I was reading some of the bow making threads and the question came -- why is the bow a good way of firing a projectile? Is it the most efficient, the most effective? How many other ways are there?
If one were to criticise the design of a bow then:-
They seem to take a lot of work to make.
They wear out with use.
They can break catastrophically.
A lot of tension in the string is wasted as it is not in the line of movement of the arrow.
The driving force is at the back end of a long object - the arrow. This might lead to significant errors in the direction of fire leading to missing the target.
I thought about the blow gun. Is it banned because it actually better than the bow?
Could one base a projectile launcher on a tube but using string and wood to impart the force?
I thought about designing from scratch something to launch a projectile - using the energy stored in bending wood. I wondered if the concept of a diabolo might in theory be more efficient.
If one were to criticise the design of a bow then:-
They seem to take a lot of work to make.
They wear out with use.
They can break catastrophically.
A lot of tension in the string is wasted as it is not in the line of movement of the arrow.
The driving force is at the back end of a long object - the arrow. This might lead to significant errors in the direction of fire leading to missing the target.
I thought about the blow gun. Is it banned because it actually better than the bow?
Could one base a projectile launcher on a tube but using string and wood to impart the force?
I thought about designing from scratch something to launch a projectile - using the energy stored in bending wood. I wondered if the concept of a diabolo might in theory be more efficient.