Ash warbow planning

[Sherratt]

Hi all,

I have an ash 2*4, about 4 foot long incoming which - all things going well - I am planning to make a couple of bows from.

The first is a plains style gull wing - probably sinew backed. The second idea I'm working out is splicing the remaining wood together, laminating the back and attempting to make an English war bow,

I have a few questions:
What options would make good laminates? I'm in NZ and resources are limited and pricey where I am. I'm thinking white oak on the back
how thick would they need to be, and does this change depending on the backing?
do I need to chase a growth ring for the laminate on the back?
and would I need to laminate the belly?

Thanks,
Sherratt

[willie]

Hi Sherratt,

what are your other choices in addition to white oak? Backings are 1/8 - 3/16"  I would look for the straightest grained of diffuse porous woods. you would not need to chase a ring if the backing strips were edge grained.

how many pounds do you want the warbow to pull?

[bownarra]

Spliced in the handle is not likely to work out on a heavy bow that will work there. Core lams can be spliced in the handle and i've done elb's upto 60 ish spliced bellies but...

[Sherratt]

Maple looks like the other main option, no hickory boards or ipe that I can find. Where I am in NZ options are pretty limited. https://www.citytimber.co.nz/species is my best source of timber in terms of variety and accessibility at the moment - the ceder is western red - everywhere else local seems to be pretty much radata pine and kwila or veneers.

As far as draw weight 80 pounds at 32" will be plenty for now

[willie]

I am not familer with the non us species listed,  and the ones imported from the us are not described in very much detail. maple can be good or no so depending on density.  Have you considered harvesting a sapling for the warbow?  maybe an inquiry about NZ woods on the main page will be noticed better by some of the kiwi bowyers

[meanewood]

Kwila (Merbau) will make a self Warbow.

Make it 2m long and about 35mm wide and 25mm deep at the center, reducing by the amounts shown.
           
              Width      Depth

Center  - 35mm     25mm
100mm - 34mm     24mm
200mm - 33mm     23mm
300mm - 32mm     22mm
400mm - 31mm     21mm
500mm - 30mm     20mm
600mm - 28mm     19mm
700mm - 25mm     18mm
800mm - 21mm     16mm
900mm - 16mm     14mm
960mm - 13mm     13mm
 

The back should be rounded about a third of the depth (7mm) and the belly rounded 12mm and this will leave a flat side of 6mm at the center, which will reduce to nothing about 400mm from the tip.

I've indicated 13mm wide and deep about 40mm from the tip for the horn nocks.

If you want self nocks, this needs to be a little wider.

These dimensions roughed out will result in a draw weight of around 80lb at 30in.

You should chase a ring on the back but because this is a tropical hardwood, it does not need to be flawless.

Hope this helps, I really like my Merbau bow and good luck.

[Sherratt]

Thanks for the info guys. 80 pounds @ 31 inches is the ballpark I'm aiming for

[Del the cat]

Thanks for the info guys. 80 pounds @ 31 inches is the ballpark I'm aiming for

Ash should be fine for that... not my favourite wood, but it can be use with a ring as the back, or with the grain edge on ||||| like that with the back and belly top and bottom.
I'd recommend making the back narrower than the belly (trapping the back) and heat treating the belly, as Ash can have a tendency to chrysal the belly.
Del