Hazel longbow, 100# @ 28"

[joachimM]

Well done! at first I had expected this bow to blow during tillering, but you made it, and it's looking good! Congratulations.

[FilipT]

That is quite the bow for white wood, Filip. Are you going to shoot in warbow events? SCA?
when I was a bit younger I found that It did not take long to get used to pulling heavy weights, but you have to be careful not to overdo it while working up to weight, as sore muscles will set the training back rather quickly.

From what I read and saw here, white woods can make ridiculously powerful bows and when done properly they sometimes even surpass famous yew.
Archery is not really popular interest in Croatia and we don't have shoots here; I would like to make bowyering and warbows popular here.
This is just for me, to build up strength and technique for shooting these heavy bows. It will be some time before I make heavier bow than this.

[FilipT]

Well done! at first I had expected this bow to blow during tillering, but you made it, and it's looking good! Congratulations.

Thank you. I expected blow near bracing as it was so heavy and didn't know if the bend is good enough.

[FilipT]

Here are some pics. Arrow pass is simple black dot which I burned into wood with nail head. It is set 1" towards the upper limb. This is the same place pulley pulls on tiller. Belly radii are about 4 millimeters and those on the back just 1 mm. Cross section is a squashed rectangle, not a "D" or oval. I think that this cross section prevents chrysals from developing. Beeswax was applied on the wood and then heated with heat gun and rubbed into the wood with rag. Grain became just slightly visible because of it; it doesn't have that nice look like some other woods as hazel rings are very light in color.

Belly side


Back side


Kink in the upper limb


Lower limb


Overall profile, the bow is a bit slanted so it appears that string doesn't lay good

[Badger]

  That is probably the best cross section for the wood you used on that bow. In flight shooting we have to have a more rounded cross section to qualify. I have always felt the best cross section is the one that works best but the rules say otherwise. Good job on that one!

[FilipT]

When does oval section work for warbows? Only on yew or it can also on whitewoods?

[Badger]

  It will work on most whitewoods but flat is usually better. Another thing we have to adhere to is that no part of the limb can have a width to thickness ratio of less than 5/8

[joachimM]

  It will work on most whitewoods but flat is usually better. Another thing we have to adhere to is that no part of the limb can have a width to thickness ratio of less than 5/8

That is, if you want to shoot it in the ELB section. you can still shoot such a bow in the unlimited class broadheads.

[FilipT]

What does this 5/8 ratio mean, thickness to width? Was that common knowledge for warbows centuries ago or it's modern invention like victorian bow?

[Strichev]

Looking good, I'm sure that with better lighting and background it would look great! White-woods have their own workhorse kind of charm. The more one looks at them the nicer they get.

Did you heat treat this one? If not you could try shooting it for a bit untreated and then, when you have another heavy bow ready, heat this one and compare the distances and such, it would be interesting - considering that hazel supposedly responds really well to heat.

Can we get a braced and an FD pic? I wonder what cast you'll get with proper arrows as set seems minimal and the profile should make for a fast bow.

 Looking at this I can't wait for my ash stave to dry; I might try for a 100 pounder too.

Good stuff, this bow.

[FilipT]

You have FD pic on previous page, I didn't take photo of braced profile. I didn't heat treat it, too much of a hassle for first time doing this bow; I had plenty of challenges already as you all know haha.

My next heavy bow will be heat treated, that is for sure. It will be some time till I get all materials for string and arrows, make them and use them.
I will put some update in future where I talk about performance. Also, before all that I must get comfortable drawing this bow. You know that this needs technique I never used before to shoot.

[Del the cat]

The 5/8 thing is a modern invention to provide a definition for minimum thickness/width of English longbow to avoid people making flat limbed bows and calling them English longbows. It is rare to get anywhere near the 5/8 ratio most longbows come out nearer 6/8 or even thicker.
I have deliberately gone to 5/8 on occasion to make the belly a bit wider on bamboo backed bows
Del

[FilipT]

In my case it's 24 / 34 = 0,706

5 / 8 = 0,625

6 / 8 = 0,75

So my bow is more similar to 6/8 principle.

[Del the cat]

Yup, that's pretty normal especially for a white wood.
Del