ash for longbow?

[kid bow]

can ash be used for a longbow??? ive never had the chance to work with it and my buddy who makes forges arrowheads said he would make me some if I made him a longbow. if you guys could give any tips or clues that would help me it would be greatly appreciated

[Pat B]

It should work fine for an ALB style bow.

[WillS]

Ash makes superb longbows.  It was used for longbows in the middle ages, and they would have been very high draw weights.  You could (if you wanted to) get at least 150# out of a typically shaped ash longbow.

Keep it as long as possible, about 35mm wide and 30mm deep.  Keep it full width to just before mid limb, taper to 1" wide tips, then taper the tips more steeply as you tiller. 

Round the edges of the back quite a lot, almost trapping it.  Heat treat the belly if you want some real punch.  Don't let the tiller get out of hand - you want to make sure you never pull the bow if it has even the slightest hint of a hinge.  Ash will chrysal and fret if it's even slightly hinged. 

Keep it as dry as possible.  If you take a long time tillering, keep it dry and hot between sessions.  Once it's done, lightly toast the belly then seal the bow with a good waterproof finish.

[Webradbury]

What species though?

[DarkSoul]

Thick to medium ringed Fraxinus excelsior with a very low earlywood:latewood ratio is best, in my experience.
But any ash will make a fine bow. The denser specimens will make a fine longbow as well.

[Arrowind]

One of my favorite bows to shoot is an ash longbow.  I like ash as a bow wood.  A lot of people do.  It's easy to work and looks nice.   go for it!

[Springbuck]

Darksoul, any ash?  I have heard some species are very weak, tho I haven't used any.   I would bet on the one you mentioned by name.   American white ash will make a very nice and quite heavy deep section bow, though, I can tell you that.

I once made a pretty heavy bow from two spliced shovel handles of American white, chasing one side down to down to a ring and making the belly only slightly flattened rounded, and I loved it.

[kid bow]

well my buddy said the ash was white ash. however I don't know for sure. I live in Kentucky so theres a variety of woods here. he could've been wrong about the species of the tree. im getting about two dozen forged arrowheads out of this deal so im hoping he wasn't wrong.

[wapiti1997]

If it's KY it's most likely white ash, could be green in wetter areas.  Blue ash is common around Lexington for a couple of counties width around, but is knotty and not as dense as green and white.