ELB

[DC]

Just in case I ever want to go into war against the French I want to check something. Do I multiply the width by .625 to check the depth? And do I multiply the depth by 1.6 to check the width? And a little R/D is OK as long as the string doesn't touch the bow at brace? Spliced handle OK? How about spliced tips in case I come up short? Is there a link to somewhere that lays this out. I tried and came up wanting.

[WillS]

Ignore width/depth ratios.  It's completely useless unless you want to make a sporting target longbow that complies with a modern set of rules.  It has nothing to do with military bows.  Many of the Mary Rose bows don't fit the ratio, and it's close to impossible if you're doing it with white woods.

As for the R/D and spliced tips - they also comply with modern society rules.  Is that what you're hoping to make (a sporting bow that can be shot within British competitions) or do you just want to make an English bow?

[DC]

A sporting bow I guess, it would never see a competition but it would be nice to be within the rules. I guess for the same reason a lot of things are done-"just because"

[WillS]

Fair enough!  The "war against the French" bit is slightly out of place then

"War against Victorian gentlemen" perhaps? 

[Ruddy Darter]

Crikey, I bet that would be an 'ever so polite'  boring war to watch 

 R.D.

[Del the cat]

All that 5/8 th stuff is only because someone felt obliged to put a number on the width/thickness to stop people claiming flatbows were ELBs.
If you check your American longbows you'll probably find that is with the 5/8 rule anyway!
If you just make an ELB using your eye, you'll find it's well within the 5/8... you won't need to try and make it to the 5/8.
Generally they come out nearer 6/8 (or 3/4 as we sometimes call it  )
Just for info here are some dimensions from a 70# ELB
Yew ELB   71ntn  60#@28” 70#@31”
Left column, distance from nock (inches), then width and thickness in mm

4     16.9           14.5
8     19.3           16.9
12   21.4           17.4
16   23              19.2
20   24.7           20.6
24   26.1           21.4
28   27.2           22.2
32   27.7           23.3
34   28.2           26.2

If you check some of those figures you'll see it's nowhere near 5/8 (0.62)
E.G Mid limb 16" from nock  19.2 / 23 boils down to  6.7 / 8  about ( 0.8 )

Note there are several different "definitions" of longbows from various societies. Some are complete nonsense eg BLBS insist that the string only touches the nock at brace... well 99.9% of ELBs will have the Y of the string loop touching the wood of the limb just below the nock. They really need to add detail like " the string shall not touch the limb more than 2" below the nock at brace" or somesuch.
One society allows you to add reflex in a laminate but not heat bend a stave?? Bonkers... as that means you could run your stave through a bandsaw and then glue it up in reflex but not steam bend it to get the same result!!!
One of the few societies with a full and detailed definition which includes the rationale behind the rules is the ILAA. You can find the definition on their site.
Del

[DC]

Thanks for the ILAA hint Del. That's just what I wanted. I tried to get on that site once before and got a "You are not allowed" thing. I assumed it was a restricted site and never tried again. Silly me.