White Wood ENGLISH Long Bow Challenge

[Bowbound]

Steve

 human nature is curiosity, i was thinking about a warbow of about 100lbs but then i couldn't use it and it would be a wall hanger or party peice to see who was the strongest. If i made a war bow it would be a heavy and probably made from a normally classified wood like yew or a lamination. Perhaps this will show that it can be done with other woods.

Josh

[Badger]

   Not positive hhb would be considered a white wood but I think it is at least as good as yew for war bows possibly even superior. Steve

[Bowbound]

I think i have some of that stuff around here, i'll check the internet!

[Hickoryswitch]

I've been wanting to build an Elb so I'm in. Besides the 5/8's rule and no horn nocks are their any other rules?

[Skeaterbait]

I am interested in this but will need assistance. I am SEVERELY math challenged so I will need more clarification on the 5/8 rule. Can someone help a poor idjut out?

Also to clarify, backed bows are ok? I have a good HBH blank already glued up, if it fits the rule I can finish it out.

[welch2]

I'm not always good at math either . So I'll give it a febble attempt.

The 5/8 is just a ratio of the thickness of the bow (the 5) to the width of the bow ( the 8) . They are saying that when you put the thickness of your bow over the width of your bow , the resulting fraction has to be equal to or greater than 5/8 ,,in order be a ELB.

Is that close guys ?

Ralph

[Marc St Louis]

That's one way of putting it Ralph.

HHB will make a true ELB in fact it will make a darn good warbow, so will Elm but the Elm has to be good and dense to make a warbow.

[YewArcher]

I am in. I am convinced that hickory will make a nice elb style bow. I have one in the works and will add it to this discussion as I get it tillerd over the next few days.

SJM

[Rich Saffold]

With regards to horn nocks they just shouldn't be a requirement, you can use them if you wish..Their should be a separate category for backed and laminate bows as well..Even if using whitewood laminates as they can have  a distinct advantage over  self longbows..


Skeaterbait, look at it this way, if 8/8th's is a square  inch 5/8th's is a cross section which is an inch wide, and 5/8th's of an inch thick.

Rich

[orcbow]

It means the limb cross section is 5/8ths as thick as it is wide.  I agree no horn nocks, but allow overlays, and modern strings.
 

Sorry I can't help it but I am also a math geek. So here is a clarification of the formula quoted above....

Say that you make a bow that is 1 inch wide. Multiply 1 x 5/8 (or .625 when expressed as a number rather than a fraction) equals .625. Okay so what that means is that a bow that is 1 inch wide must be no more than 5/8 of an inch (or .625) thick.

Some other sizes would be: 1 1/2 inches wide (1.5 x .625= .9375) equals 15/16" thick
                                                    1 1/4 inches wide (1.25 x .625= .78125) equals 25/32" thick (in between 3/4" and 13/16")

Hope that helps. Maybe a professor  at MIT could do better.

[welch2]

Maybe someone already makes these , but a set of dividers preset to 5/8 ratio could be a useful tool to longbow guys.

like this.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Skeaterbait]

Sorry I can't help it but I am also a math geek. So here is a clarification of the formula quoted above....

Say that you make a bow that is 1 inch wide. Multiply 1 x 5/8 (or .625 when expressed as a number rather than a fraction) equals .625. Okay so what that means is that a bow that is 1 inch wide must be no more than 5/8 of an inch (or .625) thick.

Some other sizes would be: 1 1/2 inches wide (1.5 x .625= .9375) equals 15/16" thick
                                                    1 1/4 inches wide (1.25 x .625= .78125) equals 25/32" thick (in between 3/4" and 13/16")

Hope that helps. Maybe a professor  at MIT could do better.

Orcbow, this is perfect, I pretty much understand it from Rich's explanation but you hit the numbers on the head, almost exactly, my blank is 1 1/8" wide and 7/8" deep. Assuming my understanding is on target, that should fall right in the mix of it.

[Badger]

  It is ok to make it thicker than 5/8 just never go below the 5/8 rule, 1 to 1 near the handle is not unusaul.

[grantmac]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,7658.0.html
Hows that?
        Grant

[Badger]

Grant, that bow is a beauty!!  Steve