Making a Longbow

Of the woods you suggest, I'd say Elm or Maple, dunno about beech or red oak, I'd avoid Cherry for a back.
Here's a link to a page, the second post down the page gives a good list of bow woods and their properties.
Bamboo backing works very well with Ipe (which incidently is slightly oily and needs de-greasing before glueing up).
I don't think you need use more than a backing, eg the face away from the archer.
Ipe being very good in compression is ideal for the belly.

Del

Thanks. Looks like, of my possibilities, elm is best. I did have some apple, but gave it away - drat! What sort of glue works best?

There are plenty of epoxies which will do, I've successfully used a 2 hour epoxy. (avoid the very rapid ones). Long rubber strips cut from old inner tubes are good for strapping the laminations together (on a former) as the adhesive cures.
Del

You might go by a local wood yard, where they bring in trailer loads of Pulp Wood & ask the guys there, to find a piece for you, in the type you need. They have so much available that they don't even haul in, that leting you have 1 little piece, would not be missed at all. It would be round wood, so you could take a draw knife & debark it & a hand held circular saw & cut it into what you could use.

Just a thought, hope it helps. Be sure & show us some pictures , as that I'm a Cherokee, I like a good Bow !

Regards,

Joe Woodall, Managing Partner

Georgia Adobe Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy

http://www.georgiaadobe.com

http://www.facebook.com/georgiaadobejoewoodall

By the way there is some variation in the interpretation of the term 'Longbow'.
In the USA it is often used for what is known in the UK as an AFB (American Flat Bow) it's relatively long but with rectangular section limbs and a rigid handle section with an arrow shelf.
The English Longbow (ELB) is a D cross section (the flat bit being the back) and has no arrow shelf, it may flex along the entire length, although the later victorian style does have a stiffer handle section.

Here's one I made earlier...being drawn medieval style back to 31" (the 'arrow' isn't fletched, as I don't really shoot that length, it was just a test of the draw length for the pic) The bow is stiff in the handle as there is a big knot there and extra wood left around it for safety. At that draw length it's about 90 pounds

Del

Are there any good quality ply woods that would be good for the back? It would look good I feel.....

The back, being in tension needs the grain running along the length of the bow, often great care is taken to have the back following one growth ring to help avoid any fibres lifting. So ply isn't really an option unless you are making kids bows.
Bamboo and Hickory are commonly used, bamboo is V good in tension and has nice long straight fibres (the nodes don't cause problems) and a clean smooth outer surface.
Del

Are bows not laminated like in ply? I thought I had seen some like that....maybe I am kidding myself.....

90lb. pull is a lot of weight, how long can you hold that? Do you do "pulling" exercises?

The laminations all have the grain running the same way, (along the length of the bow).
I normally draw 28" which is about 75 pounds, still pretty heavy.
There are some nutters guys out there who shoot 'Warbows' of 130 + pounds.
(Yes I keep up the regular pulling exercises)

Del

LOL!

Och, bamboo I can maybe get. (There's a fine stand at the garden center and no security cameras and...oh, well I can buy it cheap I think.) What diameter should I be interested in?

The diameter should be big as possible as it needs cutting/sanding down into a thin lath about 1/8 - 1/4".

Search Youtube/google etc, for bamboo bow backing or similar.
*The Bamboo backed Ipe is such a well loved combination it's referred to as BBI on the Primitive Archer website.
Del

I'm not sure where you're located but Osage Orange has been the preferred wood for long bows for centuries. It was called beau d'arc by the French (good bow) and is where the name Ozark comes from.

I knew a man who built long bows of Osage (sometimes called hedge apple) up to 6' that would come apart in the middle like a fishing pole. He simply wound a bit of fine sinew around the socket end to prevent split out.

He typically shot over 100 yards with his and used it as his primary hunting weapon.

but Osage Orange has been the preferred wood for long bows for centuries.

Errrr, sorry, it's a preferred bow wood in the USA , and as for 'centuries'...I don't think the US has much of a Longbow history.
Their history is generally with shorter bows of wider flatter section of the indigenous tribes (often sinew backed) although one East Coast tribe did have a bow similar to the longbow when the Spanish arrived.

The Longbow is arguably the English Longbow (warbow) and Yew is the preferred wood, Ash and Elm were also used by the Welsh who some believe originated the longbow, (possibly it came there from Europe or Scandinavia much earlier).

Osage isn't Native in the UK as far as I know, and I was under the impression that the French called Laburnum "Bois d'Arc", however the opinion of a Frenchmen on the matter of Longbows isn't worth having, as they never mastered the weapon to any effect.
Del

Henry V?

I saw some pictures of African bows that to the untotored eye looked long. Will dig out the book tomorrow, but they must date back a few centuries. And did the Native Americans use longer bows before the advent of the horse? I quite agree with putting down French pretensions but that doesn't automatically mean that English is the right answer.

Simon

_{Text deleted on grounds of retaining my sanity/sense of humour}
Del

Well "there U go!"

Longbow. A social and military history. Richard Hardy ISBN 0-9511747-0-3 1976 page 13

"During the slow drying out of the Sahara region, throughout the Mesolithic (20,000 - 7,500 BC) and Neolithic (7,500-3,500 BC) periods, the middle and New Stone Ages, many differnet kinds of bow were beautifully illustrated on the cave walls and rock faces of the area, as well as in parts of Europe, where the retreating ice had allowed timber to spead northwards from the warmer lands of the south. These paintings show longbows and short bows....."

This is between 17,000 and 1000 years before the first English bow dated at 2,690 BC.

Simon

Yes, I have the book, and I am constatly refering to it.
Read my posts #6 & #14 I use plenty of words like 'may' and 'generally' in all my posts and don't insist that the longbow is the ELB, I just say it is generally recognised as such.

If you take Robert Hary's book as a whole you will see it is firmly about the English Warbow of the middle ages, there is much leading upto it of course as man has made use of the bow for untold millenia. It also details the history of the bow in North America.

There is little point in arguing with each other by referencing the same book, it is better that TVP45 and anyone else interested in the topic read a copy themselves. (as it is one of the best reference works on the subject)

Holiday too long ...Hmmm, I expect we're all geting stir crazy by now... must make bow...
All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy All work and no play makes Dell a dull boy
Now where's my ****** axe?

Del

Longbow is a classic word with two meanings, with enough overlap to increase confusion. The reason I made the original comment is that it is easy to ignore the developements in societies that have not left written records, and it is also easy for the history of the rich west to overshadow the rest.

I just wanted to point out that the Americas have a long and distinguished history going back for millennia and it would appear from hardy that bows were a major part of their hunting armoury. Ditto for Africa.

So peace unto all men, possibly including the French, and a Happy New Year

Simon

So peace unto all men, possibly including the French, and a Happy New Year
LOL
Del

Cherokee Bows and Arrows by Al Herrin (Oklahoma Cherokee) 1989. A wonderful recapturing of the bow making of one particular people. Very clear writing, good sketches and photos. Paper, 160 pages. $14.95. (Watch for Al's regular column in Traditional Bowhunter. You may subscribe to his newsletter by sending $10.00 to White Bear Newsletter, Dept B, RR 3 Box 172, Tahlequah, OK 74464. $15.00 foreign.

The traditional bow of the native American was made from Osage Orange as previously mentioned. This bow is a D shaped bow with no laminations.

This is an excellent book on bow making and includes a section on making the string from deer sinew.