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Questions from a newbie

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Lucasade:
Okay. Before you read what follows, please understand that I am incredibly grateful to you all for sharing advice so freely with a total stranger who has just blundered into your lives.

I never expected to knock up a warbow and arrows and live in the past inside two months. I have far too much respect for the skill of the bowyer and fletcher for that. I started thinking about making a bow in April, and set to researching everything I could. What I found was a lot of texts that seemed to have been written by old style professionals seeking to retain the mystique of their craft, and thankfully even more written by people like you that are open with knowledge and want as many people as possible to be able to do this stuff. Unfortunately all I found on the subject of arrow spine was much learned discussion that assumed quite a lot of knowledge. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place.

I expected it to take a long time to even find a piece of yew that might work, and it just happened that within a month I had a likely looking branch in my hands, based on what I had read. I then expected to take another two years to absorb knowledge and mentally work through the whole process before picking up any tools. I have literally zero money for buying wood for staves - I am entirely dependent on what I can cut with my own hands. It would be amazing to serve a ten year apprenticeship with a master bowyer, but I am self employed and my wife is getting her own business off the ground so time and money are very tight. My plan for arrows is to ask for vouchers for materials for my birthdays.

I have been working with wood and my hands generally most of my life. I also ring and teach others to ring church bells - the heaviest I have rung weighs just under three tonnes. My mum is a woodcarver amongst many other crafts that she does all to a ridiculously high standard that I can never hope to match. I say this not to show off but to demonstrate that I have a reasonable baseline of knowledge and am maybe not as ignorant as my questions make me seem. I have seen what can be achieved if you jump in at the deep end with respect for the task but without fear.

Given all of this, I didn't think it unreasonable to be able to produce a half decent bow after practicing on another one first if I proceeded with care. As I think I said, the process and the history lesson is almost more important to me than the finished article, although I would be very upset if I just ended up with some beautiful firewood.

I reserve the right to be completely wrong, and I now realise that I will have to keep searching for a warbow stave. And I will definitely keep coming back here for advice and to tap into your collective knowledge - if you can forgive me for being somewhat blunt.

WillS:
Hi mate, I don't think anybody thought you were rushing or approaching this wrong - you've asked all the right questions (I wish I'd asked some of them before I started!) and you seem to have the perfect attitude towards this.  I'm a mere novice (if that) but to me it seems you'll be fine.  I had to blunder through to start with as I didn't know about these forums, so you'll no doubt get off to a better start than I did!

If I were in your shoes, I'd seal the 80" stave and put it away somewhere and try out techniques on the shorter one.  Practice removing wood with a sharp hatchet, drawknife or spokeshave, scraping finer amounts with cabinet scrapers etc, and using rough rasps to round the belly.  Get used to seeing a stave up on a tiller system with a pulley and spotting areas that don't move enough to end up with an even curve as you pull the string using the pulley.  All of these things will be a massive benefit when you come to work with the good bits!  You might completely destroy the shorter piece but you'll learn more from that than anybody could teach you by writing it down!

Oh, and if possible get yourself some hands on experience with the type of bows you're interested in.  If you're anywhere near Dorset or can get there you're more than welcome to shoot some of my warbows and war arrows, or even better get yourself to a an English Warbow Society shoot and see the guys who actually know what they're doing!  I had to make my first couple of longbows using just books and the internet as I didn't know anybody who made or shot them.  The moment I finally saw the real thing I spotted countless obvious differences that pictures wouldnt have shown, and they changed my approach completely!!

Whatever you decide to do, keep posting on here with questions and pics and these guys will be able to help out!

DarkSoul:

--- Quote from: Lucasade on July 12, 2014, 06:11:12 pm ---I say this not to show off but to demonstrate that I have a reasonable baseline of knowledge and am maybe not as ignorant as my questions make me seem.

--- End quote ---
Fair enough! I can only judge you, as a total stranger, based on a few paragraphs posted here in this topic ;)

I understand the "no money, no time" issue. The funny thing about making bows is that is really doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Cavemen didn't have money, yet they made great bows, right? Time is necessary, but it will always pay off in experience. Even if your first project breaks after spending many hours, you will still have gained experience that will make your next attempts better (and built faster).
If I were you, I would start with the 60" stave and then go to the 80" stave. In the meantime, be on the look out for more wood. Not only yew, but also other hardwoods. Should not be difficult with your work... You'll have a steady supply of dry wood within a year. What do you got to loose with the yew? The wood was for free, and at the moment there is no better alternative. So just wing it, and try the best you can. But be prepared for a failure, or coming in underweight.

Lucasade:
The short stave is straighter too...

The plan for this winter was to hand-chop lots of firewood to work on technique  :)

And you're right about it all expanding - I've been in this conversation two days and two planned bows have already turned into three!

I'm afraid Dorset is a bit of a trek from Warwickshire but that's a really kind offer.

Del the cat:
If ever you are down in Essex you are welcome to come and have a shufti at my stuff. I have every thing from 35# Hazel bows to 70# longbows and the Chinese Repeating Crossbow to try out.
Del

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