
Choose the correct crafting station
The Crafting Table instructions are version-sensitive. IGN’s April 2025 guide and GameTyrant’s walkthrough both direct players to craft the Ash Shortbow at a Crafting Table.
However, the Dragonwilds Wiki’s Adventurer’s Longbow page records that weapon moving from the Crafting Table to the Fletching Bench in update 0.9. Its introductory text and recipe table still name the Crafting Table, creating a disagreement within the page itself.
For the Ash Shortbow, follow the facility listed in your in-game recipe. If you have unlocked it but cannot find it at the Crafting Table, check the Fletching Bench. The documented longbow change explains why older crafting instructions may not match your game, but it does not independently establish the Ash Shortbow’s station requirement.
Once you locate the recipe, use your 12 Ash Logs and 3 Coarse Thread to craft the bow.
Make arrows before leaving camp
A bow also needs ammunition. IGN and GameTyrant give the same recipes for two early arrow options, with each craft producing 33 arrows:
| Arrow type | Materials per batch | When to choose it |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Arrows | 1 Stone, 1 Ash Log, 1 Feather | When you have stone available |
| Fang Arrows | 1 Small Animal Fang, 1 Ash Log, 1 Feather | When unlocked and you have fangs; both guides describe them as stronger |
According to IGN, chickens in Temple Woods and Bramblemead Valley drop Feathers. Small Animal Fangs come from creatures such as Giant Rats, which can be found at the windmill in northern Temple Woods.
Both guides list the Crafting Table for these arrow recipes. As with the bow, check your in-game recipe’s station requirement if the ammunition is missing there.
Fix a missing bow recipe
Check the unlock process before gathering another pile of logs:
- You have Flax but no bow recipe: process it into Coarse Thread and collect the output.
- The Spinning Wheel will not work: check that it is beneath a roof.
- The recipe is unlocked but absent from a station: inspect its required facility and check the Fletching Bench.
- You want the Adventurer’s Longbow: this has a separate recipe unlock.
For the Adventurer’s Longbow, the Dragonwilds Wiki specifies a chest inside Finn’s Cave containing VESTIGE: A Simple Broken Bow. Consume that item to learn the recipe, then gather 16 Ash Logs and 6 Coarse Thread. Its update history identifies the Fletching Bench as the crafting station after update 0.9.
You do not need that vestige for the Ash Shortbow. For your first bow, concentrate on the Flax-to-thread unlock and keep enough materials aside for arrows.
