Yew English Longbow

[Weylin]

This project started with a flawless Pacific yew stave with nice thin sapwood and very tight growth rings. The bow is 66" long ntn and pulls 58#@28". The person I was building the bow for wanted a little stiffness in the handle so it is tillered accordingly. The horn nocks and the inlaid arrow pass are both cow horn. The top nock ended up revealing a ton of color and variation, I though the bottom tip would offer the same but the core of that horn was nearly black so they ended up a little mismatched. Adds some charm, I guess. The finish on this bow is a natural beeswax/linseed oil blend (it's called Tried and True) built up in several coats and buffed until it glowed.

[IrishJay]

Another beauty Weylin. I love how straight it is in the unbraced profile, looks like it took absolutely zero set.

[portlandfire]

 
Gorgeous as always.  Beautiful workmanship!

[Del the cat]

Lovely ELB (regardless of what some opinionated comments on FB says  )
I love the way some staves give an almost flat or concave back in places where the under-bark surface undulates.
Del

[bradsmith2010]

Congrats,,.beautiful

[Lehtis]

Nice!

[Eric Krewson]

Looks a little stiff below your hand for about a foot on the bottom limb.

[bradsmith2010]

Eric,,looking at the unbraced profile,, seems a little reflexed in that area,, could be making it look a bit stiff,,thats my take on it,,seems well tillered to me,, I would have to see it in person,, maybe ship it to me and let me shoot it a couple of years,, to know for sure,,,

[Weylin]

Thanks guys!

Another beauty Weylin. I love how straight it is in the unbraced profile, looks like it took absolutely zero set.

It took a hair of set from tillering and shooting in, it will likely take a bit more as it really gets shot but I'm pleased with the profile that it's held. Definitely within the realm of acceptability.

Lovely ELB (regardless of what some opinionated comments on FB says  )
I love the way some staves give an almost flat or concave back in places where the under-bark surface undulates.
Del

I appreciate that, Del. I didn't lose too much sleep over it. I always have to brace myself for those guys whenever I make a bow based on something historical whether it's a Viking bow, a Mollegabet, or an ELB. I don't really do replicas, I see something cool and then I use my judgement. This bow would have been an absolute dog if I'd made it 70" long.

[lonbow]

That´s a beautiful bow, Weylin! I love it!
I wouldn´t care too much about comments saying that this is no longbow. I know of different archaeological findings from the late middle ages and the renaissance that differ from the official definition of today. So these historical bows from England weren´t longbows? I think they were!

How did you keep the set so low. I mean, this bow is quite short for the depth of the bow limb. How long did you store the wood? Did you heat treat the belly?

lonbow

[Pappy]

Beautiful bow Weylin, he should be proud of that.
 Pappy

[Weylin]

That´s a beautiful bow, Weylin! I love it!
I wouldn´t care too much about comments saying that this is no longbow. I know of different archaeological findings from the late middle ages and the renaissance that differ from the official definition of today. So these historical bows from England weren´t longbows? I think they were!

How did you keep the set so low. I mean, this bow is quite short for the depth of the bow limb. How long did you store the wood? Did you heat treat the belly?

lonbow

Thanks, I agree. I'm sure there was a lot of variation back in the day. We only have a few examples to go off of and I think that skews the results. I totally understand the fascination with historical bows and why people would want to recreate them. I just don't understand caring that much about how someone else chooses to make their bows. As for the set. I was expecting to get a bit more than I did. The wood is very fine grained and has been seasoning for at least 6 years, I believe. The top limb had a hint of natural deflex which I corrected along with a bit of twist but that was the only heating I did on it. I expect the bow will settle into a half inch of set or so as it truly gets shot in. It is only getting pulled to 26" so that helps the matter. I would have made it longer for a longer draw length.

[bjrogg]

Another sweet bow Weylin. It's better than a replica. It's an original. . I'm not on FB. Sometimes I'd like to, but always seems like so much drama. I'm sure I'd be in trouble in no time. My wife says I spend to much time on here already. She's probably right.
Bjrogg
PS I'm the same way. I don't do replicas. I am heavily influenced by things I like, but I don't even pretend to know all the details of replicas. Just not my thing

[HH~]

Nice ELB style bow. Wouldn’t worry about a tad of set or deflex etc. Bet it shoots well.


HH~

[leonwood]

Nicely done as always Weylin! And don't worry about those guys on Facebook. I don't post my bows on those pages anymore because there are always guys hating on the fact that it is not historically correct. They always seem to forget that it is fun to make ANY type of wood bow and experiment with different designs! I even stopped using names like ELB and Mollegabet etc. and call all my bows either longbow or flatbow to avoid those useless discussions.
Keep 'm coming!