english
Ex Member
|
Well, a proper medieval longbow is very difficult to make. If you want to do it absolutely perfectly. But the basic concept, the D section design, is very easy. There are plenty of good American woods to make bows from - locust is actually rated quite highly. In the south, black locust was the main bow making wood of native American tribes. Many people say that Osage orange is the best bow wood in America, along with Oregon yew, but it costs a lot, is quite rare (to find good staves, I mean) and is difficult to carve (or so I've heard, having never used it for a bow before.) If you can find a good, six inch thick, round hickory, then you are onto a winner. Any hickory will do, shagbark, mockernut, anything. Even pecan is good (it's of the same family, carya, as the hickory.) Other good bow woods include ash, birch and elm. All three are quite common, and easily worked (although I have no personal experience of elm). Ash was known as "the weapon wood" by the Lakota. Well, for a good bow, use a nice thick trunk - difficult to extract a good stave, but well worth it. If you can't be bothered, then use a sapling. Always use the outside part of the tree as the "back" of the bow (as opposed to the belly - think about how a person bends, with their back on the outside, belly inside.) If you choose to season the wood before working (not the Native American way) then you should be able to see a clear definition between sapwood (on the back) and heartwood (on the belly.) Never cut through the sapwood on the back. If the wood is not from a thick log, then do not choose an English longbow design - it won't work as well. Go for a flatbow design. This means that you keep the belly flat, and the back as flat as possible (although there is, in fact, no need to work it at all). If you use a sapling: Split the sapling, as close to the centre as you can, to try and end up with two bowstaves (don't worry if you can't do that) and use the best piece - work only the belly, until it is a nice size for you, and cut out a handle shape if you want. Pick a design from an internet site or book and try to copy the general shape (but don't do anything to the back.)
|