Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
80", 80# Ash warbow build along (low-budget style)
WillS:
Very nice indeed! Well done mate. Tips might be moving a bit much, giving you a slightly whip-ended tiller, but as long as they're not chrysalling, and you think you've avoided actual hinges then it should be ok.
Be careful using things like oil and wax on ash - they work great on woods like yew, but ash really loves to suck up moisture which will give you even more set than before! Get a good modern finish on it like varnish to seal the moisture out, then you can dull the finish using beeswax if you want. It's not traditional, but if you want it to last a long time and shoot as well as possible then you'll want to avoid it taking more set as a result of humidity etc. Obviously if your goal is just to keep things as "primitive" as possible then avoid the modern finishes, but the bow will end up taking quite a lot of set if there is moisture in the air.
When I was getting advice on making ash warbows from Jaro (pretty much the best there is when it comes to heavy ash bows) he told me to keep my hands constantly clean and dry as even sweat from your skin can affect an ash bow while working on it, and every time you take a break from tillering stick it on a radiator so it thoroughly dries out. You don't need to do any of that with most other woods but ash really seems to hate getting wet!
Anyway, nice looking bow and I bet you can't wait to crack on with the next one!
P.S. Warbows don't have leather grips, just bare wood ;)
Colindemo:
Thx for the info! I did want it to be as traditional as possible so i refrained from using any type of modern finish. This bow is the first longbow i ever made so i don't expect it to shoot great nor do i expect that it's an exceptionally durable bow.
For my next bow i have a similar ash log standing ready and i will try to use your advice during the next bow-making process to hopefully and up with less set. Also, i'm thinking about adding some slight recurves to the tips but i will only do that when i have a new bow made so that when i break it i'll still have a bow to shoot with other than my flatbows.
p.s. I know about warbows not having a leather grip but i think it looks cooler and i had some laying around anyways so i thought: why not?
WillS:
Well for your first longbow, to end up with a very reasonable tiller AND a draw weight around 80# is super impressive! Well done dude, hope you enjoy shooting it!
toomanyknots:
I think it looks pretty darn nice too!
Micke D:
WillS - what about Elm, is it they same when it comes to sucking up moisture?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version