Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: toymaker on March 03, 2011, 11:27:23 pm
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I'm starting to get a little wood selection now!! I'm thinking about building my wife a bow. She hasn't shot since she was s kid. I though it would be fun to go to the range as a family , so she needs a bow! I'm trying to save the best for my bow not to be greedy but I will have a much higher draw weight and stress the wood more. With that said Here are the wood choices I have... I have Hickory in both backing strips and belly stock. I also have White Oak in backing strips. i also have a bunch of Ash which I've made two bows out of already. I'm thinking of making a English Longbow. I'd like it narrower than a flatbow. She would be happy with a 30lb draw weight and a length of about 64". So what types of wood combo should I choose? What width should I make it? I know the tillering creates the thickness and the width stays about the same throughout the tillering process. Where should I start? The bow the I blew up was narrower but it was an Ash backed Ash bow with, I think, a glue failure. I'm just looking for a little guidance!
Thanks,
Gary
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Hey toymaker...
I just mde my mom a bow.... It is a 64" long selfbow and was made out of a red oak board although any of the woods that you mentioned would work. The bow pulls about 25# at 27"... The bow was made from a 1x2 board with okay grain but with low weights almost any board will work..( within reason) .. Here are the stats..
64" long d-bow with a semi-stiff handle section ( pyramid front view profile)
1.5 inch at the fades tapering straight to 1/2 inch tips...
Limbs are about 3/8 of an inch thick but they started at 1/2 inch thick before tillering.. ( handle is 5/8 inch thick)
The bow tillered very easily with only 3 trips to the tillerin tree:) it's very sweet shooting and the outer limbs are extremely light so it is vet fast for 25#... And accurate.
I'm going to probably post pics this weekend so you can se what I'm talking about:)
Jon
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O yeah.. I almost forgot.. The bow took almost no set.. Only about 1/2 an inch or so.
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you can probablly take 2 hickory backing strips and 1 white oak backing strip in the middle, glue it up pyramid 1" 1/2" wide down to 3/8 tips and be real close to 30#, Bub
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i think I want to try a ELB style. Does Hickory or White oak work for a backing on Ash in an ELB?
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It would work... Except you would have to hav a really thin bow for that light of a weight... Especially if the bow is only 64" long.. Therefore unless you use light woods, the bow probably won't have that much of the d bellied longbow shape.. (5/8 rule).. It would have more of a flatbow shape, but would take more work thAn a pyramid type bend through the handle bow.. But If you really want a long bow, GO FOR IT! see how it turns out... I'd be very interested to know. Good luck.
Ifrit
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Do you know what type of ash it is and is that 64" nock to nock or tip to tip? I would think that the hickory or oak backing would overpower most ash species and you would end up with a wife who is scared to touch a bow again :) I tend to treat making a bow for a lady the same as I would a kid in the respect that you don't want to use a weaker wood just to make sure they don't get hurt or scared away from shooting.
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Thanks for the input!