WHere to procure EWB

[root]

Where is a good place to buy a ready to shoot English war bow?

I'm not interested in making one only the arrows.

I see the prices are from 50.00 USD to the sky is the limit.
Are the ones on Ebay that are strung with 550 paracord any good? they are a synthetic bow.

I'm no archer so I won't shoot it much but  I will shoot it once in a while maybe 2x a year.

I'm really looking for a test bow to test  Tudor bodkins I forge.

Speaking of forge off I go to smack metal.
Thanks
Rich

[Lucasade]

I'm no expert but I would advise extreme caution if buying anthing sold as a warbow unseen from the internet - and invest in lots of personal protective equipment before you draw it.

Alternatively as you are making Tudor bodkins you presumably know other people with similar interests - ask around and there may well be a friendly warbow enthusiast near you to hook up with.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

If the bow you get has enough draw weight to actually qualify as an EWB and you're not a regular archer then there's no point in getting one as you will not be able to safely shoot the thing, it takes a lot of effort and practice to be able to even draw one of these bows.

[Ardent]

If you are really only going to use it for testing purposes, you could probably find someone trustworthy who you could mail the points to who could test them for you with their own warbow. If you can't find someone locally, that is.

[Eric Krewson]

Those para cord strung bows are made from PVC pipe. I have a friend who makes them, they actually shoot pretty good but aren't much in the looks department compared to a real wood bow.

[root]

Thanks I really don't plan on shooting much again enough to see them work.

There is no one local that shoots a standard bow everything around here is compound.
I can't even get a string for my bow local so I braid heavy string for it.
It's used mostly for fun and string arrows into trees to pull a cable and saw down branches.

I forge period correct sharp pointy items and other things.  when I forge something from history it's historically period correct as close as possible.

And that's where my interest lies in the arrows. History.
They are easy enough to hammer out. and looking at the type 16 it seems simple enough too, the more I look at it.
 Just as easy as a type 7,8, or 10

So the 550 stung bows are pvc... Hmmm who would have thought.

I have a whole lot of research to do before I construct a full arrow.
And a few more anvil tools to make just for Medieval arrows, mainly patterns/gauges for repetition.

It's important to me that the only difference between mine and the ones from history are age.

That's what brings me to this site, research on arrows of antiquity that were/are hand forged.
Not just the European ones but ones of all historic value.

Once I know more about the arrow heads themselves I wouldn't be against mailing them out.
Once they are consistent with size, shape, and weight.

For now I'm still working out details.
 I am taken back that they are so easy to forge and fast to turn out.
I should have started forging them 20 years ago.

Thanks

RIch

[mullet]

You'd be better off with a cross bow if you want to just test your points.

[WillS]

Are you case hardening your heads?  For me that's the biggest difference.  Loads of people are making their own now, to a really high standard, but not many are case hardening with period correct materials.

Have a go at the Type 16, its an intriguing thing. I recently set a friend in Slovakia a small challenge of producing a Type 16 with a half inch socket weighing just 10 grams.  He made a stunning one that was 11.8g which I'm the very proud owner of!

[willie]

There is no one local that shoots a standard bow everything around here is compound.

Thats the feeling a lot of us have, but you would be surprised what how close by some folks with similar interests are....

It might help if you mention where you are located, as there are people from all over the world posting here.

btw, thats some nice forging you posted in the intro forum
ps. folks here like pics!

[root]

Thanks for the compliment on the forgings. Been at it for better part of 20 years with new stuff to learn every day.

I do have a crossbow that I plan on making my own bolts for.  Standard recurve probably form the 60's or 70's bought it used.
I have a big fat pile of aluminum bolts for it.

I'm located in Scranton Pa. North America. Added it to my profile but it's not showing up next to my name.

I'm planning on forging out some more tips tomorrow today was spent working on a tool production for a viking axe that is forged a certain way. I also made a 5 degree 1/2 inch steel dowel today for thee bodkins. I'm hoping tomorrow to forge out 9 or ten flattened cones and trace them out until I get one that will be consistent with what I need when I scarf and wrap the cone.

That way I have a know dimension of the size "fish tail" I have to flatten before I wrap the cone.
Then a length gauge so I know how long they need to be for the hot cut.
And yes I will harden the the 1st 1/2 or 3/4 of the tip back to the shoulder.
What I have found so far is about 200 Grn. weight and 1 1/2 long for a standard square point bodkin.
and 1 1/4 inches for the long ones. these are for the 1/2 inch shafts.

I'm not finding much on the way of the type 16 for shaft diameter or length on museum sites though.

 thanks for the weight on the type 16 that's a big help and one less thing to hunt out.

Could you give me length and width ( bottom where the cutting fins flare out at the cone)
And what is the shaft diameter? 3/8 1/2 inch?

I'm not see anything on  the so called rope cuter that appears to be more of a soft target game arrow.
or the firebasket arrow heads either.


Rich


 

[WillS]

Mark Stretton uses a flat steel template for his, with spoon shape, hot cut length and shaft diameter hole all on one small square of steel.  Dead handy.  The spoon is drawn by simply measuring the circumference of the socket of a complete head all the way along, and plotting that flat, plus a bit extra for the overlap. 

A good Type 16 shouldn't really have flared out fins - the barbs which are fire welded onto the socket should be incredibly close to the socket, so that they look from a distance like one solid head.  The Tudor bodkin was likely an evolution of these, where the barbs just became one with the socket.  I think the heavily flared or "swept" Type 16s are more imaginative than historical.

This is the Type 16 that was made for me, and is being tested at the moment.  It was based on an existing find in the London Museum, and is virtually identical to about 7 of the ones in that collection.  The socket is 1/2".

[root]

WillS or anyone else for that matter.
Anyone know of any museums that have X-ray photos of these type 16 arrow heads.
Like they do of the viking wolf tooth spears, axes and the serpent in the sword designs.
Vikings were experts at forge welding and pattern steel. Also user/inventors of the steel bodkin from what my research has found.

The only X-ray photo I can find of the type 16 does NOT appear to be forge welded.
Photos and article here.
http://www.evado.co.uk/Hector%20Cole/PDFs/londonmuseum16arrowhead.pdf

* credit to Hector Cole* for the article and X-ray..... when ya wanna research start with the experts.

And there is a very simple way to make these that involves no welding what so ever.
I'd wager to forge weld a item that small x3( both barbs to one cone) wouldn't work to well the way forge welding is done.

and to forge the cone base then barb point  and weld them together at the cone top and inner shoulder  would be just as bad if not worse.
Not saying it can't be done it's just not production savvy and they were cranking these things out back then in record numbers. 3500 alone found on that Tudor ship wreck Mary Rose.

You don't make anything by hand like that in those numbers that is disposable that takes more then a few minutes to produce .

Rich

[toomanyknots]

Those para cord strung bows are made from PVC pipe. I have a friend who makes them, they actually shoot pretty good but aren't much in the looks department compared to a real wood bow.

Do those pvc bows actually pull warbow weight? I would imagine the handshock would be something awful.

[toomanyknots]

I forge period correct sharp pointy items and other things.  when I forge something from history it's historically period correct as close as possible.

I'm sure you could probably find someone to make you a bow for some good points, but as stated already your not be able to shoot warbow weight. I would opt for a light weight english longbow, something around 30# to learn with would be great for you.

[DC]

A good Type 16 shouldn't really have flared out fins - the barbs which are fire welded onto the socket should be incredibly close to the socket, so that they look from a distance like one solid head.

Do you know the thought behind these. Were they for armor penetration and the barbs soft so they would expand when they tried to pull them out? Or was there something in the design that caused them to expand on contact. The first dum-dums?