Wych Elm bow

[Gyro]

That's a great looking bow. All of mine so far have been lemonwood, or lemonwood and hickory. Stuck in deepest darkest Norfolk, I'm currently having difficulty getting any decent staves other than this. I started a new thread yesterday inquiring about where I can get any ash or the like, as I'd love to try different woods. What tools do you use to shape your bows, Dwardo; scraper, spokeshave, rasp .. ?

 

[BigShot]

Dwardo - there's no mud in that explanation. I understand exactly what you mean there - unless you did a really bad job and I now think string follow is something it isn't. Haha.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dwardo]

That's a great looking bow. All of mine so far have been lemonwood, or lemonwood and hickory. Stuck in deepest darkest Norfolk, I'm currently having difficulty getting any decent staves other than this. I started a new thread yesterday inquiring about where I can get any ash or the like, as I'd love to try different woods. What tools do you use to shape your bows, Dwardo; scraper, spokeshave, rasp .. ?

Hi Gyro,

I am very lucky to have access to staves from a friendly wood owner I have found staves elsewhere on wasteground, from tree surgeons, and the odd other place
In regards to the tree anything over about 4inch diameter will make 4 bows if you split it right. I made one from salix caprea which grows everywhere almost a pest in some places.
In regards to tools i use a little GB hatchet for splitting the stave and taking it to very rough bow dimensions, then a draw knife (not really needed but saves time), then finish with a spoke shave and sand paper. I have also used a penknife for areas close to knots and an old plane of my grandads.
In regards to curing the wood it can be done quite quickly First split and debark the stave, take to way over the top dimensions leaving plenty of room for error, then store in the house in a warmish room for a week or two. Once you have left it for a bit take it down fruther so that you are just start to bend the bow/floor tiller it. Then leave it for upto a week. Then tiller and finish. I use bolied linseed oil after that, lots of coats I am just about to try parafin wax so ill let you know how that gets on.

 

[dwardo]

Dwardo - there's no mud in that explanation. I understand exactly what you mean there - unless you did a really bad job and I now think string follow is something it isn't. Haha.

Thanks for the info.

Glad you got it ,

Set or string follow can be from poor wood choice, underseasoning the wood and a design floor in the limbs (also called a hinge) The latter is where the force bow is not evenly distributed along the entire limb causing mroe pressure on one part. A couple of inches of set isnt that bad really, especially if you are only a dozen bows in like me lol.

 

[Gyro]

Cheers dwardo.

I started off using a sureform rasp, but have now graduated to a spokeshave and sandpaper. Have you used bone to 'compress' the fibres ? Was talking to a bowyer at the weekend, and for woods like ash etc., if there's some feathering on the back of the bow, rubbing a bone (any old bone) up and down on the wood helps resist this, apparently. It certainly gives a nice shiny/smooth finish too.

 

[dwardo]

Cheers dwardo.

I started off using a sureform rasp, but have now graduated to a spokeshave and sandpaper. Have you used bone to 'compress' the fibres ? Was talking to a bowyer at the weekend, and for woods like ash etc., if there's some feathering on the back of the bow, rubbing a bone (any old bone) up and down on the wood helps resist this, apparently. It certainly gives a nice shiny/smooth finish too.

Not tried it yet but i am in the middle of a yew bow so if it doesnt explode from one of the many knots ill try it Burnishing i think they call it, can be done with any hard smooth object from plastic to bone.

 

[BigShot]

Dwardo... I see you're based near Chester (any grudge against Welshmen got you into bowyery? )... I'm in Manchester which isn't too far away, so I expect you could have some info that might help me.

I'd love to get started in bowyery myself. I've spoken to a friend in Leicester (you may know the name robinofleicester if you've read the Bowyers Den forum) who's given me some helpful advice - but as he's still only made a small number of bows, and a lot of it is subjective, do you know how I could go about getting my hands on some good wood?

I've thought about starting with the "American Flatbow" in lemonwood as shown in some old popular mechanics article that I found online - but where to get the tight, straight grained wood I believe I need in that or any other wood is beyond me.

For that matter, I'm not even all that sure how to go about changing the shape according to the wood. I get the basic idea of tillering and avoiding hinges and so on, but the rest is somewhat greek to me now.

 

[dwardo]

Dwardo... I see you're based near Chester (any grudge against Welshmen got you into bowyery? )... I'm in Manchester which isn't too far away, so I expect you could have some info that might help me.

I'd love to get started in bowyery myself. I've spoken to a friend in Leicester (you may know the name robinofleicester if you've read the Bowyers Den forum) who's given me some helpful advice - but as he's still only made a small number of bows, and a lot of it is subjective, do you know how I could go about getting my hands on some good wood?

I've thought about starting with the "American Flatbow" in lemonwood as shown in some old popular mechanics article that I found online - but where to get the tight, straight grained wood I believe I need in that or any other wood is beyond me.

For that matter, I'm not even all that sure how to go about changing the shape according to the wood. I get the basic idea of tillering and avoiding hinges and so on, but the rest is somewhat greek to me now.

I have made a few flatbows and they turned out ok Pm inbound for source of wood,...

 

[Gyro]

BigShot; Lemonwood is a great way to start, as you can pretty much ignore any grain issues as the wood is so tight and compact. Just concentrate on the shaping and tillering, and you can get some decent results.

There are some good 'designs' in a book called The Traditional Archers Handbook, by Hilary Greenland. I made a flatbow from this, and it was a pretty efficient bow. Also, the Bowyers bibles are good for more eplanation ....

Good luck !