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How War Bows were manufactured for wars

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adb:
... just like there were no remaining arrow heads. Long since rusted away.

WillS:
Apparently (god knows where I got this but it's stored away in my memory bank from somewhere!) the divers that first found the arrows saw impressions of the arrowheads (or at least residue in the silt the exact shape and size of the arrowheads) but the minute they started moving the arrows they lost all sign of them. 

Somebody, somewhere who was first to dive the MR wreckage knows what those arrowheads looked like.  And we'll never find out!

matthijsc:

--- Quote from: Badger on March 06, 2014, 02:59:21 pm ---  Has anyone read any history on the actual manufacturing process of war bows? I would be curious to see how a regular military bow looked as opposed to a soldier or officer who may get a custom one done. Did yhey use helpers to rough out bows and do the finishing? did one guy do the nocks while another guy built the bows? How much has been discovered on this?

--- End quote ---

I do not know much about this topic, but I do know all English men (in the middle ages) were required to have a bow and practice with it at least once a week (it was in some documentary about the English yew longbow, I think). I would there for assume they would make their own bows and arrows, as they were doomed to break at some point and buying a new bow every other month was not really affordable(???)...

But who knows.

WillS:

--- Quote from: matthijsc on April 08, 2014, 08:18:09 pm ---I do not know much about this topic, but I do know all English men (in the middle ages) were required to have a bow and practice with it at least once a week (it was in some documentary about the English yew longbow, I think). I would there for assume they would make their own bows and arrows, as they were doomed to break at some point and buying a new bow every other month was not really affordable(???)...

But who knows.

--- End quote ---

I think it's unlikely they'd make their own, personally. The guilds were secretive and the skills were only taught to a select few.  It's more likely that the apprentices would have been churning out simple meane wood bows for practice or recreational use,  and the more valuable Spanish, Portugese and Italian yew bows made by the master bowyer and delivered to armouries for campaigns.

That's not to say some of the people might have dabbled in making them, of course.

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