English Longbow

[Bamboo-Bows]

A few weeks ago I found some Wengé boards that came of an old balcony. I couldn’t resist getting a sawblade in there and cut off some pieces. This Longbow has a core strip of Wengé as a try out. It is not the easiest wood to work with. A splinter causes more irritation and the dust causes health problems. But the grain and texture is pretty cool. 

The longbow is made with a bamboo back, wenge, purpleheart and a massaranduba belly. The bow is topped off with cow horn nocks. I really like the grain texture seen in this horn. You are almost able to look through the horn. The bow is tillered to 36lbs at 28”. It measures 72 inches including the nocks.

A tip for bowyers out there. When working on multiple bows it becomes a nuisance to make strings that are fit for tillering. The solution is simple. Make one long string and put a metal ring in between. Just twisting the string into the loop makes it shorter without having to put any knots in, or making new strings. Very convenient! I learned this tip from Jaap Bolt, Leon Loef and I am sure others use this method as well.

This Longbow is glued up with reflex and holds it shape very well. After shooting it a while it still holds a few inches when immediately unstrung. Going to be a very nice lightweight bow.

Longbow draw by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Full draw longbow by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Longbow handle by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Longbow horn nock by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Longbow horn nock top by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Longbow handle by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

English longbow wood by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Nock Longbow by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

[superdav95]

Beautiful bow!

[RyanY]

Stunning wood combo. Looks great!

[Del the cat]

Nice work
Del

[bassman211]

Nice work.

[WhistlingBadger]

Nice.  Love that translucent cow horn!

[bownarra]

Pretty cool bow Wenge is a nice wood to use every once in a while - not good for you to use a lot of it the dust is a nightmare....
Just a tip where your nocks get to the bellyside try opening them out- this will make your strings last longer. Think what the string does as you draw the bow.
You can pick up more speed and less handshock with a stronger elliptical tiller. Especially with the lighter weights/dense woods.

[organic_archer]

Impeccable work, as always! Love the colors on this one.

[Allyn T]

Beautiful bow, great work as always. I made one really long tiller string and just use a bowyers knot on one end so I can use it at any length I need

[Stixnstones]

Beautiful wotk as always

[Bamboo-Bows]

Thanks for your comments everyone!

Pretty cool bow Wenge is a nice wood to use every once in a while - not good for you to use a lot of it the dust is a nightmare....
Just a tip where your nocks get to the bellyside try opening them out- this will make your strings last longer. Think what the string does as you draw the bow.
You can pick up more speed and less handshock with a stronger elliptical tiller. Especially with the lighter weights/dense woods.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll try it on the next bow and see. Going to work outside on a yumi with wenge, and wear a mask because it can be nasty indeed.

[SETPARAPUSETH]

Impeccable work, congratulations on that beautiful piece of art.

[druid]

Nocks are beautiful.

[Flntknp17]

This is absolutely fantastic!  I have been wanting to build a similar bow for a while, and I have all the woods I need, but I have been unsure how thick to cut everything.  I have the ability to cut any thickness I need.  Would you be willing to share the thicknesses of the core and the belly?  What I would like to avoid is cutting the cores too thick and having to tiller away the belly on the outer parts of the limbs.

Thanks

Matt

[George Tsoukalas]

That is a beauty with an excellent tiller. Jawge