black locust english longbow

[fishfinder401]

does anyone know if an english longbow would be worth attemptingwith black locust, i am looking for a draw weight around 100lbs or more

[Cacatch]

I have not made one of these in the true English style. But good long narrow bows can be made from Black Locust, however you would not be able to go as narrow as with Yew for example. I would think a 70-74" ntn and around 1  1/4" to 1  1/2" wide would work well. And Locust is a good strong wood and very hard, I don't think it would be tough to get at least 100lbs out of it. I have BL bows way shorter than 70 inches long that are pulling over 60. 

CP

[Pat B]

...also you might want to make the bow with a flatter belly than what is considered a true deeply arched belly longbow style and I think this is a traditional style for less compression strong bow woods anyway.

[fishfinder401]

i figured it would have to be slightly flatter, but its good to know trying it wouldn't be a waste of time

[Pat B]

If you can make it long and make it bend from tip to tip, like a war bow should, you should be OK.

[gianluca100]

hello fishfinder,

black locust is very strong in tension but a bit weak in compression. so instead of rounding the belly you could narrow/round the back a bit more than usual. this would take advantage of the high tension strength of bl and level out a bit the compression weakness by shifting the neutral plane towards the back.

ciao,
gian-luca

[fishfinder401]

hello fishfinder,

black locust is very strong in tension but a bit weak in compression. so instead of rounding the belly you could narrow/round the back a bit more than usual. this would take advantage of the high tension strength of bl and level out a bit the compression weakness by shifting the neutral plane towards the back.

ciao,
gian-luca

thanks for the idea, and judging by you 1 post, im guessing you are new to the site, so welcome and if you need any help, there most likely is a person on here to help you
noel

[nidrinr]

-Just make the bow 78"-80" long, heat treat the belly and use a crowned back. I guess BL will do fine up to at least 150#. 

[gianluca100]

hello fishfinder,

thanks for the welcome. actually i've been reading paleo planet and pa for quite some years now and posted only occasionally on pp.

thanks also for offering help. i've made quite a lot of bows since 1997, but if i find a difficult question that puzzles me, i will post it here, no doubt 

cio,
gian-luca