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working details for higher poundages

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Del the cat:
Not sure I'd trust hot melt glue  :o
I use a thick CA glue for temporary nocks, they get cut/sawn/rasped off when the real ones are fitted.
With big warbows I'd suggest it's virtually impossible to floor tiller due to the length and poundage. Reaching up to one end while pushing hard on the middle is a great way to over stretch the muscles in-between your shoulder blades.
I'm a lazy git and some times can't be bothered to put in stringer grooves... I've felt the burn between my shoulders or strained my lower back once too often when trying to string a heavyish bow.
It's a tricky balance between the overthink/numbers and doing it by feel. We all have to find our own working point.
There is no right and wrong.
Del

meanewood:
On the subject of temporary nocks. Since Alistair and Jeremy posted the info about the Elm bow found on the 'Mary Rose', I have used the simple back shamfer which I believe was the nocking system used on that bow.

It's so easy and works perfectly from long string to finish. Just use a running loop on the upper limb and a bowyers knot on the lower limb.

willie:
Meanewood-

the simple back chamfer sounds interesting. where would I find the posting that Alistair and Jeremy made about it? This is my first look at the warbow, and to be honest I have not spent too much time searching on the internet for the resources that are commonly used in England. Would you be kind enough to share any other links that might help out someone new to warbows?

Btw, I had a brief email exchange with WillS a few weeks back about arrows, and he educated me as to the definition of meanewood, or white wood as we say here. Do you build meanewood warbows? I fear that this belly of larch that I am working on may prove to be no better than the hardwood back, in which case I will be looking through my birch staves to make the warbow

thanks
willie

meanewood:
Hi Willie

In Warbow circles, meanewood is a general term used for all European woods used to make bows other than Yew!
It comes from a passage of a book written about archery in Tudor times.
The author, 'Roger Ascham' uses the word meane (ordinary) when describing those woods in comparison to Yew.
The woods referred to are probably Ash, Elm, Hazel, Laburnum, Holly etc.

I live in Australia and don't have access to Yew but can source Elm from the hills around Adelaide.

Using mostly Elm, I was delighted when Jeremy and Alistair from Warbow Wales, posted an article about the only Elm bow recovered from the 'Mary Rose' wreak.
The post is on page 2 and is titled Bow X1-3.
There is a link on there to the article on the Warbow Wales website.

When looking at the photo of the 2 tips of the bow, I'm sure the shamfer ed one is original because the patina is the same as the rest of the bow.
The other tip however is lighter and looks to be the result of someone cutting off the end, probably to make it fit in a display case back in the 19th century!

As you can see from the pics I posted on that topic, I'm using that system of nocking on that and 9 other Elm bows I've made.
Elm seems to be able to cope with the 'Back' trimmed like that and after a while the string leaves an indentation in the tip which if anything makes nocking easier because the loop seats itself nicely each time!

As for advice about woods used for laminates, I'm afraid I've never made one. I'm sure other guys can advise which woods are best.

Hope that helps

willie:
The bow is shown at 27" draw and is 71" ntn. I realize that I could have made this bow shorter, but I wanted something of the same proportions as the next bow which will be made of whitemeanewood and needs to be long for it's draw.

Please let me know what you think of this tiller as a model for the 100# up next. It came out sort of circular to my eye at 27".

I am thinking that proper tiller at full draw for a true warbow should end up bending a little more in the mid-limbs?

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