Bowmaking oak?
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as far as im aware, you ant a sort of "D" shape in your stave, like an edge cut off of a circle. i think that this helps to prevent it from splitting. Dont quote me on it though, im sure someone who knows more about it will be along ina second.
Oak wouldn't be my first choice of wood for a bow but still worth a play.
Keep the bow as wide as possible if your using poor quality wood to increase the surface area taking the load.
You can make a flat bow out pretty poor timber if you keep it wide enough. allow extra material around any weaknesses such as knots.
The bow should not bend in the handle.
Keep the bow as wide as possible if your using poor quality wood to increase the surface area taking the load.
You can make a flat bow out pretty poor timber if you keep it wide enough. allow extra material around any weaknesses such as knots.
The bow should not bend in the handle.
An archer at my club has a nice oak bow, not the easiest as mentioned. A "flat" bow officially should be flat in cross section, whereas a longbow is "D" shaped.
Ash is the wood of choice for your first bow. Elm is lovely but a pig to work. Hawthorn, Laburnum and Holly make good bows.
Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I have a lovely oak flatbow. Mine was made from part of an old door.
If you are using green oak, you can work it down to nearly finished, then strap or clamp it down onto something that isn't going to move, otherwise it could develop a twist. Then forget it for at least six months to let it season properly. As for grain, get it as straight as possible. If you end up with a piece where the grain runs out anywhere on the front of the bow, you will probably need to face it with rawhide or something similar, otherwise it could fail when drawn. Mine is backed with snake skin, but the big doggy chews unravelled work well.
If you want to do it the traditional way, get yourself a piece of green oak on a shavehorse and work it down with a drawknife. That way you can follow the grain so you are chasing a single growth ring all the way down. If that means the finished bow looks "wobbly" then just call it character.
Good luck with it.
Eric
If you are using green oak, you can work it down to nearly finished, then strap or clamp it down onto something that isn't going to move, otherwise it could develop a twist. Then forget it for at least six months to let it season properly. As for grain, get it as straight as possible. If you end up with a piece where the grain runs out anywhere on the front of the bow, you will probably need to face it with rawhide or something similar, otherwise it could fail when drawn. Mine is backed with snake skin, but the big doggy chews unravelled work well.
If you want to do it the traditional way, get yourself a piece of green oak on a shavehorse and work it down with a drawknife. That way you can follow the grain so you are chasing a single growth ring all the way down. If that means the finished bow looks "wobbly" then just call it character.
Good luck with it.
Eric
English Yew works quite nicely if you can find a decent stave. I am currently making a self long bow from some locally sourced Yew. Looks great on the outside until you start working it and then you discover lots of rotten soft material. The bow will shoot fine but takes a long time to make. Long bows then to break more often than flat bows too. Most imported Yew now comes from Oregon traditional Yew Bows were for the more monied professional archers and their Yew would have been from Italy.
Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Ash is my bowwood of choice. Strong and very forgiving. Yew is probably the best, but decent straight grained yew is so rare these days that a decent stave would cost a fortune - making it a show bow rather than a user. Ash does just as good a job of casting arrows for a miniscule fraction of the price.
I was thinking of all that lovely straight grained ash and yew...that I have been cutting up with a chainsaw 
The yew is gone..but there is lots of ash left
The yew is gone..but there is lots of ash left
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I would look for fast grown oak too say 4-8 rings per inch. With hardwoods high tensile strength comes from fast grown, slower grown timber can be more brittle. With softwoods you want very slow grown hence the preference for yew from high altitude/dry climates. English yew tends to be faster grown than ideal.
Yew is great but unrealistic for most UK bowyers.
Look for laburnum which is my favourite bow wood by far, but hard to find straight.
Wych Elm, sycamore, chestnut, dogwood, ash, hazel and more all make great bows and are readily available here in the UK.
Search for details of pyramid bows on paleo planet. A pyramid bow can be made out of almost any wood, even willow, and they are forgiving to make and shoot.
Oak is fine if you can get it, but not the simplest choice to start with.
No design is more or less likely to fail if properly tillered. Faults within the wood notwithstanding a broken bow is down to poor tiller or an inappropriate design for that species of wood.
A well tillered self bow of an appropriate design should last for years.
Look for laburnum which is my favourite bow wood by far, but hard to find straight.
Wych Elm, sycamore, chestnut, dogwood, ash, hazel and more all make great bows and are readily available here in the UK.
Search for details of pyramid bows on paleo planet. A pyramid bow can be made out of almost any wood, even willow, and they are forgiving to make and shoot.
Oak is fine if you can get it, but not the simplest choice to start with.
No design is more or less likely to fail if properly tillered. Faults within the wood notwithstanding a broken bow is down to poor tiller or an inappropriate design for that species of wood.
A well tillered self bow of an appropriate design should last for years.
I would add if your starting out making a bow don't set your heart on a heavy draw weight. Aim for a good even tiller that you can string without stressing the limbs unevenly. If your struggling add a set of knocks for a stringer.
I generally look to produce a flat bow around 35lb at 28 inches.
I generally look to produce a flat bow around 35lb at 28 inches.
Take a look on Paleo Planet for countless bows made from various oaks, mostly American red Oak. A modified Meare Heath design works great with Oak - 2 inch wide limbs tapering to slim tips, long length, even tiller, produces a really smooth shooting, very stable and pretty fast bow. I've made dozens of them for and with students and it's one of the easiest bows to successfully make and works well with Oak. A narrow high stack design like the English longbow is very difficult by comparison to coax from Oak, but not impossible given a good piece of material. There's a lot of density variance in Oak, and the denser the timber the narrower your design can be, as a general rule of thumb.
When in doubt make a wider pyramid bow. It's such a great design for making out of even crappy timber.
If you can wait until I get home I'll measure a couple of my bows and give you some dimensions to use as a rough guideline, but Paleo Planet has tons of info and tutorials including wood species and timber selection.
When in doubt make a wider pyramid bow. It's such a great design for making out of even crappy timber.
If you can wait until I get home I'll measure a couple of my bows and give you some dimensions to use as a rough guideline, but Paleo Planet has tons of info and tutorials including wood species and timber selection.
The UK is bow-wood rich, but most folks haven't a clue what's on their doorstep.
Lilac is as common as old shoes but a superb bow wood - any of the Hornbeams, Blackthorn, Hawthorn (if you can find a bit straight enough) Sycamore (equivalent of certain Maples), Ash, Wych Elm, etc, etc, etc...
I pass hundreds of bows growing by the side of the road on my way to my office every morning, and I have to resist the strong urge to submit to my baser instincts...
Measurements to follow in the morning Shinken - I'm off to do a stock-take of Crucible steel
Lilac is as common as old shoes but a superb bow wood - any of the Hornbeams, Blackthorn, Hawthorn (if you can find a bit straight enough) Sycamore (equivalent of certain Maples), Ash, Wych Elm, etc, etc, etc...
I pass hundreds of bows growing by the side of the road on my way to my office every morning, and I have to resist the strong urge to submit to my baser instincts...
Measurements to follow in the morning Shinken - I'm off to do a stock-take of Crucible steel
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Never tried oak but i have tried most other bow woods. As most have said ash is good as is yew and many other timbers. I would avoid sycamore though unless its backed. For self bows, my favourites are, yew (english yew is great dont let anyone tell you different http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69974&highlight= )
Wych elm is great http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57429&highlight= Ash, hazel (will let you know how goo din a week or so) and even goat willow.
When you have access to the tools to make laminate you can make up your own composits by picking a tension strong wood for the back along with a compression strong wood for the belly which opens up a whole new game. I prefer the self bow route but one day ill play.
If you do give the oak a whirl look at backing it with silk, its very quick and easy and can stop your bow popping a splinter.
Wych elm is great http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57429&highlight= Ash, hazel (will let you know how goo din a week or so) and even goat willow.
When you have access to the tools to make laminate you can make up your own composits by picking a tension strong wood for the back along with a compression strong wood for the belly which opens up a whole new game. I prefer the self bow route but one day ill play.
If you do give the oak a whirl look at backing it with silk, its very quick and easy and can stop your bow popping a splinter.
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