longbows are great fun

[gwynn]

Originally Posted by DavidH

Robin Hood didnt know where his last arrow was going to land. ...

on top of the wardrobe apparently

[!!!]

Took the borrowed longbow back to the bloke at work today and he said “if you liked it you can have it for £20 if you want? He also said that he has a fletching jig at home he is going to let me have as it’s no use to him

So I now have my first longbow , and a fletching jig on the way, just need to get sorted with some arrows as I only got five with the bow.

Going to have a go at making my own arrows, any links to recommended web sites that sell all the bits would be most welcome.

[gino]

http://www.diyarchery.co.uk/

Nice guy and great shop, enjoy.

G.

[alanesq]

Originally Posted by !!!

Going to have a go at making my own arrows, any links to recommended web sites that sell all the bits would be most welcome.

I am assuming its a Victorian bow (i.e. arrows around 28" long) ?

Making some basic arrows to get started is very easy - the easiest way is to get points which are taper fit as you then use what looks like a pencil sharpener to make a point and glue it on with Araldite
The taper fit plastic nocks are the same at the other end
so basically you just cut the shafts to length, cut the points, glue the ends on and fletch it - job done :-)
the water based varnish is the easiest/quickest way to seal the wood

As for matching the weight / spine of the shafts I have found that until you start getting a good shot (which I have yet to do) it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference and so not really worth worrying about too much at first, as long as they are somewhere around the right spine for the bow (i.e. you buy them to be in around the right range) they will be ok.

So you just need to buy some shafts, taper fit piles, taper fit nocks, fletchings, taper tool (pencil sharpener thingy) and some glue (you can use super glue I believe? but I like HMG) and you are in business :-)

BTW - The shafts can have quiet a bend in them when you get them but I find they can be easily straightened just by bending them by hand without heat/water (probably take a while to get the hang of this but not a major problem)
Get the worst shaft and practise how much effort it takes to snap it and you then try not to use that much when straightening them ;-)

[Tarkwin]

Shot mine for the first time today, with the arrows I made last week.

Shot indoors at quicks for 90mins or so and overall shot about 7 doz.

I loved it, even the ones that hit the netting and clattered to the floor...

but the happiest moment of the day was saved for my solitary gold

T.

[English Bowman]

Originally Posted by alanesq

I am assuming its a Victorian bow (i.e. arrows around 28" long) ?

Sorry Alan, I don't agree with your definition of what makes a Victorian style Longbow.
The arrow length has nothing to do with the bow being of a Victorian style, or not. The Victorian bows have a flatter back, and don't bend through the handle. You can have a Victorian style bow that shoots a 33" arrow, and a Medieval style bow only tillered to 26".

Originally Posted by alanesq

As for matching the weight / spine of the shafts I have found that until you start getting a good shot (which I have yet to do) it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference and so not really worth worrying about too much at first, as long as they are somewhere around the right spine for the bow (i.e. you buy them to be in around the right range) they will be ok.

I disagree with this. Always make the best arrows you can, that way you know that if you don't hit the target it's you and not the equipment.
If you shoot with poorly made arrows, then when you do start getting good enough to notice the difference, you won't know it because the grouping will be affected by the arrows.
How do you know when you need to start making good arrows?
My advice, start as you mean to go on, and take pride in how well you can make a set off arrows. That can be a pleasure all to itself, if a jobs worth doing.....

Daniel

[gino]

Daniel,

I speak for Alan when I say that he knows the diff between a victorian type bow and a warbow, I think he was just generalising a bit.

Which he may also have done about the arrows. I think he's right in that you don't have to have the most perfectly spined arrows for your bow, but something thats close enough. Obviously it's better to have the best spined arrows you can but this is not always possible or perhaps within someones budget. In my personal experience I've tried many different arrow weights, spine and woods and I've found that arrows slightly whippier than the spining for the bow actually work best so I always buy shafts 5 or 10lbs lower than the bow, which means that are a bit more forgiving. It's a different story if the arrows are too stiff. It's better to have whippier arrows on a longbow that stiff ones.

When shooting warbows (above 80lbs ish plus all the other definitions) spining has little effect and you'll be using 1/2" shafts. (so I've been informed!)

[alanesq]

Originally Posted by English Bowman

Sorry Alan, I don't agree with your definition of what makes a Victorian style Longbow.

well yes, I agree with you definition of a Victorian bow but it seemed easier just to say the arrows will be around 28"
If its a warbow then the arrow making will be very different

When I started I was very careful to match the arrows to within 1lb and a few grains weight at vast cost as most of my shafts were no use to me but I am still not at a level where I can really tell the difference and I am now not nearly as careful about it
I figure I will know when its time to worry about it when I start seeing a difference between individual arrows?

My suggestions are just how to get some arrows made as quickly and easily as possible so he can get shooting it :-)


BTW - Thanks Gino for support ;-)

[English Bowman]

Originally Posted by gino

Daniel,

I speak for Alan when I say that he knows the diff between a victorian type bow and a warbow, I think he was just generalising a bit.

Fair enough, but other people won't know this so the statement could cause confusion, and in itself is still wrong. It would have been better to describe the difference in how the bow is made.

Originally Posted by gino

In my personal experience I've tried many different arrow weights, spine and woods and I've found that arrows slightly whippier than the spining for the bow actually work best so I always buy shafts 5 or 10lbs lower than the bow, which means that are a bit more forgiving. It's a different story if the arrows are too stiff. It's better to have whippier arrows on a longbow that stiff ones.

When you say 5 or 10 lbs lower than the bow, do you mean than the spine rating on the shafts are lighter than the bow?
If you do then that's what I would expect to fly straight, because the shafts are spine weighted for recurve bows which are faster than longbows, and cut past centre, this means that they need a stiffer shaft than a longbow to fly straight.
So by getting a lighter shaft you are bringing it into spine for the longbow. (In fact a rule of thumb is 10 to 15 lbs lighter to match to a longbow, I use 50-55s to fly straight from my 70lb bow.)
However if you have a choice between an arrow that is too stiff or too whippy then go for the stiff one every time. A stiff shaft will fly left, (Assuming a right handed archer) but do so consistently, a whippy shaft will fly right, and be inconsistent. So it's better to have a stiffer shaft than a whippy one.

Finally as for spining and weighing the arrows, this only costs time for someone who can make it to a shop that will allow you to check them before you buy them, I know that Quicks let you use their scales and spine meter and take as long as you like to select your shafts. I know not everybody can do this, but I still stand by the advice I gave.

Daniel

[cloutman360]

I feel sorry for the archers who end up with left overs after all the straight shafts have been cherry picked !!