First Bow :)

[dwardo]

Hey all,

Just thought i would post a few pics of my first attempt at bow making.
I have never seen a longbow in the flesh or shot one before, maybe once at butlins when i was about 10 so i thought i would take a few weeks off knife making and give it a go !
Thanks to an ash stave from Lightfoot that was felled and split at wern wood our local hide away I also lent a spoke shave which by the way is a lovely tool and got to work. After a while i found you could follow a grain which made tilering the bow easier (get me tillering ) i know all the words now.. Its six feet long form knock to nock made from ash and some leather cord so i can remember which way up it goes and finished with 50/50 oil and white spirts.

Does it shoot i hear you ask ?? Well its took the skin of my forearm and when i finally got the little groove deep enough in the end of the arrow that the arrow let fly The first arrow went as straight as well,,,, an arrow and with a little more beef on the next shot it disappeared completely into the grass in the garden no idea where its gone took half hour to make that thing

Anyway here are the pics and any pointers/tips/help/please.. greatly appreciated. Dont even know if its supposed to look like this but here goes.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Bernie Garland]

looks like some exellant workmanship for your first one

 

[basha]

I'm on the website having just returned from a very soggy morning trying to shoot a few arrows at field archery......
You have made a lovely bow, well done. I wish you well with it. Losing arrows is a pain; a balance needs to be made in the time spent in making them so they are good enough to suit the bow against the possibility of losing them.

 

[ForgeCorvus]

Any idea of the draw weight ?

Can we have a pic of it at or close to full draw (better get some else to take it, you don't want to hold too long)

Is it 'backed' BTW or just self ash

Looks Great !!
I hope my first (real) bow is as good

 

[SOAR]

That looks like a nice bow, well done, enjoy it.

Simon.

 

[dwardo]

I would love to show you a draw weight but..

I stupidly let someone draw it without saying please be carefull,,,, my own fault i know but it went pop It was right on the limb i was scared off. No matter though i learnt a hell of a lot and it was lovely to do but on the bright side im off to grab a new seasoned ash stave this weekend.

Ill post the next one up.

PS gutted lol

 

[dwardo]

Any idea of the draw weight ?

Can we have a pic of it at or close to full draw (better get some else to take it, you don't want to hold too long)

Is it 'backed' BTW or just self ash

Looks Great !!
I hope my first (real) bow is as good

Not backed but managed to get some sap wood. Love making these so expect a load more !

 

[jon r]

I cant imagine how gutted you must feet! I was reading the posts thinking this is such a good bow for a first attempt then i got to your post where you said it broke! i feel sorry for you! what a shame!! It looked like a propper good bow too! You should be proud of what a good bow it was. Well done!

 

[dwardo]

Yeah its an bottom but what do you do....

Build a better one ! Picking up the stave this weekend and with the missus out with her mates ill have time to get cracking ! bad choice of words

 

[ForgeCorvus]

I'm sorry to hear that

Self ash is a little on the weak side really, you either have a very low poundage or a stave that just might break for no reason

Backing can be made from another wood, bamboo, rawhide, fibreglass or even old seatbelt !!

I hope you're gonna post a pic (or three) of the new one

 

[Greg]

I'm sorry to hear that

Self ash is a little on the weak side really, you either have a very low poundage or a stave that just might break for no reason

Backing can be made from another wood, bamboo, rawhide, fibreglass or even old seatbelt !!

I hope you're gonna post a pic (or three) of the new one

I'm no expert but are you talking about making a composite bow?

 

[ForgeCorvus]

I'm no expert but are you talking about making a composite bow?

Yes...and no
A self bow is made from one piece of wood (sometimes two BUT only if they are joined by a splice at the grip)
Backing is joining (normally with glue) a thin strip of something else to the back of the bow

If the backing is wood, then the bow is still classed as wood (the BLBS class bamboo as wood if used in a longbow), a composite bow is made from more then one material (ie wood and something else)

 

[dwardo]

Just picked up two more staves from the wood today

Will post some pics soon and maybe do a step by step "How not to make a bow" guide

 

[jon r]

great! are you using green or seasoned wood?

 

[jojo]

I am no great expert bowyer, but white woods, such as Ash are better suited to a American Flat, wider, bow rather than a longbow. Ash is not so good a wood for a long bow. Ash will take more of a set, and/or break more easily, because you're compressing a small section of the wood in the back of a long bow than you do in a wider, flatter bow. The wood cells in Ash will compress more and won't recover so well than they do if the section is wider and flatter. Something like this one: http://www.vintageprojects.com/archery/Flatbow.pdf

 

[ForgeCorvus]

True, for unbacked ash American Flat Bow or Paddle Bow are best, its the flat section you want

Long Bows are better made from other woods and/or backed, due to the D section


If you think you can, try applied nocks for the string. Horn is traditional, I know of at least one bowyer who uses antler (with great results) or even very dense, hard woods like Box or Lignum Vitie (spelling?). This will stop your string from cutting into the stave and weakening it

Try to get a copy of "The Traditional Archers Handbook", it has all sorts of things in it, including patterns, advice on bow woods, arrows, string making etc