wych elm

[brian]

i am in the process of making wych elm war bow,hoping for 130/140 lbs the stave i have is 78ins.long42mm wide 42mm deep with natural 45 mm recurve.what do you think would be the best profiles,tapersetc.too achieve this .being of a certain age i am afraid my computer skills are sadly lacking ,i wiil try and get some pictures up at a later date .any information will be gratefully received.
Brian

[Ian.]

You need our fried Nidrinr to comment, where is the Elm from?

The main thing I will say is you will only really get that weight with heat treating.

[}|{opukc]

78-80" long, 40x32mm in handle and 15x15mm in the tips with MP profile and you achieve this weight of 140, even 150 with heat treatment of the belly.

This is 36x31 and 13x13 and she is 125# red elm.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=27033.0

George

[mikekeswick]

Umm interesting bow in the link - that belly looks pretty rounded.

[brian]

Ian
the wych elm comes from a local wood in herefordshire

[Ian.]

I would say you are in for an uphill fight making English Wych Elm that heavy, its possible, anything is but this will really test you. If you get everything bending nice early on and the wood is very good, then heat treat it totally before it takes any set. If you make the bow 78"be prepared to take it down to 76-75" to get the weight up. There are a few in the EWBS that are making those weights with white woods, it may be worth joining.

[brian]

i am already a member of the E W B S .you shot my welsh yew in the welsh arrow comp.i have 4 nice staves here ,with which i am going to experiment with,width,depth ratio

[Ian.]

Sorry Brian I should have made the connection, you will have to keep us all updated with the progress.