3 holmgaards

[Del the cat]

Lovely bows
Del

[BowEd]

If you read farther into the efficiency of how a holmgaard works it says it all.They are made according to function.They are tillerred to have inner working limbs with stiff  non working outer limbs.If you want it said that my version is a more modern type design [refined]then let it be so,but still the function of the bow is the same.The efficiency of the design dictates this.

First off I wasn't judging how good your bows are. They look awesome and I bet they shoot very well.
I was asking where did you find notice that holmegaard bows had non working levers
From what I can find holmegaard were almost pyramid bows. Full bending limbs.
Mollegabet had non working levers but were different bows even if the regions of provenance are quite close

I don't think you hate to be so fussy.You have always rather enjoyed being a desk chair non showing of your work participant on this forum.

That's quite a low blow. To each his opinion.
I'm sure I never intentionally offended anyone (especially you) and I always read with pleasure all the forum posts.

I don't take much offense from what you stated other than that you are misinformed,and seem to want to insist.In the past your comments have been the definition of low blows.In Wiki-Pedia if you read farther on the efficiency of holmgaards and the reason why.Also a fella by the name of Tim Baker did more research on this style of bow than anyone stating again and again the dynamics of such a bow.
If you made bows you would understand.One reason why you are disconnected about the subject and others you comment on.
If that's too blunt for you to each their own opinion.

[BowEd]

Thanks fellas for your insightful comments.

[simk]

They sure work fine and draw smoothly. These three are top shelf BowEd!
Sure it's always interesting to build the same bow from different woods. How do they perform? Does more reflex beat the rest?
Thanx for showing   

[BowEd]

The key factor for me is if the inner limbs are tillered properly with the least amount of stress and the outers are reduced enough they all perform above average.A few feet per second more or less because of an inch or two more or less of reflex depends more on that as it does with any type bow I make.D/R self and backed bows or static recurve or working recurve or D section or flat or straight limbed or flipped tipped bows or sinewed bows or complex composite bows.Not to mention take down bows.I made at least 30 bows for 2 years before I ever joined this forum back in 2011.
Density of the wood and it's charcteristics to be good bow wood mean a lot.Many times my heat treated hickories out shoot any self bow I've got.Black locust is a superb bow wood if designed and treated right also.I don't have much HHB growing around me here but would like to make a few more bows from that wood as well as winged elm also.
You hav'nt been around long enough to see them all.My supply of bows of this design have dwindled through sales by my friend who owns a traditional bow shop in the city.It was time to renew some and the plain fact I like these type of bows.

[Allyn T]

Do you wrap and glue the bottom knock so it doesn't slip off? I've never seen anyone do that and if that's what you did I think that's a good idea

[Marc St Louis]

looking good

[WhistlingBadger]

I love the look of these holmgaard/mollegabet bows, and I'd love to make one some day.  I get the idea that they perform best, and shoot very fast, with low-weight arrows.  Can they be made effective with heavier (say, 500-600g) arrows?

[BowEd]

No Allen that's just a 1/8" wide black rubber innertube band [called a ranger band that I bought from a survival company] on there that holds the string loop on there when the bow goes in and out of a bow case.I have my strings twisted to the exact right brace height and want to keep it that way.
The string angle at full draw is so low producing a sweet draw that it is in no danger ever of slipping off.
To the contrary Badger they shoot heavier arrows very well or both light and heavy arrows really.The bows being 65 to 66 inch long help with the heavier arrows.When you make one you'll see that they have 2 fades on each limb.The arrows I shoot to hunt with off them are around 650 grains off a 50# bow.
Thanks Marc.

[gifford]

Really enjoyed seeing the H or M bows, three great bows, three locally sourced materials...

I noticed the osage sort of had squarish upper limbs, was that on purpose or am I seeing something that actually isn't there.

Really nice work.

[Selfbowman]

Nice bows Ed. Looking good . Arvin

[BowEd]

gifford.....Staves from larger logs will have flatter backs most times.Limbs on that holmgaard are a shade under 1.5" wide.I usually don't chamfer and round over edges on limbs more than an 1/8".The handles' edges get more of a chamfer for gripping comfort.
Thanks Arvin.

[rps3]

Awesome set of bows there. Make sure you take pictures of you splitting that twisted osage.

[BowEd]

OK rps3......I split the snaky grained log today scoring it with the chain saw to make sure it split where I wanted.I could only use half the log.Other half had some large branches on it.I scored the half log I wanted to keep with 2 lines with the chain saw and split it.The wavy bark lines looked good and lined up end to end with a good crown flat and straight and no propellering.Split up a straight different log then too.Total of 7 straight staves 5.5 to 6 feet long from that log and 3 snaky staves 68" long from the other log.
I gave my friend Gary a straight stave and a snaky stave for helping me.He's a good man and an expert bow maker himself.When first seeing the log the first thing he said was.....This is wild!!! I stepped into the house to a message from him telling me he had way too many tomato plants started and said to come on over and get some.
In the previous picture of the snaky grained tree we cut the log out that is the third branch to the right.There are actually 4 branches coming out from the trunk if you look closely.Thank God for skid loaders.....Ha Ha.

[meanewood]

This whole Holmegaard/mollegabet thing confused me for a while, but I'm pretty sure the Holmegaard bows were one whole bow and fragments from another bow found in Holmgaard in Denmark and both were even tapered bows.
The Mollegabet was a lever bow found in Mollegabet in Denmark.
Nice bows whatever you want to call them.