Another J. D. Duff Yew War Bow (Finally)

[duffontap]

Well, Here it is.  My latest war bow.  Like my Mary Rose Replica, it draws 110# @ 32".  I wanted to try something a little different with this one so I made it only 1 3/8" wide, deeper and slightly more rectangular in section.  I really like the slenderness and width-depth ratio.  I took it to the beach for the first time tonight a fired off 4 arrows.  My best shot of the four was 215 yards with a 1,050 grain arrow.  That's really good for me.  I'll have to get some more experience with it before I draw my conclusions but I really liked it.  Very smooth draw and gentle release. 

Bowyer's Mark:

Unbraced:  I can't believe how long these bows are.  I'm 6' 2", the bow is 6' 5" nock to nock with a few more inches of tips on top of that.

Full draw:

Top tip:

Bottom tip:

On the tiller:

Good times at the beach:


           J. D. Duff

[Miles]

Cool I like the Top tip great looking war bow hey are you drawing with two finger it looks like it in pic.

Miles

[Glennan]

Very nice JD.

From what little evidence I can find on medieval nocks, they appear to be much smaller than Victorian nocks, almost vestigial.  Personally, I like the 'teardrop' shape favoured by Pip Bickerstaffe and Steve Stratton.  But that's just me, and in no way detracts from your work.

You might find it easier to use your legs more when shooting for distance.  Bend your legs rather than bend at the waist. This will help keep your core (trunk) stable. 

[sagitarius boemoru]

JD Better tiler than the prevoius one, very elegantly looking too.Must be smooth with that lenght and shape.  Anyway - have you considered that you can seemingly pull 2´´ more when shooting for distance?
You have enough potential to do that!
33´´ would put you far ahead in performance all else being equal.

Glenan - I thought Steve makes proper Tudor shape horn nocks?

There is anyway a woodcut with Henry VIII. army on the continent and there is lots of longbowmen with huge bows standing around and the nocks are very "Muir" shaped. Means alot like some victorian nocks. Ill dig around my HD and post the pic in separate thread.


Jaro

[sagitarius boemoru]

Think of this JD !  (Eventually wear hat when trying to draw further, its only way how to not lose the ear.) :DDD


Jaro

[Glennan]

Jaro,

I can well believe Tudor bows had the more ornate nocks.  I'm certainly not doubting their authenticity.  There seems to be a fashion change towards the more ornate at the end of the 15th century; especially when compared to the late 14th century.

If you look at pictures of bows from the late 14th century if there's any nock at all, it seems no more than the tip of the bow coloured black.

And, as I said, I just prefer the simple nocks.  That's not to say I don't have bows with ornate nocks on them.  :-)

[SimonUK]

Looks like an absolutely perfect tiller JD ...and great performance from it too. Jaro's right, im sure you could have a longer drawlength. I'm a shortass and I can draw 31 or 32 inches albeit with a lighter bow.

[Kviljo]

That looks pretty awesome! Great pictures too!

Both are 77" ntn and 110# at the same draw-lenght? It would be interesting to hear what their mass is.
How thick is it at the middle?

[Yeomanbowman]

Another triumph Josh
My main criteria for nocks is that the little blighters stay on, not something that is always easy to achieve (even with ye olde acetone and araldite), I've found. 
What depth of cone did you use and how do you feel the squarer section has influenced the performance? 
No need to show-off how many nice bows you have waiting to be released from those staves.  If I had a green-headed 'jealous' emoticon I would use it!.
Cheers,
Jeremy

[Justin Snyder]

Nice bow JD. Ill bet you can shoot a caribou without even leaving the road with that one.  Justin

[Matti]

Beautiful bow! Well done!!

[Marc St Louis]

Very nice. I'm also 6' 2" but cannot pull those heavy bows. You do a good job of it.

[duffontap]

Thanks Everyone!

Glennan,
I have mixed feelings about the nocks.  I think I like the more ornate horns better for aesthetic reasons but the simple ones seem more authentic.  In the future I'm going to stop including the second groove because I don't use a stringer anymore.  Thanks for the advice about my stiff legs.  I don't think I released an arrow on that shot which may explain it.  I'm still a very awkward shooter so I'll post a video that you can look at.  I try to incorperate the Mark Stretton hop on release.  My timing is sometimes off but my distances are improving.  Thanks again.

Miles,
Glad you like it.  I do draw with 2 fingers.  I was forced into this when I injured a finger but it just stuck.  Thanks.

Jaro,
Better tiller?  That's the best compliment of all.  I'd never thought about drawing longer.  I'll have to work into that.  I may be able to do 33" on that bow now.  You think it would be safe for the bow? 

Justin,
    If I can afford to get to Alaska.

Matti,
Thanks a lot!

Jeremy,
I'm with you on those nocks.  If I can keep them from breaking off, that's a good start.  The main trouble I've had is with this buffalo horn having flaws in it.  I'm going back to longhorn.  I really like the more rectangular section.  I'll have to shoot it more before I can tell you about perfomance or weight.  Btw, you're looking at 44" billets.  I'd be jealous too.   

Kvilijo,
I'll have to pass the compliments about the pictures on to my wife.  I'll weigh the bows some day. 

Marc,
I thought you could pull around 100#?  Well, you can build them better than anyone.  Thanks for the kind words.

        J. D. Duff

[Loki]

Another stunner! your a talented man JD .

[duffontap]

Thanks Loki!  You've been very supportive.  I appreciate it. 

         J. D. Duff