Wood? for Warbow/ Heavy elb

[Will Carothers]

hey guys, ive been building bows for ~2 years now, and i want to make my first true warbow. im only 15, so my funds are very... very limited, so what wood/ wood combinations do you think would work on my type of budget. ive done hickory, cherry, etc; but i know those probably arent the best for this design

[adb]

Osage, hickory backed osage, ipe, hickory/bamboo backed ipe are great combos for EWBs >100#s.

[killir duck]

pm tenbrook he's got ipe and  bamboo i think he sells them for 50 bucks

[fishfinder401]

What weight are you looking to get in this bow, alos I understand. your budget,  it can be tough at our ages to get enough money to get good wood without cutting it down ourselves

[Will Carothers]

I was hoping for ~75-80# or higher so i can start making my way up, i think a weight like this is a good starting point

[fishfinder401]

i think that would be a good starting point for you, maybe start closer to the 75 range though. so, what woods do you have access to, boards or staves would work, you said you have done hickory so im guessing you have some sort of access to that, which would work for your plans, it wont be the fastest bow, but it should work well for a first warbow

[gigmaster]

This is easy....either Hickory, or linen-backed White Oak, or Live Oak. You can go up to around 100 pounds at least, with these. I've never made one heavier, yet, but my White Oak warbow is 70" long, and pulls 97 pounds at 27" draw. I have it linen-backed. It shoots fast and crisp, with no slop anywhere.

The normal substitute for Yew in warbows is Red Oak. I bought a Red Oak longbow several years ago (EBay). It shot OK, but it felt really slow and mushy. It reminded me of an inexpensive fiberglass bow. I have made bows out of PVC that felt better. Don't get me wrong. The Red Oak was a great bow (I gave it to my step-son, who hunts with it regularly). It's just like the difference between driving a pick-up truck, and a GTO. Hickory is lighter and faster. So is White Oak and Live Oak. It think the English used Red Oak as a sub for Yew just because that's what they had, and as the French found out at Crecy and Agincourt, it worked. Elm was also used to a lesser extent.

I have been wanting to make a warbow from Elm. I think that will be my next project.

[Will Carothers]

Inmy experience, both of the oaks are horrible substitutes for yew, white oak may replicate its tension strength, but both of them are horible in compression, red oak likes a flat belly or oval, and so does white oak, but it usually takes excessive set.

From what ive read and researched, the english never tried oaks, especially in battle, they used elm as a back up, and usually ash as a last resort, but neither of these woods replaced the yew, as they had to be designed differently

Hickory may work, but im goin to the lumberyard monday, and im planning to pick up some hard maple, ash, hickory, and ipe

[DarkSoul]

The normal substitute for Yew in warbows is Red Oak.
(...)
It think the English used Red Oak as a sub for Yew just because that's what they had, and as the French found out at Crecy and Agincourt, it worked. Elm was also used to a lesser extent.

Impossible. Red oak is an exotic species in Europe. It does not grow here natively. We have several other native species of oak (such as Quercus robur), but no red oak. Red oak was introduced in Europe around the 17th century, long after the famous medieval battles. I cannot remember any archeological artifacts or recordings of oak being used in medieval bows. I don't think oak was considered a bowwood back then. Elm was, on the other hand. Elm was being used for warbows in that era.

[Loki]

I have a 75# 32" draw Longbow made with a Hickory Back,Greenheart core and Lemonwood belly.
It works great 

[blackhawk]

Of the woods you listed that you have available at your lumberyard,i wood get hickory and ipe,and make a hickory backed ipe

[mikekeswick]

Of the woods you listed that you have available at your lumberyard,i wood get hickory and ipe,and make a hickory backed ipe

2nd'ed

[fishfinder401]

Of the woods you listed that you have available at your lumberyard,i wood get hickory and ipe,and make a hickory backed ipe

2nd'ed

3rd'ed

[H Rhodes]

I think that white oak gets bad reviews sometimes, and I thought I agreed until I heat treated my first one.....  I made two bows from a 8" diameter "quercus alba"  log just recently.  Both were 70" ntn and about 50lbs draw weight.  The first one ended up with very average performance and 2 1/2" - 3" string follow.....  The second was tillered out to 50# @ 26" and then heat treated.  The limbs were toasted to a nice brown color and lightly "reverse floor tillered" mildly reflexing the tips to take out the set that was emerging.  THIS BOW WAS STRUNG THE NEXT DAY AND PULLED 65# @ 28"WITH 0 SET.  White oak loves heat treating and should stand up to any highly stressed design - just my opinion.

[mikekeswick]

I think that white oak gets bad reviews sometimes, and I thought I agreed until I heat treated my first one.....  I made two bows from a 8" diameter "quercus alba"  log just recently.  Both were 70" ntn and about 50lbs draw weight.  The first one ended up with very average performance and 2 1/2" - 3" string follow.....  The second was tillered out to 50# @ 26" and then heat treated.  The limbs were toasted to a nice brown color and lightly "reverse floor tillered" mildly reflexing the tips to take out the set that was emerging.  THIS BOW WAS STRUNG THE NEXT DAY AND PULLED 65# @ 28"WITH 0 SET.  White oak loves heat treating and should stand up to any highly stressed design - just my opinion.

Next time you heat treat a bow do it just when the bow starts to take the first bit of set - it will be even better then!