Do we have any hobbyist bowyers out there?

[bobnewboy]

Hi All, just as a nice ending to this thread….

On our return from a few days in Cornwall, we found a package in our safe delivery place. I immediately asked the missus if she’d been ordering stuff online again , but I was assured that she hadn’t. Then on getting back online I found I had a PM from our esteemed Mr Fenna, asking if I’d received anything .

It turned out he was very happy with his bow and had sent me a gift in return, as well as a donation to his fave children’s charity. I opened the parcel, and he’d sent me a superb leather bag:

https://flic.kr/p/2n1Ztrf

Which, on testing, is just the right size for my rabbiting kit - 6 small nets, a lock knife (already inside), a small bottle of hand wash gel, and a pair of leather gloves. I’m out of extra strong mints but they will be replenished….

So many thanks John, the bag is a genuinely useful gift that will see a lot of use!

Cheers, Bob

 

[John Fenna]

I am glad you like it

 

[Minotaur]

From a 'British' Mesolithic/Neolithic perspective, Elm is probably more authentic than Yew anyway to be honest Bob.

You probably know from your own research that Elm was one of the earlier tree pioneers to Britain after the ice receded being a tree with light wind blown seed.

Any idea when yew arrived as the oldest trees in the uk are yew I believe.

 

[Broch]

The Yew was believed to have been brought to Britain by the Beaker People - around 4,000 years ago. They were farmers not hunter-gatherers.

The Mesolithic and Neolithic periods were from when the last ice retreated some 11,500 years ago up to the arrival of the Beaker People.

There is now some doubt about the age of many of our Yews although, undoubtably, some are over a thousand years old.

 

[Wildpiper]

Well - bobnewboy stepped up to the plate and said he would make me a bow
I will be forever in his debt as his superb efforts have given my a beautiful Elm heartwood bow that is a joy both to look at and to shoot.
I hope soon to post some photos of the bow in action
I have only put a few arrows (ancient and modern) over her so far (heavy showers at the moment and no real range here ... my garden is not ideal!) but I am already in love!
View attachment 71975View attachment 71976View attachment 71977

what a great bow and very well made. Good tiller, well finished. Great job bobnewboy!

 

[Wildpiper]

Hi Jay, I wouldn’t class myself as an expert,
but you could do what I did and take some in-person courses with good instructors in or around your area. I was very fortunate to have nagged some great bowyers into running courses - e.g Chris Boyton, Hilary Greenland and others. Plus there are some very good online resources, such as Del Cat, Clay Hayes and Thad Beckum on YouTube; and a wealth of positive help available on the forums at primitivearcher.com

Then you have to try it for yourself a few times to apply that knowledge. You WILL break some bows, but slowly you will find things working out. Materials don’t need to be expensive, but you need to learn what to look for and then you can make bows from many sorts of wood. You don’t even need too many tools, but see some videos for the basics.

The suppleness of the bow comes from several factors including:
- good straight grain, with few or no grain run offs at the edges of the piece
-using a suitable overall design for the piece of wood you have
- sufficient length in the limbs so that the bend can be spread out well and evenly without over stressing the wood in places
- careful, patient tillering; slowly training the wood to bend evenly by careful removal of wood in stiff areas, exercising the bow, and then rechecking. This is perhaps the hardest thing to learn and be patient with, as this needs to be done over and over again.

The oiled finish in this case was John’s choice. It doesn’t really add anything to the suppleness of the bow, but helps maintain a more consistent and stable moisture content in the wood, which helps a lot. Too dry = more likely to break or raise a splinter, too moist = slow shooting and more permanent set (poorer performance). I have advised him to apply a hard wax finish over the top of the oil to enhance the water shedding capability of the bow. He makes his own wax finishes so I’m sure he will do a good job.

The best advice is: make some, break some, learn what works.

Cheers, Bob

Great advice Bob and great job on Mr. Fenna's bow. If your ever looking for some Hickory or Eastern Red Ceder I have an abundance in storage

 

[bobnewboy]

Hi Wildpiper . Thanks for the kind words. Oddly enough, the best shooting bow I ever made was a simple flat bow of ERC with a hickory backing for security. It gave the most ideal combination of cast for the low-ish draw weight that I have ever managed to build in. ERC is easy to work, very light, white/pink/purple in colour, and smells great when cut.

Here in the UK I can find hickory, but no ERC (actually a species of juniper for those who haven’t seen it - juniperus virginiana, aka pencil cedar) at all. I got mine from an indirectly imported version of a “longbow” kit from Pine Hollow Longbows, but they no longer ship internationally.

My fastest bow was a bamboo backed Osage orange recurve, but the payback there was another 10-15lbs draw weight at 28 inches:

https://flic.kr/p/7BGTVm

Cheers, Bob

 

[John Fenna]

Well - it got used for the first time for it's intended purpose yesterday - showing "Ancestral Skills" to customers at Castell Henllys. I explained that the bow is simply some carefully shaped natural wood (local resource) with a gut or sinew or linen string (I showed them sinew prep both raw (from the deer at the Moot) dried and pounded to fibre and twisted into cordage. I shot one of my arrows into the grassy bank and they were very impressed. Later we all made some cordage and ground and drilled slate pendants using the same techniques that I used to make slate (dum-dum!) arrow heads. They also did other stuff like F&S fire lighting and had a fun packed 3 hours ... but the bow was the star for me!

 

[John Fenna]

OK - at long last (delay due to weather and lack of photographer rather than lack of use) a couple of photos of the bow in action at work