If you read the bowyers bible it appears you can make a bow out of pretty much any wood. And many of the other books agree with this to an extent. What is important is the TYPE of bow. White woods and and others such as elm and oak are completely unsuitable for the english stacked D-section longbow. But they are perfectly suited to the Flat bow of american styling ( which is why they get such good press in the archers bible) Another style which works are the prehistoric bows of Mear Heath and Holmguard styles. If anyone recalls I had both an oak and an elm prehistoric bow at the July bushmoot. Patterned after the aforementioned types. Most of the bow making books have patterns for this style of bow. The hilary greenland one is rather good.Ranger Bob said:
). I cut it this week while doing some pruning for someone and its now in the workshop seasoning.
Bardster I agree with your comments about the suitability of oak for bowyery but not about elm. The english (and particularly Welsh) warbow of the medieval was every bit as popular and effective in elm as in yew. Gerald of wales in the 1300's comments on the power of the welsh elm bow, pinning the thigh of an english knight to his saddle tree and then doing the same on the other side as he turned to leave the field. I have made a fine logbow from some nice kiln-dried american red elm and I cant fault it. Oay for sure is unyealding when braced and shoots hard in the hand but well balanced elm drawing 75is pounds at 28 inches gives an excellant loose - give it a try.Bardster said:
nickg said:
I had the same problem while looking in the local woodyard, thats when I saw the american elm - snapped up 3 metres of 80x80cm with a good straight grain. It beats my ash bow in feel, but then the ash has lasted about 6 years and apart from following the string quite noticeably its still shoots well. I am intrigued about the sycamore, it may be a little too fine grained to last, i shall find some and give it a try.Bardster said:I would agree with you holeheartedly. infact the welsh longbows were of a particular type of elm called wych elm.. and I have been long trying to get some to try my hand at a longbow. Unfortunately its not a common wood in these parts, although its still fairly common in the north of Scotland I am told. Getting a piece suitable for bowmaking is proving to be rather difficult as no one wants to send such small quantities all the way down south without charging excessive amounts. The other problem I have found is that woodyards really dont differenciate so you would probably end up with any old piece of elm
