Longbow Kits - Worth It?

[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

[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

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Toxopholist

... loads of useful info ...

Many thanks for that, that's exactly the kind of information I'm after. Now I just need to decide if I have the bottle for it

[Macbow]

I'm no bowyer but I have hacked out a couple of decent selfbows from a load of yew limbs that came down in a storm last year. I'd recommend getting The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 1 & 2 as they demystify the whole process. TBB 2 has a great section on building bows from lumber yard timber. Let the piece of wood determine what the bow design will be. Because there isn't a lot of sapwood on my yew, some awkward knots and a likelihood of violating the growth rings on the back, I have made a flatbow and a pyramid bow using a hand axe, a draw knife and a pocket knife. Make/break a few bows before spending money on a bow kit. Every failure is a learning process and will give you a genuine appreciation for the workmanship of a successful bowyer. My first attempts didn't make it past the tillering stage. Take your time and good luck.

[dtalbot]

Originally Posted by gino

As someone who always wants to know how everything works I'm desperate to try a longbow course. I've just spent a week making a set of medieval arrows from scratch with various specialist arrowheads (armour piercing, hunter, fire, etc) and I intend to make a photodiary if anyone wants a look but I've been trying to find a reliable bow-making course. Has anyone else been on the course at this place? how did you find it?

Cheers,

Gino.

I've been plugging it on the forums on www.britishblades.com and http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/ ever since I did it so you may find some other people who have done it over there.
Cheers
david

[djthompson]

Jim,

I know exactly where you are coming from.

This is a more slender copy of a short book sold by Quicks: http://www.zetatalk.com/food/tfood41y.htm

I've talked to some great bowyers - and heard lots of different tips etc.

Went to Yandles in Sommerset at the weekend - bought a 6"x2"x76" piece of lemonwood for £18 (sale on) - enough to make 2 bows (there is a little knot in the middle). Might get a third bow with an offcut and a piece of ash as a back (glued with extramite).

This will be my first attemt at making a bow - so for £10 a stave - that can't be bad.

The kits are lovely, but I'd rather play arround with the cheapest wood I can for now. Bow prob won't be great (even if it works) - but it's a start.

Dave

[djthompson]

Oops - forgot to say - the bow I'm going to make will be purely out of lemonwood - so It will be 1 1/2" wide/deep to start as opposed to 1 1/8" with a laminate stave (hickory is the ususal back for this sort of bow).

Prob have loads of string follow & hand shock!!!!

[Orinoco]

I love the idea of making my own bow. I'm sure everyone has early childhood memories of bamboo cane bows, and I clearly remember my grandad making one for me. I am a fairly skilled DIYer and can follow instructions. I looked at toxopholist's links above (thank you!) but am still a little dazed about starting point... and that mass of diagrams!!!, suppliers of wood etc. What are the minimum tools you need for the job (budget budget budget, hence self-build idea!) What about horn nocks (necessary?), strings, leather etc. Had a look at the kits but they seem pretty close to built cost and as djthompson said I would rather not spend much to see it in bits on the floor!
TA

[Toxopholist]

Hi

You don't need too much in the way of tools to get started. If you start with a decent piece of ash, which is friendly to work with, the main tool required is a flat bottomed spoke shave. Axminster do one for £10 and I recently found an old Record one for £2 at a wood fair. It does need to be shaving sharp though!

A block plane is handy also. I saw one today in Wilkinsons for £4.

This assumes you already have the tools to rough out the blank. A jigsaw will do it if you don't have access to a bandsaw.

Work out from a centre line formed by a stretched piece of string and check this after roughing out the blank. The wood can move all over the place one you've cut large chunks off and released the internal stresses. Make sure it's thoroughly dry also. I had pieces warp badly after getting them home from the woodyard. Even though they claimed they were seasoned fully.

I'll try and simplify the outline drawing and post it soon

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regards, Dave

[BowSurfer]

I would recomend lemonwood with a hickory backing strip. Gluing the two together only needs some cascamite and an old car inner tube cut into a single long strip to bind the parts together while the glue dries.
It can take a while, but is a very rewarding process in the end. You will probably find that you will then want tomake another, better one afterwards - and after that - and after that - ...