lothlorien bow

[fishfinder401]

anybody know anything about building legolas' lothlorien bow from the movies, i read that is was supposed to be 150@ full draw, and it looks awesome,
any input on this will be appreciated
thanks
noel

[CraigMBeckett]

I have read of it being copied in by a bowyer in the States, but cannot remember the name of the bowyer. As for it being 150lb, I would suggest that a bow that bent the way it did, was held at draw for the length of time it was and was drawn by an actor not a heavy bow practitioner, weighed less than 30lb.

Craig.

[fishfinder401]

I have read of it being copied in by a bowyer in the States, but cannot remember the name of the bowyer. As for it being 150lb, I would suggest that a bow that bent the way it did, was held at draw for the length of time it was and was drawn by an actor not a heavy bow practitioner, weighed less than 30lb.

Craig.

i meant the actual lothlorien bow from the books was i think referenced as being that weight, the one used while shooting the movie was probably under 30, the reason i referenced the movie was i think the way is was portrayed in it was amazing, to try to get that kind of weight and look, what should i use
thanks
noel

[RyanY]

Bow stick archery, now GIBow, used to make a Lothlorien bow. Looked great and he actually put sculpting putty on parts of it and it looked amazing. But I think this subject is better left to the normal forum. This is an English Warbow forum and although bows of heavy weight could quite possibly be used for war, they are not always English Warbows.

[Dag]

There was a bowyer, Justin, previously of bowstick archery, who made the lothlorien bow out of hickory.  I believe he might of gotten 60lbs out of the design.  I cant find the youtube vids anymore. Not sure if he's even in business anymore  

[fishfinder401]

Bow stick archery, now GIBow, used to make a Lothlorien bow. Looked great and he actually put sculpting putty on parts of it and it looked amazing. But I think this subject is better left to the normal forum. This is an English Warbow forum and although bows of heavy weight could quite possibly be used for war, they are not always English Warbows.

next time ill put it on the regular thread, i just wanted opinions on what weights i could get from what woods with this design, and if it is even feasible, i figured that regular bowyers wouldn't be able to help much with the realm of 150lbs

[RyanY]

It's my guess that many woods are capable of making bows of up to 100lbs if designed properly. Going above that the pickings get slimmer. Considering the design of the lothlorien bow and wanting to make it to scale, it would be slightly more difficult to get a bow of such heavy weight at that size. I bet osage could do it and probably yew. My guess is that white woods would take unfavorable set but elm has shown considerable strength as a heavy weight bow wood.

[Stonedog]

I am a high school English teacher.  Each year I teach The Hobbit and the entire LOTR cycle.

I am also somewhat of a Tolkien-a-phile......

I cannot recall anywhere where it states the draw weight of Legolas's bow, sorry.

[Dag]

Here is how to say "bow" meaning weapon, in Elvish: Cú (coo)   

[fishfinder401]

Here is how to say "bow" meaning weapon, in Elvish: Cú (coo)   

you just made my day
im guessing your also a LOTR fan

[toomanyknots]

"
I am also somewhat of a Tolkien-a-phile......

I cannot recall anywhere where it states the draw weight of Legolas's bow, sorry."

Same here. But I have always envisioned an elvish bow as a tradional english "style" bow. Maybe a bit of a twist or something, some flipped tips maybe, maybe some intricate design or writing on it. But definitely not a funky recurve with tacky plastic feather designs glued on. I was abhorred with the bow as well as the movies portrayal of elves in general, as tolkiens "elves" are clearly the gods and demi gods of welsh and irish mythology, such as the tir NA og and the tuanthu de dannan, (positive I misspelled all of that) and to have that freaking weird looking guy form the matrix with his freaky looking face was just too much for me. They just can't emulate the feeling that tolkien could stir inside of our subconsious, something like out ancestors memory in the back of our brains, something the movie just insulted. LOL   

[fishfinder401]

"
I am also somewhat of a Tolkien-a-phile......

I cannot recall anywhere where it states the draw weight of Legolas's bow, sorry."

Same here. But I have always envisioned an elvish bow as a tradional english "style" bow. Maybe a bit of a twist or something, some flipped tips maybe, maybe some intricate design or writing on it. But definitely not a funky recurve with tacky plastic feather designs glued on.

i also thought the decorations were a bit much, but the basic shape is pretty good, could be longer though in my opinion, which when i try to make one i will try, i don't remember where i heard the weight, if i find out ill tell you guys, i actually think i found it while doing some research on this bow
also, i think if i can get my hands on some, ill try to make it out of elm, as i want to try to get it a light color, and one idea i had is when i'm putting a finish on, to add some metallic powder to the finish and try to get it into the grain, but i don't know, i would need to experiment first
thanks for the input
noel

[fishfinder401]

i actually just had an idea, i am still experimenting with black tupelo and it seems to be able to hold up to high weights pretty well, and the sap wood, which i have been using is a nice white color, and unbelievable durable as you can see from the tiller of the one i tried before. if i can find a nice clean straight sapling, it might be able to make something that resembles the lothlorien bow

[medic336]

The guy at GI bows used to have another site . He has videos on youtube of the building of that bow.

[Ian.]

Seeing as this inst very warbow have you thought of Fibreglass prods then making the detail over it, very durable and you will get the weight.