Why Didn't My First Bow Break? My Ash Longbow's Secret. Beginner Bowmaking.
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- Why Didn't My First Bow Break? My Ash Longbow's Secret. Beginner Bowmaking. To my continued surprise, the first bow I made is still intact and working fine. It draws 30lb and shoots and arrow a good distance and reasonably accurately. Why has it survived so long? Surely a beginner's bow will break, sooner or later? It took an experienced bowyer - John Riggs - to point out to me why my bow survives to this day. It's because I made the bow - quite by good fortune - the correct shape for the wood I was using - ash. I am contacted by people who have tried to make a bow but their attempts failed. I try to explain one of the reasons why that happened - perhaps because the bow design - it's shape in profile as if cut in half - was wrong for the wood that was used.
I make my first bow: • Traditional Longbow. I...
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My first ash bow broke tonight, after months, starting way back in the woods, cut from a broken limb. Carried home, split into two staves. Seasoned and crafted to the point of tillering. I've heat treated and bent this bow back into a useable shape. I put every spare hour into it. Tonight when only a few inches from my draw length and at around 30 pounds it snapped. The surprising thing is Im not put off by it, after all that work I've realised a massive amount of the satisfaction of bow making is in the journey to that point. Ive got a hazel stave drying and loads more ash ear marked for my next try. I feel like I should be devastated but Ive learnt so much from that bow that it hasn't bothered me. I never knew how addictive this process would become 😀
I'm just returning to archery.
I was a target archer with all the fancy kit and after 2 years, I was bored to death.
I never felt a "connection" with my bow - all fiberglass and gadgets 😑
Currently got 3 blackthorn, 2 yew and 8 ash staves from managed woodland.
Learning on some of the ash and the special staves are tucked up seasoning whilst I learn this crucial skill.
Also begun ash and hazel coppice 2 years ago for arrows.
I already feel connected to the bow as I nurture the very plants I will be harvesting later.
This feel more....right.....to me.
As if I am reconnecting with an ancient part of myself.
Hahaha , l like ur response to a comment made. " a bow on the wall is better than no bow at all" lol good one. Mark W
;-)
I worked on my bow in the woods I finish it about two days... When I shot it I thought it would just break I'm still shooting it today it's a great feeling to tell you that
Lindsey Zacek Oh great stuff Lindsey! Fun to do isn’t it? Enjoy and thanks for telling me. Mick
Making a bow, as I have found in my novice experience, is largely akin to wooing a lover...If you rush anything, you're likely to ruin everything. Now and again she'll be forgiving, but don't push your luck. I started my bowyer journey with pvc...and while it's a different medium entirely, I did learn a few notes that translated over well when I eventually made my first wooden bow. This was an enjoyable video to say the least.
hey Mick, made a 44" horse bow for my son due to your inspiration, he cut the stave himself and I did some magic, he got up at 5 am and wanted to shoot, I gladly accompanied him and to the utmost delight, then the first bullseye occured and I must say it was the most glorious event mine eyes have witnessed upon him, thank you so much, you've proved that it need not be a Picasso, rather a form to function, and in that, the masterpiece is discovered ! best regards Joseph
Hello Joseph, well, you've made my day - no, you've made my week! That's the most wonderful outcome and a great story nicely told. I am delighted. That's the whole point of what I do; I can't show how an experienced and skilled bowyer makes a fine bow - but I can show what beginners and novices can do with a bit of stick and some blades. And having a son to use it must be a wonderful joy. Thank you for telling me your story. Atb, Mick
Nice video Mick. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! Mick
Hi I've made self bows for over 50 years and you are
correct in saying that the tension and comprehension of ash ,but the flat belly is not the main reason your bow has not broken but the fact that the back of the bow woods grain has not been violated., if you make another bow from Ash and make the back the same as you've made the belly i.e. flat it will snap like a twig as most other woods unless you chase one continuous annual growth ring .there are exemptions to this such as Yew ,Hickory,
If you need info on self bows just get in touch .
Thank you David. Terrific advice. I progressed somewhat after this video, learning about back violation etc. Thanks again, Mick
Thanks Mick. And thanks John for the notebook.
Thanks for watching Terry - and for mentioning John. Mick
I love this! At the end of the day, this and every other bow is a stick, a string, and total defiance of failure. Faith, desire... And a little physics... Hehe!
Just bought the book on Kindle, thanks for the recommendation, it's really good.
Excellent, it's really useful. Mick
John Riggs is very knowledgeable I bought his book and even gave it a great review on my channel. I have gotten to know John and he is a really nice down to earth guy willing to help anyone.
I can only get my hands on red oak wood boards from Lowe's or Home Depot where I live. I have had great success building board bows (And I'm like you - no real bowmaker, just determined to make em as good as I can with what I have to work with.) and since I tend to keep the belly flat and build mollegabet style bows that are about 2" wide they have all turned out pretty darn good considering red oak isn't very good in compression either. I have 4 mollegabet bows all 60" n-n with center cut shelves ranging in weights 25lbs to 50lbs. I also have two Penobscot Mollegabet style bows one that is a double bow and one that is a triple with 6 limbs and man oh man although hard to tiller, they are very sturdy bows. I had a splinter raise in one bow and I put a cast on it, and a year later with over a thousand more shots thru it, it's working like a charm.
Anyway, good video hope you bow lasts forever, and God bless ya!
Hi Joe. Nice to hear from you. I have exchanged very many messages with John and own an arrow he kindly gifted me. I no longer make bows but still take a great interest in the craft and its participants. Good luck and bless you and yours. Mick
glad I watched this, you just stopped me making a BIG mistake. thank you sir.
+Adam Hughes Thanks for letting me know Adam. Good luck!
Nice video! You sound like you should be narrating a nature documentary!
I just made my very first bow, made from willow (terrible wood for bows, but it's easy to get where I live), and despite my pessimistic expectations it didn't break! Now I know why! I also made a flat belly, not for any particular reason, I just thought it suited the wood since it seemed too rigid and fragile to work with a round belly, and looks like I made the right choice.
+NebachadnezzaR Brilliant, well done 👍 No, willow is not ideal but I know it can work if made well. Looks like you've done that. Keep it up! Mick
Very interesting and informative. Everything I know about bows, I learned on your channel!
Thanks for watching Jim - and all I know about bees and sourdough I learned from yours!
It's easy enough to make a longbow, adding to that, your bow has only 30lbs. You should really try to make a powerful shortbow, that I guarantee will be a challenge! A little tip: The key to successfully build a shortbow is that they HAVE TO bend in the handle if they are not backed. Keep up with the good work Sir, I so enjoy watching your videos! Cheers
The back being a single growth ring (the bark) makes it incredibly unlikely to break when tillered with a flat belly.
Ash is a verry good wood for bows , and yes a flat bow resist better to compresion if the wood is not too good for bows ...
All the best Mick !!! 😀😀😀😀😀
Hi there Sorin! Hope you are well. Thanks for watching. Mick
I tried to make my first bow from black locust and it broke half way through tillering process. since then i made 5 bows from ash with great results, from 48 to 80 lbs of draw weight. from my ''expirience'' best and easyest way to make bow is flat back and belly, the older(bigger diameter of the log) the wood the better. wood grains are tightly compacted and you can make 4-5 bows from one log. Btw great video Mick as always.
Hello Milos, well done and thanks for the useful tips. Agreed, older wood is far better - the bow in this video was made and used within 24 hours from a wet and growing ash sapling. Not the best place to start but I did manage to make a shootable bow. Thanks for watching, as ever, appreciated. Atb, Mick
I'm not kind of person to brag but i have to share my achievements :). I learned to forge arrow tips, made fletching jig, made fleching glue from rabbits skin, got gesse and turkey feathers,( im all about medieval style) and learnd how to fletch arrow. The only thing i bought are arrow shafts, and i got them cheap around 30 cents a piece.
That's a fantastic, I'm really impressed - you should bring those skills to a wider audience, there are many who are fascinated by medieval era crafts, skills, techniques, tools and weapons. You should make some videos - I'd love to see all the things you describe on CZcams. Thank you for telling me, respect for your skills. Mick
The problem is that i don't have better camera than phone camera and my english accent is terrible.
Excellent videos can be made with a 'phone. What not try? It's the story that matters, not the camera. What is your home language Milos? Make it the language you are comfortable with and then add subtitles.
I have tried following your video. And it is good. Thank you so much.
bought his book and it is excellent.like yours i love his videos
Great stuff, hope you found the book useful. Mick
saludos de mexico muy buen video .podrias poner traduction
Olá México, obrigado por assistir! Mick
Well, I also working on an ash longbow, so I should make it's belly flat? Interesting, I didn't know that the bow's shape depends on the type of the tree.
Erik Adalbert von Silberer Make a flatbow. It's much safer and better.
Yes it does. You can make a flatbow but also an excellent English longbow - it's just that the shape of the bow's cross-section needs to be varied according to the wood. Just because it needs a flat belly doesn't make it a flatbow. Mick
Mick, thanks for your answer. You are one of the best youtuber, you really take care of your audience in the comment section. Great job, and have a nice day.
You can take a look at the Møllegabet and Holmegaard shape bows, those are good shapes for Ash and Elm .
thanks
I remember reading about the flatbows development back in the 50's I believe. It's a fantastic shape.
I really want to see you try and make a bow in the shape of the Yumi Daikyu. You seem to have a natural hand for this kind of work. I'll be trying my hand at it too sometime in the future. Great stuff as usual!
Thanks for watching Jack. But what is a Yumi Daikyu? Forgive, I don't know!! Mick
Hi Mick,
Yumi is the Japanese word for Bow. Yumi Daikyu is a Japanese Longbow and is asymmetrical in shape. I guess that's why Jack was so keen to see you make one, partly for the humour for both you and us! :-)
I believe this was the bow used by Samurai but is now part of a right of passage in terms of achieving Kyudo "dan" levels. The shooting style of this bow is almost meditative in itself and is very clean and focused. Some great videos of Japanese Traditional Archery on CZcams.
Ha! Now I've seen video of those strange-looking asymmetrical bows - they are huge! Well, I spend a lot of time trying to get mine symmetrical and now I've got to do the opposite! Thanks for explaining, sorry I didn't know the name of them! I'll have a look at some more videos. Thanks, Mick
Very intresting i might have to check out his book, thanks for the video
Good little book, really useful.
I would have liked to see the shape of this bow unstrung after a year and fully dry. I have a bow very similar in shape that also defies all the known rules (especialy the ones about growth rings). Its about 69" draws about 50lb at 30" made from Black Wattle. It was green when i made it, and it had perhaps a 5"recurve at the tips. When first strung it was perhaps 80# but quickly took a savage set , the tips are 9-10" back from their start point and it has settled in like that, and seems to take no more set, in fact overnight it still slowly tries to revert. The wood is only just 6 weeks cut now, so i keep it held level by the the tips on 2 chairs with 6kg of waterbottles hanging from the middle in the hope it might get some of the missing 30# back as it dries. fingers crossed!
Hi there, it's got a little set (maybe an inch or so) but draws about 30lbs only. Hope your bow comes back to life. Mick
That is right about Ash and compression . Up until the 50s Danish bowmakers made English style longbows with Ash laminate as backing on Elm as belly , they were quite good bows and some of them even survive and shoots today.
I'd like to try Elm but no so common these days in the UK. Mick
It grows almost everywhere here in Denmark , it is odd since we have almost the same climate and it is not that far from Jutland to England . On the other hand we have almost no Yew here outside of graveyards and parks . Elm is really good in compression , but not as good as Ash in tension , which means that it is a good idea to back an Elm bow to improve its cast and prevent to much of a set . That is if one want a shorter hunting bow , if it is 6 ft or more there is no problem and it will make quite a good self bow .
Hello Rasmus, elm used to very common the UK but was wiped out by Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s. In my own wood we have some small elm trees but nothing like the grand, hedgerow sentinels I used to enjoy as a child. I did find some elm today that are in an area that we might thin and I will have a try with that wood - but the trees are only 6-9 inches diameter. I would make a self bow over 6 feet. Cheers, Mick
Oh that is right ! we had an attack of that in the 1990s , it killed many of the big old elms , but fortunately it went over and the young elms grew on healthy . Cheers :)
That's good news! Mick
Ah, how it pains to make a flatbow, when you love that wonderful D-shape of an english longbow...
but it is for the better I suppose.
thanks for the tips, you (hopefully) saved my stave from a terrible fate :-D
Keep making such wonderful videos and bows!
Hello. Ah, yes - that wonderful D! So strange to us English folk those flat bows!! Thanks for watching. Atb, Mick
I watch his channel too, bout to buy the book too
Nice bow! I've made one wood bow successfully.... sort of... my mollegabet bow. It's more of a wall hanger than a bow that I shoot. I broke a few in the process.
Thank you! Appreciate you watching, and a bow on the wall is better than no bow at all! Mick
I know that I can't use it because it is soft wood but all I have near me is pinewood though I've been looking for ash or yew for a while but I live in the north west
It’s not impossible to make a bow from pine but you’d be better finding some ash or hazel with which to practise.
@@MickGrewcock alright cheers mate I've only recently got into being a bowyer and you've been a great inspiration for tips
For the record, paracord is designed to stretch.
where i live the only tree that grows slow enough to work for a bow is plum so i mostly use fibreglass
Hi Philipp, I think I would prefer plum to fibreglass - blackthorn is related to plum and makes fine bows, I made one recently. Mick
Its honestly a matter of opinion I, have quite a bit of experience with fibreglass and even though you can find plum trees they are rare and are not as good as in other places (the soil is too fertile so the tree grows too fast and the wood becomes quite soft and does not give the power or lifetime you can achieve with fibre and resin).
+Philipp Lyanguzov I see! Good luck and enjoy. Mick
Wait. I thought you said you were a bad archer!!
Revisit for making a new bow
Hi Mick, being a little observant again, just wondering which tree you made the carbon arrow from lol : )
Ha! We have special carbon trees growing in our wood. Very special, beautiful leaves in the spring and very shady. Makes excellent sports cars as well if you can get a big enough piece! Mick
Sorry about last post, couldn't resist, i really enjoy watching your channel always waiting for the next one, Brilliant to watch thanks for sharing it with us .
my first bow i still have to this day
Very educational. love your videos
Thank you, appreciate your comment! Mick
You know sir you are the only you tuber who replys to the comments which shows a bounding between a CZcamsr to their friends and I really appreciate that. Hats off to you sir.
Thank you Cranjeel. I appreciate the comments from you and many others and am pleased to do my best to reply to them all. Thank you! Mick
i have my first bow and it stll works yet others have broken that were done with a flatt bellies rounded bellies and have broke my first bow had a rounded belly has lasted well i now use it as a a show piece but i think the reason it lasted was pure luck as its sister made of the same tree broke on me with in the first year i have used sinew and various fiberglass and now they are no more than fire wood
Hello again Jack, difficult to offer help as I have little experience and can't see what you have that has failed. I have made just five self bows (I have finished two pre-made laminates but they are not as hard as sales bows for me). Each was of a wood that I knew (from others) would make a bow and I did my best to make them to suit that wood. I went slowly. Have never worked with bows until January 2016, but I have many years involved manufacturing other things and maybe I have some feeling for handling materials etc, not sure. Or maybe I have just been lucky five times. Get some wood, find out what shape and size suits it best and have another go. Don't give up! Atb, Mick
yo quiero hacer un arco el pino sirve para hacer un arco como el que haces
Eu acho que o pinho pode fazer um arco bu Eu não usei pinheiro, Mick
Mick,
There is no single secret to avoiding breakage and if there was it certainly wouldn't be the flat belly.
While it is true that a flat belly can contribute to a more efficient or more durable bow, the lack of a flat belly is certainly not the main cause of breakage in beginner's bows.
Some experienced bowyers might argue that making a flat bow is a greater test of the abilities of a tyro and that a plain long stick bow is simpler.
The narrow stick bow is most likely the oldest type, the original probably being asymmetric in tiller, just cut a sapling and string it without tapering the thick end. The next development should be obvious.
The flat bow is probably just a somewhat later "more work" refinement.
Both are common enough and have been so for millennia.
Either way the process is essentially a matter of methodical procedure in the handling of a few variables.
My advice would always be to "get a good shape early and refine it".
You just happily conformed to a few basics, accidentally or otherwise.
The most common causes of breakage are haste, carelessness and a failure to observe and deduce the causes of breakage where they do arise.
A suggested order of importance?
1. Selection of a suitable piece of wood
2. The back surface is unviolated.
3. There are no sudden departures in taper or thickness..
4. The draw-weight is relatively low.
5. The stave was long enough for safe distribution of stress despite the localised bending in the tiller.
6. It is sufficiently wide that the same rule applied (twice as wide is twice as strong).
7. Reduction/taper of the belly wood, though not elegant was evidently within limits and the incipient inner limb hingeing was not so great as to cause local collapse.
8. That the belly is somewhat flat did not hurt.
Cross sectional shape can be tailored to suit the characteristics in elasticity and compression of any given variety of wood.
Ash is a little weak in compression and likes some width and a flatter belly (or a toasted belly).
Correct tiller shape should be a product of the style of limb taper and related thickness distribution..
Rod.
P.S. I wonder what will begin to happen if you can look at the middle of the dot instead of at the whole thing? :-)
Thanks Rod. And as to the dot, I'll soon see! Mick
I'm not convinced by seeing a cut from a low shot to a "hit".... ;-)
Rod.
There was a great Bowyer inside of you all along.
You just didn't know it at the time.
Ha, never thought of that! Thanks for watching, Mick
The hardest thing to make is the string I reckon. Did you not find that the paracord had to be stretched before it settled down?
No, the bow was not powerful. But had it been, then pre-stretch might have been appropriate
I have recently begun making endless loop strings using a home made Jig consisting of nothing more than a length of timber with a small roller tube screwed into it each end at the required length. You can slide it (the string) round the tubes in order to position it for serving, which I do freehand. It doesn't take long once you get into a bit of a rhythm. I was over the moon when I found that it could be done without a ridiculously expensive hi tec string jig. A spool of Dacron on eBay was, I think about £11 or so and I got 5 strings from it.
Are there any good european woods, besides yew, to make english longbows with round bellies?
Rata Mahatta Nothing I know that can cope with a narrow, rounded belly. But elm, ash, hazel and holly are good for longbows made with a ‘galleon’ cross section - a squashed rectangle with bulged sides and shallow radii back and belly. In fact I think galleon section is more in keeping with Medieval ‘warbows’ than the ‘Victorian’ narrow D belly.
Interesting, it was a happy accident for you then! I'm wondering if paracord is a pretty forgiving string too, Mick, because if I remember correctly, heavier and stretchier are the properties that make dacron strings kinder to self bows than "fastflight" or similar.
Yes, I was lucky! As to Dacron, yes I've read that is kinder to traditional bows than - say - fast flight. So may be paracord helped save the bow too! Thanks for watching. Mick
si e parece exelente
👍
Question (and apologies if you've already answered it): how do you determine a bow's max draw length when you are making it? A friend and I are about to try making our first longbows and that is the one thing I can't seem to find any info on.
Dylan James Hi Dylan. There might be a method of calculating a bow’s maximum amount of bend - but I don’t know it. I have calculated MY maximum longbow draw length (30” for a ‘to the ear’ draw and 28” for a ‘target’ style draw) and I work the bow to permit that. Generally I aim for 30” on the tiller and the woods I have used - yew, elm, blackthorn, hazel - are all capable of that assuming the wood is of good quality and the back is undamaged. Good luck!
@@MickGrewcock So it's mostly down to trial and error? I have a 32inch draw to the ear could I increase my chances of it working by making the bow taller/longer? Thanks so much for the info and inspiration in your videos btw!
@@dylanjames2844 Maybe experienced bowyers take it beyond trial and error. But not me! I am generally successful though with 31"/32" draw length for on a 77" nock to nock longbow - I have made them up to 81". Take it steady and don't rush. Good luck.
@@MickGrewcock Perfect I'll try for measurements in that range and see how it goes! Good thing about DIY is if it fails I'll still have wood left over for take 2 ha. Thanks again!
well the first attempt has been made and it looks like it was a success! I ended up with a bit of a hinge in the top limb that I could not for the life of me correct but it still shoots and all other aspects came out great - second attempt to come shortly. thanks again for the tips!
There's one thing that will kill any bow no matter what its made of or how and that is simple dehydration. I'm amazed at how many people seem to think you can continue to bend and flex wood as it becomes dryer and dryer and appear to be stupefied when a bow breaks. And they all seem to think because it didn't break when NEW it shouldn't break when OLD. Seriously? Did you ever take a science class in your life?
+Chad Meyer Science class - me or 'they'?
Perhaps it´s the beginner's luck :-) The wood meant to motivate you to do more bows perhaps.
Beginner's luck, maybe! Motivation, certainly. Thanks for watching, Mick
The real secret is the unbroken grain on the back.
I see! Thanks for the comment. Mick
si se puede con pino lo hare
Boa sorte! Mick
Any advice on swedish spruce??? What is it good at? Tension , compression or both?
I have never worked spruce. It is not usually considered to be premier bow wood but why not try?
@@MickGrewcock thanks a lot. I just want to try it because it is very cheap (10€ roughly for a four meters log) and easy to work with. Otherwise a log of palisander would cost around 70€
Hi again Mick! And once again thanks for your inspiring videos. Now i have made a flat bellied ash bow and i am not really sure if it loose its strenght or if its my shooting technic that´s improved :) how does your ash long bow loks unstringed? is it staight or does it bend a litle? I´m not sure if I really have a problem or if it´s my imagination thats play a trick with me. So does yor ash bow stays straight when you have it without the string?
Hi Bosse. Some bows take set, a permanent alteration of shape, whilst some will be altered in shape when unstrung but gradually come back to straight. My big yew bow when unstrung appears to be a little bent - but next day it's straight again. This ash bow, my first and made without any reference to dimensions etc and when green, has taken set. I guess it's about 30/40mm, approximately. It works fine and has actually gained a little in draw weight due to it now being fully dry but it is permanently and slightly 'bow-shaped' when unstrung - maybe yours has done the same?
@@MickGrewcock thanks! That was an encouraging answer. I will go on shooting with it and see what happends. I have some different projekts going on, one ash sapling that I found cut down so I took it home and som kind of elder that i have shape to a stave and now have indoors for drying and one birch stave. Thanks for quick response, looking forward to new videos :)
Take care!
My first bow never broke, it is 85#@28"
Hi Mick. I'm at the finishing stages of my first ever bow - a 65 inch cedar longbow pulling around 45 pounds. Unfortunately, I accidentally knocked out a tiny knot in the top limb today about halfway down by scraping too hard, and have seen a definite hinge starting to form 16 inches from the bottom tip. Can I save this by thinning above and below the hinge, and thinning down the other limb to take some of the weight away - or should I start a new one? Any constructive suggestions appreciated :)
Hi Richard and sorry for slow reply. Of course you an relieve the strain on that hinge but without seeing it I can't say by how far that will result in a useable bow or not. If I were you, I would finish it for the experience and then make another one using that extra bit of knowledge. Good luck.
@@MickGrewcock Thanks Mick - I bought the Bowmakers Notebook on your recommendation - great read. I took the cedar bow right to the limit and past it :( In fact after reading further I think I could have saved it if I had left the width nearer to 2 inches rather than taking it down . Oh well! I now have a near-perfect 80 inch hazel stave as my next attempt. Onwards and upwards. Also built a funky shave horse ...Thanks again... Ric
I am turning the central remains of the broken cedar into a crossbow for fun ...
Richard Seaton Well you have made progress and that stave sounds good.,Keep me posted!
Nice bow, but the best and easy to make bow are from skis
I see! Mick
Mick Grewcock Can you make a great recuve bow from skis? I want to see you making it :)
hey mick off the wall question does iron wood make a good bow iv never used it before looks tough but not sure how it acts on tension or compression
chris copeland I believe it is - I think ironwood is American hophornbeam but it seems other trees with dense and strong wood are sometimes called ironwood. UK blackthorn could easily win that name - it’s very tough. So yes, AH makes bows but not sure about others - though blackthorn does!
@@MickGrewcock thanks mick hey worst that could happen it breaks or just doesnt work im gonna give it a try and ill let ya know
Good luck!
@@MickGrewcock thanks lol ill need all i can get im not as graceful with wood like you are im more of a huge piece of tank steel and i put dents in that lol lol
@@chriscopeland1455 Ha! Must admit it's not like tin bashing. That's one of the aspects I enjoyed - learning to use a material that was largely outside my experience (I've done 40+ years in electronics). Definitely needs a different touch to metal but you can do it!
I'm no expert but I believe your bow would still shoot great with a rounded belly. From what I see the reason why your bow survived is because you did a great job tillering it and because of it's long length it was not under much elastic strain.
I guess it may have but I've learned that ash does prefer a flatter profile than, say, yew. Appreciate your comment about my tillering - I still find it hard nearly ten bows later! Mick
Arr...I think you got lucky still as many bows made like this still break quickly!
Some woods are just BAD for bows no matter what the shape!
I think the bow survived because the flat belly would spread out the stress evenly.
Agreed! Thanks for watching. Mick
The back is under tension, the belly under compression. Somewhere in the middle is the notional "neutral plane". The further from this neutral plane to the surface of the belly, the greater the effect of compression upon the belly surface.
In a flat bow cross-section this distance is generally less than in a narrow "D" sectioned bow.
Another very enjoyable video and good input on geometry in relation to wood species . One of my favorite bows made from hickory is a field expedient bow which has had very little stock removal and now over 30 years old . A nice little 55 # hunting bow . Thought about doing a sinew and snakeskin application , but decided to leave it just like it is . Thanks for the data on the book . Another great series is The Traditional Bowers Bible .Thanks for your video . czcams.com/video/W0-e0pUNVZI/video.html
gracias mick .te mando mail .bushido-z4@hotmail .quisiera si me puedes mandar uno de las medidas del bow o arco y que como hacer la cuerda del arco