How long is TOO long for a longbow? (and reason why i wont be on a while)

[Kitsu]

umm right now my bow is taller than me when i string for tillering it is this good or bad, it means it will be more flexible but will it not have as much power when i shorten, i love how it looks atm because longbows are supposed to be about as tall as the archer aye?

so leads me to my question, at 5 foot six, and my bow being almost 6 feet tall when strung, ima have to guess atm that its about 40#, however unable to test atm because my dad is getting fishing stuff for spring, therefor the scale is unavailable at this time (fishing scale is very useful because the hook grabs on to the string nicely, and when u pull it weighs AS you go ) but still not tillered all the way but i want to know if i should shorten the ends a little bit because as of now its taller than me, any help would be appreciated

also im kinda grounded because my grades, been working on bow too much, i have study halls but even during them i still have leftover, and on top of that im a little forgetful and tend to leave stuff behind, or in locker etc, i wish i had a lil secretary or something, lol give them my stuff and they keep track, if i did ide have A's across, the work i DO do i get A+'s on them but half of them get misplaced so uhh yea, off topic but thats why i wont be here a while

[Cromm]

Hi,

I was told a long time ago that a English Longbow should be a mimimum of one fist taller than the archer using it, so you should be ok. If you shorten the bow the lb will go up, as far as i know.
Thanks for your time.

[Kitsu]

Hi,

I was told a long time ago that a English Longbow should be a mimimum of one fist taller than the archer using it, so you should be ok. If you shorten the bow the lb will go up, as far as i know.
Thanks for your time.

but i dont know if its the piece of wood taller than the archer or the overall bow itself, because so far not many people here have bows as tall as them

[Cromm]

Well i'm 6 foot and i have 6 bows that are taller than me when strung up. One is about 7 1/2 foot tall when ready to shoot.
Thanks for your time.

[Hillbilly]

I've made a few bows taller than me-there's no set length for a bow, just depends on what style you're shooting, the poundage, how long your draw length is, what kind of wood you're using, etc. A longer bow will usually draw smoother and be more accurate, in addition to putting less strain on the wood. It will also be more forgiving of tillering mistakes or flaws in the stave. Many of the old heavyweight warbows were seven feet long or more, and people then were probably shorter on average than now. A shorter bow can be more convenient to carry and use in thick cover or from a tree stand, but can also have problems with more set, stacking, or likelyhood of breaking. I would err on the side of too long instead of too short-I see many new bowyers who insist on trying to make really short bows and don't understand why they break or don't perform well.

[sailordad]

i have a boo/ipe elb thats 72"ttt
just made 2hick board bows same length.
i am only 5'9.5",so all three are taler than me

[Hrothgar]

I don't know if there is such a thing as too tall for a longbow (within reason). Take for example the japanese longbows which are over 7 feet. I have made 2 english longbows from ash, one is 73" ttt, the other is 73 1'2" ttt. I'm a shade under 6 feet, and if I ever make another elb it will be at least 73 1'2 ".

[Pat B]

Eventually you loose the mechanical advantage as the bow gets longer and the draw stays the same. If it gets long enough you could come to full draw and the tips wouldn't have moved at all.
 Plus the excess weight would reduce recovery speed.
  With the English war bows the archer was pulling 30" to 32". Modern target and hunting bows are normally drawn to 28", or as Hillbilly's survey showed, its more like 26". A 7' bow being pulled 26" would be less effective than a 5 1/2' bow drawn 26".
  I'm working on a bow now that is my height(68"). I shot it yesterday for the first time and was pleased. Probably the use of the bow should be considered too.

[Kitsu]

as of now i was just trying to get one with some power, that doesn't end up blowing up, at this time i do not know what type of bow to actually consider it, but i plan on shortening eventually if it doesn't work out,

I'm looking for a target shooter as of this moment, but also a hunting bow possibly, (i don't want some crazy 90 lb bow at the moment, only because i want to get practice aiming, i COULD of had more power, yet i wanted to remove a few flaws. as of now it is quite smooth, however i kind of sanded handle down a little much, but its still a half inch thicker than thickest part of bow so I'm not MAJORLY worried, i  only wanted to figure out what was too long, after all, i wanted a balance of strength speed and flexibility here, not a full out brute. or a rubber band, (brute strength vs weak/flexible) i want something that could shoot better then the older boredom bows i made while this was seasoning,

 i care about looks too, but not too important , only because if i go hunting with my friends and they have nice store bought bows, they would prolly rub it in my face if mine looks bad in the face of theirs.
 
i know i have a little problem with rambling on like this, if i get a little off topic time to time forgive me,

[TRACY]

I work with a lot of students in your situation. Buckle down and get your grades back on track first and then build bows. Ask for help if you don't understand stuff and use all of the resources you have access too. If you have to set small goals and reward yourself for finishing something with bow time then do it. Good luck with both tasks!

[Pat B]

Make a bow that fits your stave and not the other way around!  Quit worring about how pretty it is and make it functional. You can always add make-up to pretty it up later.
   If you are worried about your friends ribbing you because they have pretty store bought bows you are going to have a hard time building a worthwhile bow. You have already defeated yourself.  Make the best bow you can and learn to shoot it well. You will be able to show off your bow with pride and rub it in there faces when you can do as well or better than they can. A bow is only a tool! What you do with the tool is the proof in the pudding.
   What is your draw length?  Draw weight? Do you have a pic of your stave? What wood is it?
Most improtant now is what Tracy said. School is #1!!!

[Dane]

Pat is right. I hate to sound like a nagging parent, but your most imporant job is school. Your future is really determined in large part by the opportunities you will have (and not have) based on today. I hated school, and really suffered for not doing my best back then.

You have tons of bows in your future, and like Tracy said, reward yourself for doing well with bowyery.

Dane

[nickf]

bus up to 8feet were used, and you may go alot longer, if the tiller and drawlength/weigth are customed for this bow.
6feet should work. We're probably in a similar situation, at this moment i'm more or less pumping out bows, and not doing much for school :p

Nick

[Kitsu]

I work with a lot of students in your situation. Buckle down and get your grades back on track first and then build bows. Ask for help if you don't understand stuff and use all of the resources you have access too. If you have to set small goals and reward yourself for finishing something with bow time then do it. Good luck with both tasks!

i found out i have a big shot atm, the retake of my math test is going to bring my grade to a B or higher, and my english teacher expects me to find 20 words i DONT know (self improvement project) however when there is a word i dont know, its defined in side notes and she wont allow that, well, ill still get a B in hers too IF i can get some help, i need a quote and sources and unfortunately, all my books are in a storage atm, and my schoolbooks dont really have many words i dont know (ive learned biology before, learned global studies before, so i know thiis stuff, however i moved from a different state, and they didnt transfer my credits and stuff, that and its not regents coarse or whatever, but im not trying to make excuses, i know im not a human dictionary, but its hard to find words i dont know in school, and even harder to find them in the non existent books in my room >.>

[Dane]

Josh, at the risk of sounding obvious, you have the Internet. But don't cheat or anything like that.

One of the richest sources of strange and wonderful words is the Mervyn Peake Gormenghast novels, Titus Groan, Ghormenghast, and Titus Alone. You can find them at the library, or through your school's interlibrary loan system. The books are not easy, but use complex language in a way that I think has not been duplicated, Peake was such a unique stylist and fantasist. If you like Lord of the Rings, you may like Peake. You will get major points by any English teacher for even knowing about his work. My wife teaches Shakespear at a local colllege, and even she had not heard about his works (UCLA, shame on you, lol). Peake was a British author and illustrator who died tragically in 1968 from Parkison's Disease.

The Oxford English Dictionary (known as the OED) is another amazing source of new words. And if you have the Alice in Wonderland books around, there is some amazing use of language there too. Treacle is one word I love from the Alice books.

I hope that helps you a bit,

Dane