Tiller help

[stuckinthemud]

Thank you for all your comments, I think I’m going to leave it and press on.  Initially I was miffed but actually it is a good lesson about preconceptions- since the original was in a castle moat, then it must be a combat bow? So I was expecting a heavy draw weight. A knock-about hunting bow shouldn’t be a surprise especially as the moat seemed to double as a rubbish dump. Maybe it had been thrown away when obsolete or worn out, we’ll never know, but I suspect it represents the ‘normal’ kind of crossbow for every day use. A 150lb easy to use hunting bow for putting dinner on the table

[superdav95]

Good point and well said. 

[Hamish]

Nothing wrong with your bow. I would expect your results would be pretty typical, if not good for the dimensions, and for the parameters of its use.
I look forward to seeing the final product. I have no doubt it will be really cool.

[WhistlingBadger]

I don't know of course, because I wasn't there, but I suspect it's a misconception that everyone went about wearing armor in the middle ages.  English warbows were extremely heavy because they were made to bring down armored, French cavalry.  But the majority of most armies would have been made up of commoners with spears and no metal armor.  So your "knock about hunting bow" actually could have been extremely effective raining bolts down on the cannon fodder trying to cross the moat or border reivers trying to pound down the gates. 

Effective, that is, up until the archer accidentally dropped it off the wall into the moat.  I wonder what the cuss words were in old English?  "Alas, 'tis #@*!!!"

[stuckinthemud]

True enough but thick padding and chain mail and/or thick leather were pretty common even by the 11th century.

[Zugul]

True enough but thick padding and chain mail and/or thick leather were pretty common even by the 11th century.

A channel on youtube has made some pretty extensive and in depth experiments about how medieval plate armor, gambison, leather and chainmail respond to an arrow shot from different poundage bows, If it's not against the forum rules I can share the name of the channel or even the title of the video here 

[stuckinthemud]

I think it’s ok to post incomplete links, like missing out a “w” from “www”

[Zugul]

okay then, this is the link without a w from www
https://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWipvLiCjY
here he's trying to shoot trough gambeson, a kind of layered linen tissue used for making armor in medieval times with a crossbow that shoots arrows of a certain weight at the same speed as a 160# @ 30" (or 32, I don't remember) english longbow.