White Wood ENGLISH Long Bow Challenge

[snakebow]

I'm out. I have a vine maple I'm working on but it"s only 64" long with 1 3/4" wide limbs. With all the knots in the bow I don't think i could get the limbs narrow enough.

[ThimoS]

I'll be using my new elm stave.

[D. Tiller]

Working on the Guava!

[Kegan]

My sassafras is getting close to tillering. It's straightenned, roughed out, tempered, and geting backed. Wish me luck!

[longfletch]

here are some pics of the sweetgum elb i made awhile back, not the best looking bow, but i like it, its light weight, sweet shooting. its 74"L, 1 1/4" wide to midlimb-3/8" tips..48#@28" draw,1 1/2" set. it had some fretting on top limb that i wrapped with sinew. the top limb is bending more than it should, but i decided to leave it, it shoots fine. sweet gum is an ok wood for bows up to 50's#, prob would make a great holmegaard type bow, its a pain to split, but easy to find perfect, clean wood.
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[D. Tiller]

Question! When you guys rough out an ELB do you keep the bow the same thickness from handle to tips or do you reduce the thickness from handle to tips? Is the 5:8 ratio enough with the back layout to casue the bow to floor tiller?

[longfletch]

taper like this

 [/img]
 
 

[Kegan]

D.Tiller- ELBs, for me, are tough to get right on dimensions from the get go, unless you follow some general dimensions from someone else. So far, the "best" ELB dimensions that have worked for me were Pope's in Hunting with the Bow and Arrow, 1 1/4" for 10" on both sides of the handle, tapering to 3/4" wide tips (these get narrowed alot later). 1 1/4" thick tapering to 1/2" thick tips. I strayed from this too much and it cost me alot of cast on my sassafras bow.

Anyway, here's my FIRST sassafras bow. 70" long, a little over 1 1/4" wide between the middle of the limbs to about 1/2" or so nocks. About 1" or so at the thickest. Came out at 65#, with so-so cast for the weight. This is due to my not following one set of dimensions, but trying to use several. It's backed with a cotton sheet and needs alot of beauty work. I should also narrow the tips. Took about two incehs of set.

This bow would have turned out much better had I started off as narrow as it is now. Originally it was about 80#, but was only bending in the mid limb-to-tip area, casuing alot of compaction and some string follow. Due to some back and forth character, I had trouble limbering the center in time during the breaking in period. But it held, and the tiller, though still off, is better than I'd expected. Shoots straight and is sweet to shoot, but not strong enough for me to take hunting. More pictures when she's all gussied up.

I started a hickory, and will start another sassafras- this time knowing what to do with it. But ThimoS was veyr right- sassafras does make a good ELB.

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[longfletch]

oops! last pic didnt show, heres a simple diagram
[img][/img]

[D. Tiller]

What weight of a bow will the that give ya longfletch?

I have built a couple now an I have used direct taper from the handle to the tips and taper from midlimb to tips too. I found of the two I did the first was the best shooter so far. I made them arround 74-76" long by 1 1/4" wide at the handle.

Anyone have a sugestion on how wide I should make the bow if I want it to pull arround 90# at 31" of draw?

Did I mention I will be making it from Manny's Strawberry Guava?

Kegan, for the heavier weight bow I think I would aim for a 1 1/2" width by 1 1/4" thick at the handle and taper it to 3/4" at the nocks before adding the horn tips. Then reduce tip dimenstions for ben and to put on the horn nocks.

I'm thinking the strawberry guava may be able to take the shock on the nocks not to have to use horn there. Should I put the horn on just to be on the safe side?

Longfletch, looks like you taper right out of the handle. Am I seeing this right?

[orcbow]

Keegan- Good job with the sass. long bow! I'm glad to learn that sassafras will make a good ELB. I love that wood.

 Anyway, I was wondering: does the whitewood bow challenge mean woods that are white only, or do we mean woods that are not the traditional favorites (like osage and yew). Hickory and Ash and Maple are white woods,so is Hophornbeam and Dogwood. I am assuming that the natural color of the wood is not the issue...

[Justin Snyder]

David, it depends on the type of wood and the quality of the piece.

Orc, whitewood is generally any that you would use the sapwood on.  With osage, mulberry and a few others you use the heartwood. Yew is whitewood but is excepted from this contest.

This does bring up an interesting question.  Can I use mulberry sapwood?  Justin

[radius]

whatever you use, you can always paint it white when you're done...

[Minuteman]

Justin , Adam , the whole thing with the WW ELB Challenge is to make an ELB out of wood that isn't considered LB wood. White wood is just a term to describe ( mostly) North American woods that are white throughout like HHB or hickory or have white sapwood.
 Yes, Justin you can make one out of mulberry.Ain't too many rules just the way you like it. You might even chase a ring in the sapwood so you get a white layer for the back like a yew LB would have.
 Use whatever you want.
 Chris

[Badger]

Kegan, tiller on that bow is excellent, I have been playing around trying to find a good starting demension as well. I normally start about the way you described tapered to 3/4 tips and then just play it by ear and eye gradually reducing. Steve