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Wood for warbow?
Ian.:
Am i right in saying that actionboo is like 1/4 sawn, if it is then yep boo is one of the very best backings
I would use the best woods to make a 130 bow and bomboo and osage are the best you have there its not that i wouldnt use the others but you dont need to.
Oak in my opinoin isnt that good so dont bother putting it with very good woods, it will only take from the bow.
I dont know what Norwegian wood is like but mapel would make the best core wood.
So Osage/maple/boo or osage/boo or osage/single growth ring ash
Any backing you choose osage should be the belly.
nickf:
"BUT boo is a grass so not a warbow"
Ian, I'd like to know why bamboo won't make a warbow? I can't tell since I've only made 5 boo backed warbows (90-130#, 3 ipé, 2 massaranduba). Never knew it wouldn't make warbows.
Moen,
Actionboo's a first class core, if it's vertically laminated. I'd recommend Osage as belly, actionboo as core, and boo as backing (not actionboo, just the normal slat). However ian said bamboo won't make warbows, I used it on both warbows(wich shouldn't work, but actually does) and on normal bows. This stuff is unbreakable!!! I bet it even beats f-glass in tensile strength.
Boo however will probably overpower the lighter woods, like walnut, so that's not a good choice. The really dense osage, combined with the unbreakable boo is a first class combination, just as boo-ipé.
I woudn't hesitate to go over 140# with boo-backed osage, should be an incredible combi. for a 32" drawlength and 90-120# drawweight, I recommend 1" of glued-in reflex, 74" ntn length, and 1 1/4" width.
Nick
Et_tu_brute:
Personally I agree with Ian about bamboo backings on warbows. Nick, Ian didn't say it wouldn't make a warbow (if by warbow you are talking about a full compass bow of the traditional English style, heavy draw-weight etc.), he said it wouldn't be a true warbow, as bamboo is a grass. I have used bamboo to back bows with before and it's an excellent backing material, but if I had the choice between bamboo and good quality hickory (using hickory as an example, same goes for maple and ash by hickory would be my choice) for making a longbow/warbow then I'd choose the hickory every time. I know Hickory wasn't available at the time, but at least it's a wood and I believe we have evidence for backed bows being introduced in the Tudor period, (Ash backed Yew IIRC) probably more recreational bows than livery bows, but laminates nonetheless.
Ian.:
Thanks Dave, i agree with everything you've said there.
Bamboo is natures carbon fibre cant go wrong using it as a backing.
Lets not get into a silly bamboo argument because it will be one of countless topics, but i just don't like using bamboo in a bow, if you want to call anything a warbow then Yew or Yew or even good quality Yew would be great for it, but if understandably you want a laminate then wood is the only lamination you can use to the same profile and length of a true warbow.
I have never been a fan of small reflexed boo backed anything, it bears no resemblance to a true warbow it will shoot totally different and feel different to, there just not the same thing.
But back on topic Osage backed boo will make a fantastic heavy bow.
nickf:
brute,
I agree with you that neither Hickory, nor Bamboo has been used on TUDOR ENGLISH warbows.
but
Boo has been used on countless warbows, hickory has been used a little aswell, but mainly on lightweight bows (+- 55#)
let's take a look at this quote:"
"warbow/longbow 120-130#@30". And i want to laminate it"
I would think he just want's a warbow/longbow. Not a true mary-rose replica. So, why shouldn't he use bamboo? bows have been backed with all kind of stuff, varying form rawhide, to sinewcables, to bamboo. Hickory became popular in the last century, however bamboo has been used since the first bows were made.
If you want to be truly traditional, please, don't make any warbows, exept from SPANISH, PORTUGESE, ITALIAN yew, with a rpi of no lower than 60. Otherwise, it won't be a real warbow, since that's what they used. No pacific yew, no yew with a rpi of below 60, no waterbuffalo horn, no fastflight, b-50, d-75, but COWHORN nocks, linen or hemp strings, and DOUBLE sidenocks. and ofcourse, drawweights varying form 160#-200#. Goodluck. Recovering from a shoulderinjury right now, after drawing a 130# without any warming up. That dumb, yeah. But I'm not able to draw that 160# minimum, nor will my skeleton take it, nor will I pay 400€ for a italian-yew stave. Instead, I pay 40€ for a board, 15€ for a boo pole, and make 8 powerfull warbows, wich are, in addition, more efficient.
well, we all know, this true warbowmaking is gonna be very expensive. So turn our 'primitive' mind on, and decide that bamboo is the strongest and most reliable backing. Osage slats are excelent bellies, however flattened osage hasn't been used on any warbows I've seen so far. Exept from modern laminates, ofcourse.
Nick
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