Author Topic: Starting dimensions for yew warbow  (Read 16124 times)

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Offline WillS

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #30 on: March 24, 2016, 02:06:16 pm »
Yeah, nothing unusual about that any more, and that's with natural hemp strings, too!  His 175lb laburnum bow is quite a looker as well.

Offline sieddy

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #31 on: March 24, 2016, 04:25:09 pm »
Hemp strings!  :o
"No man ever broke his bow but another man found a use for the string" Irish proverb

Offline lonbow

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #32 on: July 11, 2016, 07:24:08 am »
@WillS: Itīs a very interesting hint, that there are experiments with 30" arrows now, which show that 30" seems to be the best draw lenght for Mary Rose bows. Do 30" arrows have a higher velocity or a better penetration than 32" arrows? How do the light weight 28" arrows perform?

It always seemed very odd to me that most warbow archers now use longer arrows than in the 15th and 16th century. Recently I read an interesting german study on body hights in earlyer periods. The average body hight of a man in the 16th century in the southern Germany and northern Tyrol would have been about 167 cm, people from northern Germany and England were about 171 cm tall. Having only facts like these, people from today would assume shorter draw lengths for archers in earlyer periods. But interestingly, previous people often had different body proportions. Their legs were often shorter but, the upper body was just as big as today. I even read somewhere that the arms were as long as today or sometimes even longer. The different body proportions come from hard physical work during the age of growth.

Offline WillS

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #33 on: July 11, 2016, 09:52:06 am »
I think it's more the fact that a bow tillered to 150lb at 30" is far less stressed than a bow tillered to 150lb at 32".  The wood stays healthier, therefore the performance is better.

I suppose when somebody decides to document it, or do some extensive testing we'll know for sure. 

Offline poplar600

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #34 on: July 16, 2016, 11:04:31 pm »
Why do these bows have such a long parallel section, and then a sudden extreme taper at the tips?

That's how it looks to me anyways

mikekeswick

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #35 on: July 17, 2016, 03:26:13 am »
I think it's more the fact that a bow tillered to 150lb at 30" is far less stressed than a bow tillered to 150lb at 32".  The wood stays healthier, therefore the performance is better.

I suppose when somebody decides to document it, or do some extensive testing we'll know for sure.

If you make the 32 inch draw bow a wee bit wider or longer it isn't more strained. The aim on all bows should be to make them feel the correct strain for the wood at full draw. Be that 30# 50# or 150#. Wood doesn't know what bow/design it is in  - it just feels the strain upto its limits then fails if we push it past.
A longer draw on the same bow/same arrow makes it more efficient.

Offline Del the cat

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Re: Starting dimensions for yew warbow
« Reply #36 on: July 17, 2016, 04:08:09 am »
Why do these bows have such a long parallel section, and then a sudden extreme taper at the tips?

That's how it looks to me anyways
Parallel, because they are narrow to start with, and if you go too narrow too quick they can bend sideways. The thickness tapers so the width doesn't need too.
They taper quickly and gracefully at the tip because they can, and it saves weight. I see very few bows that couldn't actually be thinner at the tip. I see plenty where they look like pencils at the end, where the horn nock has been fitted but there has been no attempt to blend that into the limb. Bear in mind you are going from a circular section at the nock to a D section in the limb, if it's not done nicely it looks hideous!
Here's a post that shows what I mean...
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/back-patch-and-tip-tidy.html
Del
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