Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
Pre 14thC bulbous English arrows.
davecrocket:
When I say pinch grip I mean holding the end of the arrow between thumb and fingers. Traditionally this has always been associated with bulbous nocks. However, it may be possible to loose a bulbous nock from a longbow using just two fingers and still holding on primarily to the arrow. This method -if possible- will not distort the string so much as a conventional pull.
However, I have no evidence for this. This is why I am making this arrow. I think it will be very interesting to see how it performs.
I am also going to bind in a homemade head. I am going to put it in with the grain of the wood so the arrow cannot be pulled past the head. Again this will help with the release. There are quite a few old longbows with evidence of them being marked because of this drawing method.
Best get back to it!
Dave.
Rod:
The shafts in question may not be "bulbous" in the sense that you mean.
That is to say three dimensionally "bulbous", so as to provide a bulge which is meant to be pinch gripped.
They may in fact be far more two dimensional being shaped to "clip on" rather than for a pinch grip, which is in any case a very weak method of trying to maintain a purchase on a heavy bow.
Rod.
davecrocket:
Sorry for the delay.. I am still working on the arrow.
I have kept the nock at the maximum 1/2 inch and taken the part that will take the fletchings down as far as I dare. The thickest part of the shaft is about four inches from the head. The nock is not big enough to hold onto. Also the tapering is not as much as I would have liked. 5/8 inch shaft seems more sensible now.
I am determined however to cut the fletchings in though. I shot one once and it seemed to go much quicker. There must be a technique to do this. I don`t know what it is though.
It is very hard for me to explain what I am trying to do. I want to make an arrow that was shot from a long bow pre Tudor times. I will finish this arrow in a few days and take some pictures and then I hope everything will become clear. Advice then may come forth.
In the mean time I still need advice. It is taking me longer to make this arrow than it did making my bows.
I don`t want to get too much in front of myself, but does anyone think I should have headed the arrow with a harder wood than ash? I know spine didn`t come into the equation in these times, but maybe a very ridgid foreshaft with a flexible aftshaft may have helped in some way. I got the idea from bamboo arrows. For years I could not work out how they could have been so successful as they bend uniformly along the shaft.. And then I saw some Japanese heads with a huge and unnecessary tang on it. This would render the foreshart totally rigid.
Dave.
davecrocket:
I mean footed, not headed. Sorry.
Dave.
Rod:
Dave,
I think that tanged shafts were often made with overlenth tangs much in the same way as unmounted sword blades were produced with overlength tangs.
On an arrow head this allows the tang to be cut to the desired length, as for example in a cane shaft to match a length to a node.
Regarding the "pinch" nock, examination of the illustrations I mentioned earlier shows that the shape of the nock aperture of these "bulbous" nocks appears to be designed to allow "clipping on" to the string,
a refinement not apparent in livery shafts.
This is what I refer to in distinguishing between a "pinch" nock and a "bulbous" nock, although the swelling obviously does permit pinching in the usual sense.
FWIW
Rod.
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