Red Oak for longbow??

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by robtattoo

Certainment mon brave!
Tillering a longbow (any bow for that matter!) is a long, slow, labour intensive process (as anyone who's made a bow'll know) I cant for one minute believe thata bow of that price has been correctly tillered. It just isn't financially feasible! To correctly tiller any simple wooden bow (unless you are truly blessed by God) can take a couple of days at least. That'd mean the bowyer in this case would be working for nothing! To simply rough out & sand a bow shaped piece of wood is a quick & simple process & I would imagine that that's all these'll be. It won't be evenly balanced in the way it bends, it'll have hinges, it'll probably be either very stiff & whip-ended or very stif at the tips & hinges around the handle. I truly hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that it'll be all over the shop. I'd be very interested to see a pic of the bow at full draw.

Thanks for that Robtatoo and Mr. Whitehart. I see both of your points of view. I will try to get a picture of the drawn bow. I would love to hear what you think.

After spending yesterday and today shooting, I can attest that it seems smooth and the arrows hit the boss in something like you might call a group in the upper left (as long as I'm within 15 yards). Beyond that yardage, the arrow heads to the upper left quite abruptly dramatically. As to whether or not that is me, the crappy arrows that came with the bow, or the bow?? Who knows. This is the only bow I've ever owned.

[gino]

for that price and considering that it's your first bow then I say go out there, shoot it and have fun. If it breaks then that's bad luck and hope it's within it's warranty. Are you an experienced archer on recurve/compound?
I find that people who are used to recurves and compounds almost always shoot left with a longbow because a recurve shoots through the centre of the bow (the bow goes around the arrow) whereas a longbow shoots from the left of the bow (if u shoot right handed) so when a recurve shooter feels like it's lined up it's actually pointing more left than they think it is because it's shooting around the bow, not through it like they're used to.

This isn't always the case, but it's something i generally find when modern archers try a longbow.

[mossanimal]

No.... I'm not experienced with any kind of a bow. Other than a childhood of making them out of whatever I could find in the woods. And some compound a few years ago.

You tempt me to ask 'Well, how does a longbow archer aim?' But I have researched that thread and have come to realize that I have just have to go out and shoot.

Thanks a lot for giving a new guy some advice....

Scott

[WhitehartFB]

Sounds like the arrows might be too stiff and the nocking point is too low assuming you are right handed.

[gino]

yeah if you're not used to recurve then something else might be the problem like whitehart says.
where did u get the arrows from?

This forum is great for getting advice. I once asked a kid how long he'd been learning archery..

"so how long have u been learning?"
"oh I'm not learning anymore"
"...oh really, how long have you been shooting then?"
"over a month now"

Now I've been shooting for over two years and I'm definately still learning.

[kernowtom]

Forgive me if this is a silly question - but thinking about the advice above... is there a nocking point on the string??? If not - you do need one - if there is, it needs to be 5-10mm higher than the rest point of the arrow when you draw (so the arrow is pointing slightly downwards relative to the upright bow). Ask for more advice if you need it.. so much to learn.. and a lot of it is much more art than science!!
I think you asked in another thread about horn nocks. I agree with the suggestion you don't bother for the moment. They would protect the wood, but they would also add weight to the limb tips which would slow the arrow..
happy new year
tom

[mossanimal]

Thank you! No... There was no nocking point. There was a notch in the wood marking the rest point. So I made my own nocking point on the string with a marker... exactly at the same elevation. I will try this out today. Thanks again.

I also want to experiment with different arrows and now (based on what I've read in this forum) I want to try making my own. So... can somebody point me to good online resource for this?

As to the horn nocks.... I will take everybody's advice on this. Mostly I was just looking for an excuse to start a project. But if I can get started on making a few arrows... that impulse will be met.

Thanks.... It's nice to see that you all are willing to help the greenhorn.

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by mossanimal

Thank you! No... There was no nocking point. There was a notch in the wood marking the rest point. So I made my own nocking point on the string with a marker... exactly at the same elevation. I will try this out today. Thanks again.

I also want to experiment with different arrows and now (based on what I've read in this forum) I want to try making my own. So... can somebody point me to good online resource for this?

As to the horn nocks.... I will take everybody's advice on this. Mostly I was just looking for an excuse to start a project. But if I can get started on making a few arrows... that impulse will be met.

Thanks.... It's nice to see that you all are willing to help the greenhorn.

Aha!!! Yes. Now I'm hooked. I raised the nocking point up as you suggested and the arrow flies straight from 25 yards.

[kernowtom]

Great - thats a good start - raising the nocking point will also reduce wear on your hand! It is best to actually make a physical nocking point on the string - this will stop the arrow sliding up or down as it is accelerated by the string. Most people use some dental floss (I find mint flavour works well:-). Wind it around the string until you have a small bulge.. tie it off and then use some superglue to seal the knot... make another one a little way away so the arrow nock sits in the right place comfortably between them..

[N.Vodden]

Originally Posted by gino

I find that people who are used to recurves and compounds almost always shoot left with a longbow because a recurve shoots through the centre of the bow (the bow goes around the arrow) whereas a longbow shoots from the left of the bow (if u shoot right handed) so when a recurve shooter feels like it's lined up it's actually pointing more left than they think it is because it's shooting around the bow, not through it like they're used to.

This isn't always the case, but it's something i generally find when modern archers try a longbow.

thats very true, a friend and i bought trad bows and we noticed that we were shooting off to the left. good groupings but always off to the left.