Longbow No 2 a mini tutorial

[stovie]

Seemed a shame to waste the remaining half of the oak stave I had left so decided to tiller into a cross-breed. It has some of the attributes of a flat bow, but the length of an English longbow.

Started by roughing out the basic shape. 2" wide at the handle gradually tapering to 1/2" at nocks. Depth at handle only 1" (so added a riser to the belly) again tapering to 1/2" at nocks. A jig saw to remove most of wood, then spokeshave to reduce to my lines.

This is the basic shape

Handle glued in place with resin-based adhesive and held in place with cordage.

This is the basic shape completed

Detail of one limb

At this stage the bow is effectively floor tillered. From now on its softly softly with the spoke shave set very low and a rasp (ignore the footwear; pond cleaning, or so my dear wife thought )

I cut nocks in in order to use the tillering string (fatter and stronger than a normal string so it don't break)

After a few hours of shaving and tillering I ended up with this

The secret is to look, see stiff points, take a little wood off the belly/sides at that point and look again. There is no quick fix, just eye and shave. Very therapeutic.

Next the handle was shaped and the fades blended into the belly

Several grades of sandpaper are used, and between each sanding the wood is wiped down with a damp cloth. This brings the grain up (fluffy-like) which is then sanded by the next grade of paper. In the end it produces a lovely finish.

This is the bow braced. It draws around 55# @ 28", which will fall to around 50# when I have finished sanding and shot it at the weekend.

Will add a full draw picture when I'm next out.

And that's all there is to it.

 

[Tutchi]

I cut nocks in in order to use the tillering string (fatter and stronger than a normal string so it don't break) What is tillering string?

And that's all there is to it.

As Tommy Cooper used to say "Just like that"
If Only

Great work again. Still putting off starting mine. Running out of excuses to my grandson

Cheers M8
Tutchi

 

[Topcat02]

Very nice work. Does it matter with this type of bow whether you are left or right handed?

 

[stovie]

Tutchi
Tillering string is just a very thick peice of string to make sure you don't break it when tillering. I use several hemp strings plaited together, just to be on the safe side, as the initial draw weight can be quite substantial.

TC
You can shoot left or right with this design (my arras normally go left and right anyway )

 

[stuart f]

Nice work and tutorial Stovie, that should help me when i come to make my second bow, the one bow i've made was by following the instructions in Ray Mears first book, and it does'nt have much in the way of photos to go by.

I have some Ash logs seasoning in the shed just crying out to be turned into nice bows so these picture will be useful thats for sure.

 

[Bardster]

Nice work and tutorial Stovie, that should help me when i come to make my second bow, the one bow i've made was by following the instructions in Ray Mears first book, and it does'nt have much in the way of photos to go by.

I have some Ash logs seasoning in the shed just crying out to be turned into nice bows so these picture will be useful thats for sure.

Get yerself subsribed to the bushcraftuk magazine - there's a really good article on making english longbows from ash

 

[stuart f]

Get yerself subsribed to the bushcraftuk magazine - there's a really good article on making english longbows from ash

Cheers Bardster,already done that earlier.

 

[stovie]

Get yerself subsribed to the bushcraftuk magazine - there's a really good article on making english longbows from ash

Ah! Yes! But does it have colour pictures?

 

[Biddlesby]

Very nice. What are the dimensions of the cross section at the very end?

 

[clcuckow]

Get yerself subsribed to the bushcraftuk magazine - there's a really good article on making english longbows from ash

You shelf publicist, You

 

[stovie]

Very nice. What are the dimensions of the cross section at the very end?

The tips are 1/2" wide and deep at the nocks, and taper to 1/4". This reduces hand shock greatly.

 

[shadow57]

That was a really informative tutorial...great stuff John

 

[clcuckow]

Ah! Yes! But does it have colour pictures?

Urr... Yes

 

[stovie]

Urr... Yes

Good show

 

[Bardster]

Ah! Yes! But does it have colour pictures?

it does have some but mostly diagrams - sorry stovie - dont mean to highjack your thread. Just pushing the mag hehe.
Its a fantastic bow you have made there - will have to try at a flatbow myself one day. When I have finished the three longbows i have on the go at the moment hehe

 

[browndrake]

good job! Nice pics..

could you compare/contrast the experiences making the two diff types of bows?

How about the differences in shooting them?

aaron

 

[stovie]

it does have some but mostly diagrams - sorry stovie - dont mean to highjack your thread. Just pushing the mag hehe.
Its a fantastic bow you have made there - will have to try at a flatbow myself one day. When I have finished the three longbows i have on the go at the moment hehe

No worries Bardster. Didn't take it personally

Just forked out for all three volumes of TTBB...maybe I should have just paid £12 for the mag

I'm curious, what draw weight do you prefer? I Find 50# @ 28" plenty enough...

 

[stovie]

good job! Nice pics..

could you compare/contrast the experiences making the two diff types of bows?

How about the differences in shooting them?

aaron

Hi Browndrake.

I started with the best of intentions at making a flat bow, but made the mistake of leaving the stave too long, so it kind of became a hybrid. It is flat midlimb through the handle and then shapes to a D form as you get toward the nocks. You can feel the bow bend in the handle (an odd feeling) unlike the ELB which is a little stiffer through the handle.

I need to make the effort to keep the overall length down when I start next time (my wife will go spare ).

As for comparing how they shoot, I will be trying that at the weekend, all being well.

First coat of varnish applied last night (50/50 varnish & spirit), fine sanding tonite and the second coat.

Jury still out on a material for the grip...String double looped and served, just the centre serving to do...it's never ending

 

[Grooveski]

Looks like a shooter, cracking tiller job.

TTBB doesn't make life any easier mate, it just adds a thousand other choices of style. You sit with a stave in front of you thinking "should I be making one of those, one of these or one of the other".
Only kidding, they're marvelous books. Look forward to seeing what they inspire.

 

[stovie]

........ cracking tiller job. ....

I hope not...

You're right about the TTBBs...an excellent read. Read the first chapter on selecting and drying wood, and already I'm visualising trees around my area

I really ought to do some work