Mary Rose Replica Bow Build-Along--An Entrance into the World of War Bows

[duffontap]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to thank you for your patience with me as we've taken the slow road on this bow.  I want to continue here for a little while longer with strings, arrows, and shooting style--but for now--I think you're probably ready to see the finished bow.  I took it to the beach yesterday and shot it for the first time.  Conditions were windy and lousy, but it felt good to draw (try to draw) the finished bow.



The original Mary Rose bows were marked in the center (as the had no handle or rest) with a bowyer's mark.  This is the mark I burned into my bow:



Top horn nock:



Bottom horn nock:



Cross-section:



My first shot with the new war bow:



The bow draws 100# even at 28" which should project to about 120 at 32".  28" is as far as I can currently draw but is longer than the sortest arrows on the Mary Rose so it is a legitimate 'replica' draw. 



When unbraced after first shooting the bow showed a 3/4" set which was much less than expected.  At rest the set lowers to 1/4".  I expect it to eventually rise to about 1 1/4" after being shot in.  My wife spent half the day taking pictures and helping me with tests on the bow.  She was even good enough to hold it upright for the unbraced shot.  After testing the draw weight again she said, 'hey you should check the rpms on the vacume cleaner.'  I did.



Thanks for checkin' in.  If anyone has problems viewing the pics--send me an email and I'll shoot them off to you. 

More on arrows soon!

       J. D. Duff

[ratty]

outstanding duff fantastic bow  well done

a winner for bow of the month i think,excellent

ps. im so jealous 

[bullcreekboy]

Excellent work JD. This has been a very educational thread. The bow looks great.

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Whoo-wee-What a bow-bob

[Kviljo]

Awesome bow and pics! These bows must be the coolest there is

Nice to see the ocean too. Good place to practice flightshooting. Approximately how far did that arrow go?

[Badger]

That was great JD, beautiful bow, stunning!! I am impressed drawing that bow 28". One of the best buildalongs I have seen on primitive archer. I hope we will be ssining more of your work soon, I am still plugging along with my lighter weight longbows, may stop in a week or so and do some finishes on them, where do you buy your horn for the tips?  Steve

[Pat B]

Excellant, Josh. Like I said before, this thread needs to be archived for posterity.  Looking forward to your arrow and string  posts.
   What was the RPM on the vaccume cleaner?     Pat

[Ryano]

Nice pose! I love the look on your face at full draw! Nice job on the bow and the build along. Im having trouble getting my 75 pounder back to 28" lol....

[Roger]

Super bow JD!...excellent build as well. I have been building along with you. Your posts have been very informative for history as well as dimensions. Mines a "mini"   

Great job!

R

[Justin Snyder]

Once again J.D. that is one beautiful bow.  I just cannot stand waiting to see it at FULL draw.  Maybe you should send it  to me and Ill keep it exercised until you can work up to it.  LOL Its great and definitely worth waiting for. Ill be waiting for the arrows and string.  Justin

P.S. When you get done with the string and the arrows, we all want to see the propper way to make a flaming arrow.

[George Tsoukalas]

JD, that was a fantastic buildalong. The tiller on that bow is outstanding! Well done.

[Hillbilly]

JD, she's a beauty!( the bow looks awesome, too. ) Excellent job, thanks for letting us join you on the journey.

[heavybow]

Josh man thats a killer bow, great workmanship. Keep training you will pull that bow to 32" marlon

[duffontap]

Ratty,
Thanks so much.  You need to spring for a Yew stave and get that bow built!  Have you been thinking about buying one of those Italian Yew bows from Stratton?

Shannon,
Thanks for the compliments.  Check out the arrow page.  I just made up my first arrow (not a war arrow) with some of your feathers--beautiful bird. 

Thanks again Pubaman!

Kviljo,
I'm starting to think you may be right.  I love these bows.  I love the tiller, the performance, the look, the feel, the history, the lethality--they're just amazing weapons.  Thanks for hanging around.

Badger,
Thanks so much for the compliments.  I've learned so much since I started hanging around this site.  I'll be hounding you with questions when I start working up a flight bow. 

Thanks Pat,
I'm looking forward to your yew bow.  You bow of the month (Osage elb) a while back was awesome.  I would be honored if the thread was archived.  By the way, the rpms were sufficient to vacuum a weeks worth of wood shavings in the hall leading to my shop.   

Ryano,
Are you the Ryan who build the D-flex featured in PA?  That was a pretty sweet bow.  Your Yew English Longbow is excellent--a bow to be proud of and never let go of.  By the way,  you'll pick up ten pounds in drawing capability by drawing like I'm doing in the pic.  Sit back and let your back do the work for long draws and distance shooting.  I couldn't target shoot a 100# bow, but I can get one back war bow style. 

Thanks Roger,
I figured if I did the research I may as well spread the info around.  There was enough interest to make it well worth my time.  Thanks again.

Justin Snyder,
You just have to rub it in that I can't full-draw my bow!   Well, I'll post a pic when I get there.  Next time your on the Oregon Coast swing by my shop and run a few arrows through it. 

George,
Thanks a lot.  It took me a long time to tiller this bow.  You can see in the unbraced shot that the stave has a bit of character.  It's hard to get such a bow to look just right at full draw but I've studied it for days and I think it's right. 

Hillbilly,
She is a beauty.  Now if she wouldn't embarrass me so badly when we shoot together!  Thanks.

Marlon,
Thanks a lot.  I'm doing the workout you gave me every day plus some other stuff.  How long do you expect it will take me to get those last four inches?  I'm working really hard at it. 

            J. D. Duff

[Rich Saffold]

Beauty J.D.!  Impressive burning your initials in like that..stunning tips as well.. Looks like a great beach for distance shooting..especially with the wind!

Rich