English Long bow

[Raz]

I broke one of my two, very old yew long bows today.
My grandfather used it, as did my mum, and I as a child.

I was just wondering if anyone knew of a good way to look after the remaining bow? I want to be able to use it.

Also, If anyone might know... Was it worth anything?
It has what looks like "ALDRED London" on the front and "26" inside a circle of arrows engraved. How much could I pick up a similar bow, or modern version for?

 

[Rob]

I have not heard of Aldred London, but i will ask the guy who is Sagitarius Bows London (Rex Oakes) next time I see him.

Dont know about a price, they vary so much.

If you used this as a child, do you think that the 26 may signify the draw weight of the bow?

 

[Raz]

Cheers Rob!
I found an auction and one went for over £100. :shock:
26 could be the draw weight, It's certainly a light pull.

 

[Rob]

No Worries. Glad it helped. You will struggle to find a longbow for less than £100 that is in good condition.

For an idea on new prices look at www.carolarchery.com or www.quicks.com.

It could pay you to take the other one to your local field archery club (or failing that the Target lot) They should be able to tell you if it looks in ok condition, or needs a little tweaking before you use it.

 

[dtalbot]

26 is very likley the draw weight as almost all makers put it on to the bow. As an alternative to buying one you could always make one, I spent a very enjoyable 3 days at the Greenwood Trust in Ironbribge last summer learning to do just that and ended up with a very nice ash bow which is sat next to me as I type. It shoots very well and is one very scary bit of wood!
David

 

[Raz]

Now that sounds like fun!
Would I need to attend a course, or is it simple enough to learn from a book / trial and error?

 

[dtalbot]

Now that sounds like fun!
Would I need to attend a course, or is it simple enough to learn from a book / trial and error?

I had read all I could find but still wasn't confident enough to have a go, but on the course 5 out of 6 of us made a sucessful bow on the first go and the other guy managed somthing that shot on his second try, it was briliant fun and well worth the money (£150 for 3 days 5% off if you join the trust and another 5%off if you turn up on your bicycle, about 1/4 of the price I found most other places) which also supports a really good organisation preserving traditional woodland skills.
http://www.greenwoodtrust.org.uk
Go and have fun!
David

 

[Raz]

Thankyou for that!

 

[dtalbot]

Back to your original question, 26lb is a really light draw weight so treat it gentley, the one I made at Greenwood Trust is about 55lb draw. The other thing to watch is what length of draw it is tillered (trained to bend) to, if you could draw it to its full when you were a kid then now you are bigger trying to do the same will almost certainly take it way too far and could easily break it. Bows are trained to bend a certain distance, any more they will snap.
The other thing to do is make sure the string is good, if the string breaks while you are drawing it there wil be nothing to control the way the tips go forward and they will probably go past straight and break.
Cheers
david

 

[Raz]

Good advise, cheers.
I actually broke it while stringing it, as I was bending it, it just shattered!

 

[dtalbot]

Good advise, cheers.
I actually broke it while stringing it, as I was bending it, it just shattered!

A sad fact the guy who taught me bow making passed on was that all bows will eventually break with use, so as yous went while stringing I guess it had reached the end of its natural life, which given its age isn't that suprising. Anything else that could have caused it to go like standing on it (how the 1 from 6 killed his first attempt) you'd know what happened.
Cheers
David

 

[C_Claycomb]

I do hope you weren't stringing it with the step through method used on recurves. :shock:

I read the Traditional Bowyer's Bible Vol 1 and from that was able to make a 40lb linen backed hickory board bow. It took a bit more set than I would have liked, but not as much as some longbows. And it still shoots.

Go and make an ash bow :-D, but beware, it can be addictive!!

I guess a course could be good value. I started making bows because I was too stingy to spend £80 on the cheapest laminate American flat bow that I could find!! No doubt about it, I have spend more than that on bow wood, tools I wouldn't have had otherwise, string and so on, but I have had fun. More than if I had just bought that commercial bow.

 

[dtalbot]

Go and make an ash bow :-D, but beware, it can be addictive!!

I guess a course could be good value. I started making bows because I was too stingy to spend £80 on the cheapest laminate American flat bow that I could find!! No doubt about it, I have spend more than that on bow wood, tools I wouldn't have had otherwise, string and so on, but I have had fun. More than if I had just bought that commercial bow.

Yep,
You don't just make one longbow! As to tools it dosn't need to be that bad, a spoke shave and a workmate will get you going, and are enough to make a bow. Then as the bug bites no doubt add the draw knives, side axe, shave horse, string making jig, band saw .......
But certainly lots more fun than buying one, it'll be a long time before I forget the flight to the arrrow when we decided to see how far it would shoot. It hit the (very large) tree at the end of the first field, about 120yds away, somewhere in the upper branches and was never seen again! All with somthing that was a 2"x2" lenght of ash a few days before.
Cheers
David