making first bow

[davep90]

I spent a lot of time as a youngster shooting bows and making my own arrows with cedar shafts and all the bits from a shop my brother used to take me to in Nottingham?(think I might have dreamed that bit, Robin Hood etc.) My brother actually made a long bow from ash which he still uses 20+ yrs on.
I have got it in my head that I want to give it a go and make a bow and I can remember the basics to do so. I was wondering however where the best place to get a hold of the woods to do so? I dont want to go out and start chopping stuff down as it would be a waste.
Can I go somewhere and buy the right timber for the job like BnQ etc... without spending a fortune?
Cheers
Dave

 

[dtalbot]

Get some air dried ash from a timber merchant, look for a piece with the grain fairly straight and running parallel to what will become the back. Kiln dried will work if it is all you can get but in my experience it tends to take more set (stay curved rather than return to dead straight when the string is off) than air dried.
Or if you want somthing a bit fancier places like Bickerstaffe bows sell rather nice kits to make a longbow which have a laminated stave to work on and instructions on what to do.

 

[Grooveski]

Border Bows also sell blanks. They call them blanks but I had a blether with Sid and they're nocked and mostly tillered, not far off finished. I'm sorely tempted to pick up one of the Thor R/D blanks sometime.

They show up at the bottom of the price list.
http://www.borderbows.com/tournament/

No connection other than being a very satisfied, semi-bankrupt customer.