Westminster Abbey and Mary Rose replica arrows

[WillS]

That's also why it's used around the world now as sauna planking, and why the arrows were in almost perfect condition on the Mary Rose compared to the other wood species. 

[mikekeswick]

Interesting stuff - you live and learn

[meanewood]

Nice arrows Will.

Looks like you've got every aspect of both bow and arrow making covered!

[WillS]

Thank you! 

I think I'm getting pretty close with the arrows, but compared to people like Ian, Joe etc I'm not even scraping the surface with the bows!  I think I'm focusing on the arrows more because they don't need to bend quite as far

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

If you're not scraping the surface of your bows how are you tillering them?   

[gianluca100]

Hello WillS,

these arrows are very nice, congrats! The forged heads are very imppressive, how long did you have to learn the craft to be able to make such nice heads? I find forging very interesting but far from beeing a blacksmith I wonder how you can form the head with the small barbs. Could you tell or show it? I find forged arrowheads so much more authentic than the machined stuff I'm used to 

Regards,
gian-luca

[WillS]

Thanks Gian-luca!

I'm slightly hesitant to give away exactly how I make the Type 16s, because it took a lot of trial and error and conversations with people like Hector Cole (who was also very hesitant to give away his trade secrets!) to work out how to do it, but essentially the barbed section is made separately from the socket, and both pieces are attached in the forging process to become one solid head.

There are other methods, for instance rolling the socket and extruding a wide flat spade shape where the point would normally be, then splitting it down the middle and folding it back on itself to make two barbs, but the original technique as shown in numerous x-rays of extant heads show that the two-piece method is the historically correct one.

[willie]

Nice work Will, Arrows are almost as important as the bow.

I am curious about your claims for aspen's rot resistance. I thought that the aspen used in europe for outdoor use has been heat treated to a point that it doesn't reuptake moisture. Aspens in other part of the world seem to have low rot resistance.
An interesting side effect of heat treating aspen is an unusual degree of improvement stiffness

See   http://ww----w.wood-database.com/european-aspen/

Could the Mary Rose arrows have been treated somehow?

[WillS]

Well all I can say is that it's fairly well known amongst users of aspen arrows here, and all the ones I've left outside in very wet conditions for weeks or months are perfectly good to shoot afterwards, with no sign of rot whatsoever. 

I spoke to a builder of saunas locally to me a while ago and he maintained that the aspen they ship in from Sweden for the planks isn't heat treated at all, just sawn and shipped.

P.S. I'd like to argue that arrows are more important than the bow - you can't do any damage without them

[WillS]

I certainly don't think the MR arrows were treated by the way - they weren't planning on leaving them under water for 500 years   Why go to extra effort to make an arrow rot resistant?

As Ruddy posted above, the dry timber is highly resistant to rot which is why it's used for roofing in places like Russia.

[ravenbeak]

Great looking arrows!  I love the historical accuracy of them.

I have to ask. Why the silk binding? I can't imagine that is what they would have been using. Not a complaint, just curious.

[gianluca100]

Hello Will,

thanks a lot, that you give away your "trade secrets", that's very generous. I remember that in the book "The Great Warbow" there are some photographs were the method you mentioned ist shown. I think it's Simon Stanely forging a big barbed arrowhead. Very interesting.

Thanks again and regards,
gian-luca

[WillS]

Great looking arrows!  I love the historical accuracy of them.

I have to ask. Why the silk binding? I can't imagine that is what they would have been using. Not a complaint, just curious.

It's what they used

The MR binding was analysed revealing it, plus there are historical documents of silk being ordered for arrows.

It's thin, light and incredibly strong - not sure why it wouldn't have been used!

As an aside, there's not a scrap of official evidence that suggests linen was ever used for binding, and yet it's more popular amongst fletchers / reenactors today! 

[DC]

Great looking arrows!  I love the historical accuracy of them.

I have to ask. Why the silk binding? I can't imagine that is what they would have been using. Not a complaint, just curious.

It's what they used

The MR binding was analysed revealing it, plus there are historical documents of silk being ordered for arrows.

It's thin, light and incredibly strong - not sure why it wouldn't have been used!

As an aside, there's not a scrap of official evidence that suggests linen was ever used for binding, and yet it's more popular amongst fletchers / reenactors today!

I find the use of silk to be surprising too. If that's what they used then that's what they used. But if you think about it, these are one use items, why use the best materials?
 I'm sure money ruled the old world just as it rules this one and silk had to be way more expensive than linen, or was it? Maybe China had cheap labour then too. But seriously, when you are launching thousands of arrows at the enemy is silk binding going to make that much difference? Like you said, that's what they used, a "why" would be interesting.

[WillS]

Arrows were expensive to make no matter what part of them you're making.  The heads were expensive, the shafts were expensive, the compound and binding was expensive.

We've gone way past the Hollywood myth where archers just launched them by the thousands into the air hoping they'd hit something.  Targets were most likely picked, and shot carefully.  Arrows are far too expensive to waste by hoping they hit their mark, and no period artwork shows any great volleys of arrows - they do however show flat shooting at individual soldiers.

Don't forget that silk was being produced in Europe by the middle ages, not just China.  Production had moved from China by the 2nd century.  Green silk is mentioned as arrow binding material in a poem by Iolo Goch in the 1300s, Henry V ordered it's use in the 15th Century and it was found on the MR arrows from the 16th century.