idea for a 60" full bending bow

[ekalavya]

hello,
it's my first post ... so sorry ... if I am not right ...

I got an idea for a 60" long bow , which should be full bending ... so no real handle
... and thus it should only be 1.5" broad ...

but it's difficult to find long enough staves where I live and when I find them , they
turn out to  be not to be straight enough ...
A 4 ft one , however is no problem and easy enough to find and to carry and so i thought
no need to glue somehow difficult two parts together ... but just somehow fix - either by gluing
or binding - there one feet long stiff parts and thus making it a 60" or 6 ft long stave ...

... starting tillering and with a flat piece make it a nice circular tiller except for the endings ,
which can and should not bend ...

I got the feeling , this idea ... or just some persons i talked on the net ... reacted quite "estranged"
/"puzzled"    .... and all i can think of is , that maybe they find the 1.5" for the bow's width a little
... maybe "weird" .... or that a bow with stiff ends must have a handle or so ...

maybe i should talk with other guys , and that's pretty much why I am here

[DC]

If I'm following you. You can splice billets in the handle. I did a search
https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=splicing+billets&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=&gws_rd=ssl

Some of these hits may answer your question.

[wizardgoat]

Hello and welcome.
What is your question?
People splice billets all the time and even make them bend in the handle.
If your new to this, keep looking for a full length stave and make a board bow or
2 while you wait for them to dry.
Post your location, someone here may live close to you

[ekalavya]

Just thought ... maybe , attaching to the ends might be easier ....

and usually when trying to do things , "one" runs into trouble
... i might not be the only one

maybe , i just show what i tried desperatly ...

[DC]

No. Sorry> Study some of the stuff on that link I posted.

[Limbit]

Mate, making a bow like what you want should be fairly straight forward apart from the issues you are having with sourcing wood. From the pictures, it really looks like you simply need to spend the time to research trees in your area and source a good piece of wood, let it cure appropriately and while it is curing, research your design. You can do a simple English Long Bow design that is lower poundage and a little wider and flatter in the limb. It shouldnt really be too difficult if the wood is okay, but what you are trying to do with the wood you have now is probably going to end in a lot of frustration. Do you have the Traditional Bowers Bible? There are numerous volumes and it walks you through everything you'll need to know....they are especially vocal about sourcing good wood. So, research, research, research wood in your area. Learn how to ID it and where straight pieces will most likely be found. Alternatively, visit an apple, plum or pear orchard and ask to look through their trimmings for some splicable limbs. Unless you are in the desert somewhere, you should have some good wood around if you learn where to look. And if you're in the desert, learn how to find good juniper limbs or how to harvest living staves without harming the tree. Where are you located?

[bubby]

That looks pretty sketchy my friend do a search on here for a guy i think his screen name is fiddler 69 he made a real easy takedown 2pc bow

[bubby]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,38294.0.html
Check this one out

[ekalavya]

Thanks for the replies.
Unfortunately the flaws in my idea are still not found , so let me say it this way
"What's wrong with stiff levers/ends on an early English longbow?" 

To me it seems after mentiong stiff not bending ends and soon the Molly/Mollegabet
design is popping up .... together with its broad bending parts and its stiff handle
as though they  belong together like egg white and yolk.

Also to me it seems that 1.5" and a Molly don't go hand in hand, but an 1.5" broad ELB
draws its 70lb or at least 50lb without any problems. And then some guy makes some
comments on the perfect circular tiller .... (just my personal experience until now)

@bubby
yes, that's pretty close to what i wanted. i noticed the standing rings ... and the
typical broadness , the levers and the handle --- (2 pieces overlapping and securing pins)

actually the german guys on the net keep on telling me --- "don't ever hurt the back" and "carefully
take off the bark" ... and now i see there again , it doesn't matter at all
(maybe that's some myth round there or their joke with newbies... but kinda some sort of belief ... )

@Limbit
Near the Hungarian border in a small town.
There are lots of black locust or "akaci" as the locals call it, although i have heard only
the core wood makes good bows as with osage.

[DavidV]

Nope, those German guys have it right about the back. Not sure why you doubt it.

The problem with your splice is that it's weak, I certainly wouldn't want to shoot it when it lets go. A Z splice or fishtail splice are going to be much stronger.

[PatM]

Black Locust is just fine. It seems you are asking if a bendy handle narrower bow can have stiff levers as tips. Of course they can,
 and you can safely splice those into  a shorter stave if that's all that's available.

[ekalavya]

@PatM

guess, i got it answered by you right now ... thanks
when it's finished i gotta name it "Obama" ...

@David...
i wonder what's gonna happen when i show them the standing ring Mollies mentioned earlier
here .... (to me they seem to be unbacked)

[PatM]

Don't confuse a tree stave with a violated back ring with a lumber stave selected for straight grain.

[DaveMac]

@David...
i wonder what's gonna happen when i show them the standing ring Mollies mentioned earlier
here .... (to me they seem to be unbacked)

The bow doesn't need to be backed, but you do want the back to be undamaged. So this means carefully removing bark on whitewood, or carefully chasing a single growth ring on woods like osage. I think that you chase a ring on black locust as well (only something I have read, no personal experience myself).

@PatM

guess, i got it answered by you right now ... thanks
when it's finished i gotta name it "Obama" ...

maybe something is getting lost in translation here, can you explain?

[bubby]

I posted that link for the splice connection and not because it was a molly, i see no reason this won't work with a narrower bow although I'm not sure what length of stiff levers you are thinking ,  and there is a huge differance between a select board (standing rings) and a tree stave