Ok this may seem a bit perplexing, but I like to take on interesting projects each winter to keep me busy. Last year Mrs.Phlosphr and I built our own 8-inch dobsonian telescope similar to this one. Now this year we have finished restoring our antiquated dining room table and we need another project.
Questions:
What kind of wood is best for building a Midieveil Longbow?
What type of ‘string’ or line is used for the draw?
Does the bow have to be cured, and if so, with what?
Around my back yard the woods offer many kinds of Oak, Hickory, maple, birch, spruce, ash, bascially all trees found in a New England deciduous forest?
So anyone have any ideas? Has anyone tried this before? Any Luck?
Any hardwood will do for the bow, but Yew, Ash and Elm are best (in that order), you will be able to use your Hickory or Maple though. Don’t use spruce, too bendy.
For strings use either hemp, silk or linen. Silk gets slack when wet, and hemp becomes taut when wet so if you’re going to use it in damp conditions then use a linen line.
I don’t know whether the wood has to be cured or not, AFAIK it doesn’t.
You should end up with a bow with a pull between 80 and 120lbs.
(Try to make sure that the string is less than 6" from the handle, any more than this and the wood suffers stress and can result in the bow exploding : thus the origin of “High Strung”)
I would use Elm. If you have a decently equiped wood shop at your home - it sounds like you do - then pick out a good straight branch and plane it down or reduce it. You could wrap it in sinew, I do not know if this would increase the strength, but it may prolong the life…Tie the linen to the ends on a latch. I thnk the latch has to be more than an inch from the end of the staff with no more than a centimeter gouge.
Some one should come along with the exact measurements but I have 5 feet overall length when all is said and done.
Have fun!
See if you can find your local Society for Creative Anachonism. They have preserved much medievil knowledge, have probably can teach you all you ever wanted to know about longbow building, and more. Or the SCA can tell you who can teach you this.
Sayid Suleiman ibn Ghazi Abd Ar-Rahim Al Andalusi at your service:D
Here http://www.angelfire.com/retro/crafts/weapons.htm are loads of SCA pages regarding weaponry most people have forgotten about. It is a blasted Angelfire page, so expect to get popups about online gambling and the like.
I could probably find more.
Phlosphr, where is your meat location? I could probably find you som people willing to teach you.
Interesting enough, this past week’s Conquest (with Peter Woodward on the history channel) dealt with just such a question - making and using a Medieval Longbow (pehaps this episode even sparked the OP). It was a little light in the actual details (Peter first set his assistants out to make their own bows, and then he pointed out what was wrong, etc.), but one thing I clearly remember is that for an English Longbow, it took 150 lbs - 100lbs from the pulling hand, and 50lbs stress on the hand holding the bow. He basically said the longbowmen of the past only obtained this rate by practicing every weekend…of their adult lives.
Oddly enough Martin I live in Connecticut! Judging by your location your my Neighbah!
Now what do you mean by meat location? I can only surmise you mean where will we be hunting with it??? or is this a SCA thing?
Mrs.Phlosphr’s best friend is heavily involved with SCA and is actually a ‘seamstress’ she makes all kinds of garb and just loves it. Mrs.Phlosphr and I are pretty busy during the week and really enjoy our weekend times. We are not really interested in hunting, but may be persueded to do some fishing with the bow. I’m a pretty good shot with my regular compound bow. I just like the novelty of making one on my own.
**And imagine the look on a fellow fisherman’s face when I shoot that striper he’s eyeing with my hand made bow, and he’s still sitting there with his pole in his hand
SirRay I did see bits and pieces of that program on History Channel but did not see the whole thing. I have a new Puppy at home and she’s taking up a lot of our time - never get a Rhodesian Ridgeback - they’ll run ya to the bone.
Anyway, my compound bow has a couple settings and I usually have it up around 125 lbs. I shouldn’t have a problem stretching the longbow, but I may have some issues keeping it steady. With the increase in surface area the longbow will have wind and weight will play integral roles in how accurate I become. I’m a pretty big guy so hopefully it won’t be too embarassing the first time I go to shoot it.
IIRC, the pull ratings for simple and composite bows are not directly comparable, so be wary.
[minor hijack]
At least one book on my bookcase claims that English longbows were so feared in Europe that there was a campaign to have them declared outlaw – early arms control.
[/minor hijack]
Outlawed? When and Why? I thought that a man with a longbow was a great defense for certain kingdoms and that if you could use one you were granted special privileges…this may only be in midieval times though…
You might want to check out The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible, vols. 1, 2, and 3 for much more information on building bows and making strings and whatnot than you can possibly imagine. Also, web sites like 3 Rivers Archery and Kustom King Archery sell traditional bow-building supplies.
Pip Bickerstaff in the U.K. makes reproduction English War Bows. See here. He also has a book out called “The Heritage of the Longbow.” I think it may be available from 3Rivers or Kustom King.
Holding weight on a longbow will feel different from holding weight on your compound. (Though if you’re shooting a 125# compound – not crossbow, you’re probably overbowed. But hey, if it makes you happy…)
Good luck from Archergal (currently shooting a Northern Mist longbow.)
Thank you Archergal. Very nice sites. I sent an email to the Kustom King site to see if I can use some of the wood around my home. I am not plannign on buying one myself, but I will certainly use the sites to purchase some of the tools I do not already have. Thanks alot!
