Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
a wet spring.
briarbrow:
--- Quote from: J. D. Duff on May 15, 2007, 02:46:32 am ---Briarbrow,
Are you a bowyer?
Kviljo,
I'm not sure what you thought was silly.
J. D. Duff
--- End quote ---
Hi JD,
That depends on your definition a little. I have made some bows. Why do you ask?
duffontap:
Hey Briarbrow,
I was asking because you said that liquid moisture was not the issue--water vapor was. If water vapor is the issue then, there isn't a real problem because wood seasoned to the high-humidity climate of England is going to maintain a relatively steady--albeit high--moisture content. Outdoor seasoned staves around England probably settle out to around 11-14% moisture content depending on the season. This is not too high for Yew to perform well and would not necessitate significant overbuilding.
I think the real issue is dealing with long campaigns in pouring rain. An unprotected bow would soak up a lot of moisture and take 6" of set. I think all of us would agree that the English bowman would protect their bows against this kind of moisture-absorption. It should also be mentioned that wax and fat do create working vapor barriers.
I think the original question was regarding whether the bows were overbuit because they had such high moisture content. I'm trying to argue that they were well-seasoned and protected. The English built bows that performed extremely well. You can't do anything like what they did without nearly perfect bows. If they were overbuilt due to moisture, they would not have had the cast that they did.
J. D. Duff
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page
Go to full version