[Flying Whale]

Originally Posted by Toxopholist

Hi

I've just made a couple of self longbows from ash and oak. The ash was cut from a 2" plank, but the oak was from a plank just 3/4" thick. This only cost £10. Both have suffered from more string follow than would a laminated bow, but they shoot extremely well. The ash bow draws around 40lb at 27" and gave 130 fps on the chronograph. The oak bow is even faster.

These were both great fun to make and it is very satisfying to shoot what you made. Especially if it only used £5 worth of timber!

I also made a bow from a Bickerstaffe kit, which gives 150 fps on the chronograph. This draws 45lb at 27". I think these kits are excellent as I've found it extremely difficult to source appropriate timber. The advice in the manual is very helpful too.

A tillering stick is essential. You need to be able to draw the bow and stand back from it to assess the shape. If you can mount this stick to a wall with horizontal lines marked every 2" or so that would be even better.

There's some useful advice at this link:
http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval...ow-manual.html

and dimensions here:
http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval...bow-design.gif

I tried several tools, but a flat bottomed spoke shave seemed to work best for me. Fine adjustments are then made with a cabinet scraper. These are both available from Axminster:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/lkid/441/...ves-453690.htm

Enjoy and please let me know if you find a useful supply of ash/lemonwood etc.

Regards, Dave

Good to catch up again the other night. I really will make the effort to get up there and have a stroll around your woodland. You might yet get me converted to longbow, though not yet full time.

FW