Can I have advice on making an authentic English Longbow?

[Little Robin Hood]

Hi, I'm Little Robin Hood, in the US, and I'd like to make my own longbow.   Where do I start?   What tools should I get, and where can I get yew wood?   All you experienced archers, help!

In particular, could Duffontap help me out?   His post on making a Mary Rose replica is awesome.

Thanks!

[markinengland]

LRH,

The first thing to do is decide what you mean by "Authentic English Longbow". Over here we can't agree about what that is ourselves!

I think a good start would be to get Pip Bickerstaffe's book "Heritage of the Longbow". This gives some good infomation on bow design, construction, tiller shape etc. Read it before you do much else.

I would advise that you make a few laminated ELBs before venturing into a yew one. Hickory backing and osage looks very period. Once you have these mastered then maybe it is time to try your hand at yew. That is the advice I would give myself, which is why I haven't yet touched the yew I have in my wood loft!

I think it would be good if you could see a bow and handle it. For me nothing works quite as well as direct experience, to see, hold, touch etc.

Mark in England

[Bowbound]

Follow marks advice,

I would also start with lighter bows maybe 50lbs working up to a warbows weight. You might want to try a few self bows of ash etc.

Please leave any yew till later after a few bows with sucess then try the yew. It would be a waste if you broke a yew bow because it was you're first attempt.

[ravenbeak]

Robin Hood,

I'd encourage you to just dive in.  Use whatever wood you have the most access too,  build lots,  break lots,  and learn from what breaks.

Around here,  I'm rich in yew,  It's all i've ever used,  and yes i've broke my share.

just dive in,   make shavings (get a farriers rasp) and bend wood.  watch out,  it's addictive

[alanesq]

I agree, ash would be a very good place to start and it would result in an authentic English Longbow

you can easily get a 100lb bow from self ash (above this it gets more difficult)

btw - you can see my "back street bowyer" guide about how I did it here: www.alanesq.com

[wally]

There are many sites and books about the English warbow. If you search on google for English warbow you'll find plenty, but Primitive Archer has a good back article under this heading

www.primitivearcher.com/articles/warbow.html , this can also be found on google under English warbow.
 
They are magnificent looking primitive bows as you will see from the pictures there, but try not to go straight to the heavy draws 100lb to 200lb as they take some pulling. I can only manage a 65lb and even that, shooting most of the day, I ache badly. You can make them laminated instead of selfbow.
Imagine them ancient warrior archers at Agincourt drawing 100-120lbs at 12 arrows a minute-all day!
Good luck with your build-     whatever man can conceive he can achieve

[wally]

Me again
 I have just read post by alanesq and the link to his back street bowyer. It is excellent. If I were you, instead of wading through differing opinions I would just follow his, easy to understand, informative guide to making a warbow. Just follow him and you won't go far wrong. 

[Little Robin Hood]

Well, thanks to Marc Saint Louis, I have a nice handsplit yew stave from Washington, fresh and green (I should say red).   Got it off ebay, but he said it looked great.   So now, I am looking for a drawknife.   Figured out to my dismay that I have to rough it out before I force dry it.   Any help from you all as to how big around the bow should be at middle, tips and midlimbs if it's going to be an English Warbow?

Thanks,

Little Robin Hood.

By th' way, that link on Englishwarbow.com doesn't work for me because it's locked and they won't accept more registration.

[wally]

www.alanesq.com
Again Try this great website and click for English Longbow Build 22 pages long. It will be all you need to build a bow.
Click straight for 'back street bowyer'
 You don't need to join anything or group.