bow-making-msg - 1/10/08
Making archery bows. Medieval bows.
NOTE: See also the files: crossbows-msg, p-archery-msg, quivers-msg, arrows-msg, bowstrings-msg, arch-supplies-msg, arrow-making-FAQ.
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TO: Robert Fitzmorgan
FROM: Stormbringer
SUBJECT: Re: Longbows
RF-: Does anyone have information on the
RF-: construction of longbows or
RF-: know where to find it? Any help would be greatly
RF-: appreciated. Thanks.
You might write and ask Bear Archery (they make the things...or at least
they used to). There are a few bowyers around still, though the really
good ones have orders stacked up for a few years.
The choice wood is Yew (grows in the Pacific Northwest from what I've
heard). You need well cured, straight-grained staves to start with.
You need to carve them to just the right shape so that they curve
properly without breaking and don't twist or give too much. You also
have to get them to move smoothly back to the starting position when you
release them. Can you say "very tricky"? I knew you could!
It is not an easy craft to master. It takes a lot of time, but since
you will have to wait 7 to 10 years for the staves to cure properly you
should have time to practice the carving part... ;^)
It is *much* easier if you are willing to make a laminated bow and use
things like fiberglass. A Yew self-bow is historically correct and
would make a fine weapon (ask anyone in midieval Europe!) but it is not
easy to make properly and takes a bit of maintenance to keep it in shape
(don't let the wood dry out or get too wet, store it so it doesn't
develop twisted limbs, etc.).
Even if you get the bow made, you still need arrows! Can't buy good
fletching-quality goose feathers anymore. Everyone sells turkey these
days (or <shudder!> *plastic*. Horn nocks aren't available commercially
either. Hardwood shafts? Ask around at Pensic, but expect to pay over
$100 a dozen...
Good luck!
((( STORMBRINGER )))
* Origin: >> The Ophiuchi Hotline << Forward! Into the past! (1:109/508)
TO: Robert Fitzmorgan
FROM: Par Garou
SUBJECT: Re: Longbows
RF> Does anyone have information on the construction of longbows or
RF> know where to find it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
RF> Robert.
Greetings Robert.
I am currently in the process of crafting a bow. The difficulty isn't
in the process, but in the time involved. I've been working on this bow (a
short bow, measured from fingertips to opposite shoulder) since early April
(not including curing time) and it's still quite rough. I figure I have about
4-6 months of work left to it. It is quite a rewarding experience if you have
the patience to allow the tree/bow to become a part of you.
There are many ways to craft bows, the best methods (and the easiest)
I've seen can be found in Tom Brown's survival series, specifically
"Wilderness Survival" and "Living with the Earth". Living with the Earth is
quite good for not only bow craftsmanship but also shelter construction, hide
tanning, etc. Quite useful series of books for anyone.
Also, don't be too disappointed if you make a bow and somewhere during
the process it snaps. It happens and even though it can be disheartening
experience, the best bet is to grab another staff and start again....
* Origin: Cat House - What century is this? (703) 525-1731 (1:109/155)
From: BETHS at ksuvm.ksu.EDU
Date: 20 May 91 20:26:00 GMT
Honorable archers may be interested in:
McEwen, Edward, Robert L. Miller and Christopher A. Bergman, Early Bow Design a
nd Construction. Scientific American, June 1991, (264:6) pp. 76-83.
Asked to name the most crucial discoveries of early humans, most people would
quickly come up with fire and the wheel. A third may well be the bow. It served as the principal weapon for hunting and warfare until the use of firearms be
came widespread in the 16th century. Bows were developed in virtually all cult
ures, and some achieved high levels of technological sophistication.
From: haslock at rust.zso.dec.com (Nigel Haslock)
Date: 22 Jul 91 21:09:31 GMT
Organization: DECwest, Digital Equipment Corp., Bellevue WA
Ioseph.of.Locksley at f29.n114.z1.fidonet.org (Ioseph of Locksley) said:
> The English (Welsh) longbow has two rather glaring characteristics:
> 1) it is a "self" bow, i.e. not laminated, but made from one pice of wood,
> sometimes with the knots left in....
> 2) and most important, it is -not- flat on both sides, but rather flat
> on the inside of the bow, and -rounded- on the outside.....
I beg to differ. Since the outer face of the bow is carved to follow a growth
ring, it too is curved. The outer face is the one away from the string. The
inner face, or belly, is where the deeply curved face is.
e.g.
/--__
| -
| \
| | 0 <-string
| /
| __-
\--
Making a bow that included a significant knot would be a bad idea as the knot
constitutes a magor weakness. A yew bow is almost guaranteed to include pins,
i.e. knots a sixteenth of an inch across, because that is the way it grows.
Fiacha
Aquaterra, AnTir
From: kuijt at topgun.UUCP (kuijt)
Date: 22 Jul 91 20:33:12 GMT
Organization: Los Alamos Nation Labratory, MEE-10
Ioseph of Locksley speaks of the Longbow:
I> The English (Welsh) longbow has two rather glaring characteristics:
I>
I>1) it is a "self" bow, i.e. not laminated, but made from one pice of wood,
I> sometimes with the knots left in....
This is certainly true... Yew and Elm were favorite woods...
I>2) and most important, it is -not- flat on both sides, but rather flat
I> on the inside of the bow, and -rounded- on the outside.....
I am afraid that you are misinformed. A "fully stacked" bow is
one that is rounded on the belly of the bow, and flat (not totally flat,
but flat in comparison) on the back of the bow. The belly of the bow is
the string side, which would seem to me to be what you mean by the
"inside". All medieval English and Welsh longbows seem to have been
fully stacked bows. This statement is based upon illustrations (in
which it is not always clear), and the one surviving medieval English
bow that was NOT found in the Mary Rose, and all of the hundred odd bows
that were found in the Mary Rose (sunk 1547).
Sir Dafydd ap Gwystl kuijt at agps.lanl.gov
Spending the Summer in the Outlandish Mountains, where the Ladies are
fair, kind, and my Countess will demand an accounting of every hand I
kiss when I get back to Atlantia...
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: vader at meryl.csd.uu.se (]ke Eldberg)
Subject: Re: Traditional Archery Tackle (Was: Archery Rankings in Kingdoms?)
Organization: Indiana Jones University
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1993 19:18:47 GMT
William de Corbie greets all.
Here are a few bowyers who make traditional English longbows:
Don Adams, 17 Granta Tce., Gt Shelford, Cambridge CB2 5DJ
Rex Baddeley, Bow Cottage, 19 Cefn Rd., Cefn Cribwr, Mid Glam CF32 0AR
John Bennett, 5 Denis Road, Burbage, Hinckley, Leics.
Chris Boyton, 32 Frays Close, Money Lane, W.Drayton, Middx. UB7 7PF
John Cave, 15+17 Broad Street Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1NG
Hector Cole (arrowsmith), The Mead, Gt Somerford, Chippenham SN15 5JB
David Edwards, 9 Hanover Terrace, Whitby, N Yorks. UO21 1QQ
Lou Friend, Slindon Post Office, Slindon, Arundel, W Sussex BN18 0RR
Dudley Garrett, The Oast, Bellwood Farm, Hurst Green, Etchingham, Sussex
Hilary Greenland, 14 Upton Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1LP
Richard Head, 9 Kingsfield Grange Road, Bradford on Avon, Wilts BA15 1BE
Stuart Homer, 131 Tennyson Drive, Great Malvern, Worcs WR14 2 UL
Roy King, St Nicholas Road, Blackpool, Lancs
Edward McEwen, 10 Richmond Way, Wanstead, London E11 3QT
Rick O'Ruark, O'Ruark Clan Trust, Main St. Dromahair, Co.Leitrim, Eire
(I have more...)
William
From: jct at reed.EDU (Jack Thompson)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: bows/arrows
Date: 30 Sep 1993 04:25:46 -0400
Hari Heath has been seasoning a stock of yew for a time now; I have a bow
on order from him and it will appear in the fullness of time. His bows
have a good look and feel. He hunts with them (using arrows of his own
manufacture) and has put meat on the table thereby. He also manufactures
a bowyer's vise for those who like to roll their own. His address is:
Hari Heath
Box 126
Santa, ID 83866
I don't know what he charges for arrows; I make my own, so the question
never came up.
Another source (who's work I have not seen) is:
Robert Parks
Bitterroot Bows and Replication
Rt. 1, Box 138
Troy, ID 83871
On his card, he indicates that he provides "Custom sinew backed bows;
spine matched indian/asian style arrows; flintknapping; authentic replica
equipment."
I make my arrows from Western Red Cedar; from the leftovers after
splitting out 10 foot-long shakes. The debris makes awfully good fire
starter.
Jack C. Thompson
who has to decide whether or not the charcoal from the fire pit goes to
the outhouse or the forge; 'course, when the mosquitoes/flies are not
buzzing about, there's no question.
From: jcaldwll at oregon.uoregon.edu (Jim Caldwell)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: More Trad Archery Stuff
Date: 7 Oct 1993 00:00:14 GMT
Organization: UOregon
In response to Galen Woodwalker:
>In any case, *where* did you get your longbows?
I was lucky in that my lady (now my wife) had found a yew bow at a garage
sale (!) with a broken nock. In order to repair it, she and her best friend
tracked down a local bowyer by following hints and rumours they picked up
at a bow shop. Later she built a bow (lemonwood (dagame -sp?- outside
U.S.)) with some instruction from the bowyer. I therefore had both her
experience and the bowyers wisdom to draw from when I built my bow (yew).
Since then we have also built an ash bow (I don't recommend this wood as a
result) and re-worked 4 bows we picked up used at various places. I _do
not_ consider myself an expert by any means, but perhaps I've learned
enough to be of help. We are not interested at this time in making bows
for people, however, as mundane time limitations (me) and harp-making (my
wife) get in the way.
While looking for bow-making materials in magazines (our bowyer no longer
carries staves or billets), I recently found a magazine I hadn't seen
before called _Traditional Bowhunter_ that seems to have tons of ads for
finished equipment and even some bow-making supplies! See if you can order
an issue from a good magazine stand or bookseller if it's not easily
available in your area. Info is: _Traditional Bowhunter Magazine_, P.O.
Box 15583, Boise ID 83715, Ph (208) 888-4710 after 6 pm MST. I couldn't
find an ISBN # in it.
Galen writes:
>should this pressure to get traditional equipment be made part of an archery
>ranking or awards system?
I certainly agree not. If an area gets to the point were a large number of
people have traditional equipment, set up a seperate catagory if you feel
the need, but don't regulate people out of playing. IMO I consider ranking
systems unnecessary, but that's neither here nor there. I'm a poor archer
and know it, but rankings could someday be used to prevent entry into
competitions and therefore take some of the fun away for us perpetual low
score dwellers.
The 'Traditional Bowyer's Bible' that Galen mentioned is a great book that
I need to get for my own library, and should be a welcome addition to any
Baronial/Shire libraries out there.
Thanks for listening, Jehan
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: John, R., Edgerton <sirjon at waffle.sns.com>
Subject: Re: Archery info needed!!
Keywords: archery, bows,arrows
Organization: Systems'n'Software, Fremont, CA 94539-6669
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 20:03:03 PST
ni-ten at wship.nullnet.fi (Esa Kivel{) writes:
> Unto all gentles does Lord Kimura no Esashi, Kinght-Marshal of
> Aarnimetsa does greetings.
>
> Well we have some memberes in our shie here who are interested in
> archery. Where we get some info how to build bows and arrows etc? All
> info are welcomed.
>
> If somebody knows something about it, he/she can also send private email
> to me, thank you.
>
> Lord Kimura no Esashi
> ni-ten at wship.nullnet.fi
>
> Esa Kivela
> Kaskitie 6
> 04400 Jarvenpaa
> FINLAND
There are two excellent books currently in print that
would be a good reference to the begining bowyer. They are:
Tfhe traditional Bowyer's Bible vol. 1 and vol.2. They can be
ordered through Bois dArc Press. (817) 237-0829. Or you might
find some of the larger book stores and through a book search
through your local libary. I would also reconmend the FAQs on
the Alt.Archery board here on Internet.
There are two good magizines on the stands that would
be of help too. The Traditional Bowhunter which has a few articles
on bow making (208)888-4710. The other is the Primitive Archer,
this is the better of the two for the bowyer interested in making
their own self(all wood) bows or arrows. (409)632-8746.
Good luck with your bow making
Sir Jon Fitz-Rauf John R. Edgerton
Esfenn,Mists,West Newark, California
sirjon at waffle.sns.com (John, R., Edgerton)
Systems'n'Software
Free Public Access Internet BBS
(510)623-8652
From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bow making
Date: 18 Apr 94 11:37:31
Organization: STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow, UK.
>I am trying to make a working bow and not having much luck. For the moment I'm
>trying the standard longbow but am open to the Meare Heath flat bow. I'm in
>school so not much money for materials (there is a place in TX that sells
>billets for bows but they start at $60.00. If I can even make one out of
>rattan, I will sacrifice my glaive.
Do you have access to any supplies of wood at all? My boyfriend made a
boughstave bow from hazel, it wasn't the best bow in the world, but it
was shootable and quite fun to make. Where I live the trees in the
hedgerows and parks get trimmed fairly regularly, and sometimes whole
branches are hacked off, the gardeners are overjoyed when someone
wants to take away one of the branches because it's less for them to
move. Also every time there's a gale it's possible to get large
branches that have fallen off trees.
for bough stave bows, green wood is easier to work and O.K. to use, so
you don't need to spend ages seasoning as you wood for a heartwood
stave.
Many hardwoods will work as bow wood, the boughs tend to be more
springy than the trunk, so after a while your bow will start to follow
the string, i.e. it will become permanently curved and will be weaker.
The good news is that this is offset by the fact that the bow gets
stronger as the wood seasons, so if you don't leave the bow strung for
a long time you should end up with something as strong as when you
started or better.
I'm a great fan of bough stave bows, they are good for a beginning
bowyer as you don't have to risk wasting expensive sapwood. They are
also an authentic medieval bow that isn't seen a lot today. I've got a
little booklet on them with details of how to make them which is
published by an archeological trust, it only costs about $3 email me
if you want any more details, and I can post you a summary of what's
involved in making one.
Jennifer/Rannveik
Vanaheim Vikings
From: jimle at autodesk.com (Jim Lester)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bow making
Date: 18 Apr 1994 20:33:44 GMT
Organization: Autodesk, Inc.
jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray) writes:
>I am trying to make a working bow and not having much luck. For the moment I'm
>trying the standard longbow but am open to the Meare Heath flat bow. I'm in school
>so not much money for materials (there is a place in TX that sells billets for bows
>but they
>start at $60.00. If I can even make one out of rattan, I will
>sacrifice my glaive.
Try rattan ( but don't sacrifice your glaive a 6ft length should only cost ~$12
). I read an article in Primitive Archer that said that rattan was a pretty
good bow wood: Easy to work With, and Shoots fairly fast. If you want I can
dig up the article and get the contact person or any details that you want.
Also Bittercreek Bow Works ( Is this the place that you are talking about )
will sell practice staves for $10, these are smaller than the good staves, but
most of them will produce usable bows ( I have two practice staves and a good
stave sitting on my back porch waiting for my drawknife an spokeshave ).
BTW I have often thought about making a rattan bow backed with duct tape for
use in light-fighting ;-)
Chrodegang der Zaunschlager
Caldarium, Mists, West
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: n9010999 at honeydew.cc.wwu.edu (David Balbirona)
Subject: Re: Bow making
Organization: Western Washington University
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 22:26:09 GMT
Greetings to all who read this missive,
The construction of period bows can be made from a variety of modern woods
at a great deal less than most people would guess. An excellent book on
the topic is "The Traditional Bowyer's Bible". I would highly recommend
it to any and all gentles who have an interest in the construction of
bows. The book covers all aspects of the construction from searching for
the right tree to making arrows for the bow.
One suprising thing you might find is that extremely good quality bows can
be made using kiln-dried lumber from the hardware store. That makes the
price of learning go down dramatically since the beginning bowyer will
typically break his or her first few bows. It becomes easy to understand
that one might learn a great deal more from the construction process of
several bows (made inexpensively) than worrying continually in hopes that
one of the last few passes of the draw knife over your $60+ yew stave is
going to cause it to self destruct the first time it is fully drawn.
There is also a surprising number of wood species that make wonderful bow
woods. In addition to yew, osage orange, and lemon wood, here is a brief
list of some other acceptible bow woods:
elm, ash, oak, birch, hickory, black locust,walnut,cedar,juniper,
mulberry, maple( hard rock or sugar(same thing)),vine maple (often
called the new yew), purpleheart, goncalo alves.
Some of these are hard woods and some are white woods. Bear in mind that
the properties of some of the woods make them naturally suitable to either
english longbow or flatbow (another period style bow). Basically that
means that you should know what type of bow you want to make and then pick
a wood suitable to the bow type you want to make.
Another good source of information is a magazine called "The Primitive
Archer". This is published quarterly and worth its weight in bowstaves.
I hope this has been of some help to those interested in the art and
science of Bowyering.
--Yeoman Alisdair MacEwan
Kingdom Protector of AnTir (light combat champion)
David Balbirona
n9010999 at henson.cc.wwu.edu
From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bow making
Date: 21 Apr 94 15:10:14
Organization: STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow, UK.
>Would you be so kind as to post the source of your booklet.
>I would like to obtain one of these. My thanks.
The title of the booklet is "MAKING THE BOUGHSTAVE LONGBOW" by Don
Adams
The front page gives the following information:
**********************************************
Published 1988 by Friends of Lincoln
Archaeological research and Excavation
Sessions House
Lindum Road
Lincoln LN2 1PB
ISBN 0 946853 05 3
copyright Don Adams 1988
**********************************************
The address given is in the U.K. so it may be difficult for people in
the U.S.A. to obtain.
If anyone really wants a copy and can't get one where they are send
me some private email and I'll see about doing a swap for a U.S.
magazine or something else that's easy to get there and awkward to get
here.
Jennifer/Rannveik
Vanaheim Vikings
From: jearley at aol.com (J EARLEY)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Yew Bows (was Re: Composite Bows (was Water Buffalo Horn))
Date: 23 Nov 1994 19:40:12 -0500
millsbn at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Bruce Mills) writes:
Yew is an extremely slow growing tree, and the yews in front of your house
are probably ornimental yews. Pacific yew works just fine for bows. In
the Middle ages, they liked yew from spain and italy. Yew is sometimes
available as a by product in logging, but has become difficult to obtain
because of its use in cancer treatment has made the bark valuable, and
over harvesting has occurred. It is a fairly substantial tree when old.
James Greyhelm
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: maclure at eos.arc.nasa.gov (IanMaclure)
Subject: Re: Composite Bows (was Water Buffalo Horn)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 1994 00:12:43 GMT
jearley at aol.com (J EARLEY) writes:
> SPADGET at ssf4.jsc.nasa.GOV (Padget, Scott) writes:
>Well, he asks about substitutes for water buffalo horn. There is a bow
>maker in Berkeley names Tim, not in the SCA, who makes recurve sinew, horn
>and wood composites. He is a master worker. ( I have a yew long bow from
>him.) He would know if there was anything that would work. James Greyhelm
That would be Tim Baker.
He is recognized as an authority on the design and construction of traditional
bows of the North American persuasion and probably knows a good deal about
ancient archery worldwide. I took a class from him one weekend at the range
in Pacifica.
About a year ago, he was at the "Maya" shoot in Roseville with a
gentleman from Bosnia who had constructed a Turkish style composite bow.
As luck would have it an unrecontructed Turk ( in period ) happened to
wander by and shot the bow as it would have been done in period.
Most interesting.
The price I heard being discussed was around $800 for the bow.
IBM
--
################ No Times Like The Maritimes, Eh! ######################
# IBM aka # Ian_Maclure at QMGATE.arc.nasa.gov (desk) #
# Ian B MacLure # maclure at (remulak/eos).arc.nasa.gov (currently) #
########## Opinions expressed here are mine, mine, mine. ###############
From: jearley at aol.com (J EARLEY)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Composite Bows (was Water Buffalo Horn)
Date: 24 Nov 1994 15:05:10 -0500
maclure at eos.arc.nasa.gov (IanMaclure) writes:
'Tim would be Tim Baker' Yeah, that is the guy. He is an amazing bowyer.
I watched him make a bow for my daughter from an untrimed stave in 20
minutes! It was a good bow, too. Tim was working on turkish bows about
four years ago when I moved from Berkeley. I haven't seen him since.
James
From: IMC at vax2.utulsa.edu (I. Marc Carlson)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: re: Osage Orange for Bows
Date: 29 May 1995 17:43:09 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
>From: "-Otto,M.R." <motto at usgp4.ih.att.com>
>I am putting out the word to all serious bowyers.
>I have in my new backyard a very large, very old, and dying Osage Orange
>tree. I have heard that wood of this type is highly prized for bow making.
>I am interested in assuring that the wood, if usable for bows, is not
>wasted. Thus, I am seeking contact with SERIOUS bowyers who have the means
>for harvesting the tree for the wood. Please respond via email. Thank you.
Greetings, Madam. I appreciate that you asked to be replied to via
e-mail, but then again although I have worked with Bois d'Arc (aka
Osage Orage) I'm not what you would ever call a SERIOUS bowyer :)
Since the few serious bowyers I *do* know of don't have email access,
I will pass the word onto them and get back to you. I wish you luck
on your response. If I may suggest, though, should no one get in touch
with you, when you cut the tree down seal the ends of the logs. As it
dries, Bois d'Arc tends to "fray" very badly, and simply smearing
some glue on each end and letting it dry can slow this down until
you can find someone to take the log(s) off your hands.
"Mihi Satis Apparet Propter Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn
Se Ipsum Appetenda Sapientia" University of Northkeep
-- St. Dunstan Northkeepshire, Ansteorra
(I. Marc Carlson/IMC at vax2.utulsa.edu)
From: kay at unx.dec.com (Paul Kay)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,rec.games.frp.misc,alt.magnus.and.ketil
Subject: Re: The Making of a Longbow
Date: 7 Jun 1995 20:47:42 GMT
Organization: UNIX Software Group, Digital Equipment Corp.
djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:
> [Hal posting from Dorothy's account....]
> In article <KETIL.95May21051505 at jotun.vestnett.no>,
> Ketil Z <ketil at vestnett.no> wrote:
> >
> >I've always wanted to make a longbow, if only to see if it really
> >*can* penetrate armor, and I think I might get hold of some nice
> >and straight six feet of yew - all I need is the recipe.
>
> It's a bit more complex than *that*. Find any decent archery
> book (especially if written before about 1950) and it'll have
> full directions for making longbows.
I gotta second Hal here. I had a book from the Michigan State Library on
the history and making of Engish bows (and arrows). It was publishe early
this century. I remember this because the book had the impreture of the
Michigan Agriculture College Library. I am not sure it is still in the
stacks, it wasn't in the last catalogue search I did. They probably moved
it to the rare book section.
(NB: Micigan State University went from Micigan Agricultural College to
Micigan State College in the 20's or 30's).
It is a good book, written by a boyer. It goes into detais of woods, tools
and finishes used for a modern longbow. It includes a digression into his
making a balista as an apprentice and the making of cedar and oak arrows.
As well as the making of "modern" bows, he claimed that the modern bows have
a different limb. Before about 250 years ago, the limb had a uniform D
cross-section that led in a straight taper from the grip to the limb tip,
as opposed to the modern style that has a sharp taper near the grip and
then a gradual taper to the limb tips. He also claimed that the
inovation of limb shape added cast to the bow so that a modern 80 pounder
had the cast of an old style 100 pound bow.
Sorry to be so vague. I guess I always thought I'd be in college back when
I read the book. If any one knows of this book, please let me know. (Gavin
Kilkenny heard a mundane friend and I discussing this book and offered my
friend money if he could find his uncle's copy. I did, too. :-))
On the otherhand, I am not sure how much good Toxophilia would do, but is is
in many rare book collections. :*)
Bart the Bewildered
Carillion, East
--
Paul Kay kay at unx.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation sysv::kay
Manalapan, NJ (UNX) (908) 577-6076 (DTN 462)
From: gdwgames at aol.com (GDW GAMES)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,rec.games.frp.misc,alt.magnus.and.ketil
Subject: Re: The Making of a Longbow
Date: 11 Jun 1995 12:31:07 -0400
Robert Hardy's book "The Longbow" contains a chapter on how to select
woods, what tools are needed, and how to go about making a more or less
traditional English longbow. The latest edition contains a chapter on the
bows recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose.
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: DDFr at Midway.UChicago.edu (David Friedman)
Subject: Re: Crossbows and a Question
Organization: University of Chicago Law School
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 05:24:20 GMT
> b: What sort of glue may be used that is flexible enough to use for
> compound bows?
>
> "Mihi Satis Apparet Propter Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn
My memory of the literature on hand bows of the same general construction
is that they used a fish glue. You might check Paterson and Lathem's
translation of Taybugha (I think it is called _Mameluke Archery_ but I
might be misremembering).
--
david/Cariadoc
DDFr at Midway.UChicago.Edu
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: eadengle at jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Edmund "Cynwrig" Dengler)
Subject: Re: Crossbows and a question
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 20:41:46 GMT
I am 90 percent certain that Yumi uses modern glues in the manufacture of
his longbows, however I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that he
knew of sources for hide glue or fish glue. As an archery marshal, I
would recommend you use a modern equivalent if you are going to shoot the
weapon regularly as opposed to having it as a display piece. The problem
with the period glues is that they were hydroscopic, they absorb water
easily and weaken. So especially in the case of a crossbow which is
under constant tension, the glue may fail after a time. If you do go
with the period glue on a laminated limb, you might want to wrap it in
leather or sinew in case it does give way.
Remember, bow failure was also quite period.
Rufus of Stamford
(posted through Ed Dengler)
From: derek.broughton at onlinesys.com (DEREK BROUGHTON)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: re: Crossbows and a question
Date: Sat, 01 Jul 95 10:38:00 -300
Organization: Online Systems Of Canada
imc at vax2.utulsa.edu (i. marc carlson) wrote:
IM>A fish glue, eh? Ah well, more delightful aromas with which to entice
IM>the neighborhood. Can you (or anyone) suggest a source for such a
IM>thing, as I would prefer to try it and see what it's supposed to do
IM>before I try and make it myself. Barring that, have you (or anyone
IM>else) a source for a decent Hide glue?
Lee Valley Tools Phone: (613)596-0350
P.O. Box 6295, Station J (800)668-1807
Ottawa, ON, Canada Fax: (800)267-8767
K2A 1T4
Sells Hide glue, I don't know about fish glues. I don't know if
the 800 numbers will work from the states. They have absolutely