Choice of Wood for Longbow

Gary S.

New member
Hi

Interested in your thoughts regarding pro's and con's on choice of wood for a longbow

Which is best option 1 or 2.

Option 1. lemonwood belly, purpleheart core and backed with ash

Option 2. lemonwood belly purpleheart core and backed with bamboo

Thanks

Gary
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Hi

Interested in your thoughts regarding pro's and con's on choice of wood for a longbow

Which is best option 1 or 2.

Option 1. lemonwood belly, purpleheart core and backed with ash

Option 2. lemonwood belly purpleheart core and backed with bamboo

Thanks

Gary
Yew...
But failing that option 2. (It will be faster than Yew.. but if you want a l0ngbow that looks, feels, and acts like a l0ngbow...)
Del
 

Naedre

Member
hi gary,
i shoot em, not build em, but i've found that lemon wood is a bit flat when it comes to cast. other than that, option 2 should give you a much faster bow.
 

TheLongbowShop

New member
Not a big fan of lemonwood (Degame) personally - it's a basic bow belly. Look at Pau Amarello (yellowheart), Ipe or Osage (my fave). Bamboo is a winner for a backing :)

Jase
 

Paradox

New member
Completely agree with the comments about lemonwood - it seems to go a bit soggy and follow the string quicker than other woods.

Not sure about Pau Amerillo, but Ipe and Osage are both good. Ash for backing is great, though bamboo should give a bit more speed.

...or Yew....!
 

dusty

New member
One thing you have to be aware of is that a bamboo back and lemonwood belly are not well matched as the bamboo will over power the lemonwood as I have found out with bows I have made the only way round it is to heat treat the lemonwood

Depending on the draw weight of the bow a Ash back Lemonwood belly work well for light weight bows

The bows you have mention seen to be off the peg bows It may pay you to find a bower that will make you a longbow

I have made Bamboo backed IPE & Maple core & IPE belly bows really fast and look stunning

Other good combination
Are
Hickory, Purplehart, Wenge
Ash Maple Black Walnut

You may find a bower that will make you a better quality bow for around the same money as you will pay for a off the shelf bow from a retailer
 

Paradox

New member
Why back it with Bamboo ....
Surely Hickory is a much better choice?
I know a few good bowyers who use hickory, but have not seen any good reason to think it is better than ash or bamboo (In fact the bending properties of ash seem slightly better according to Material Properties of Ash, Wood Class V (<5y) | Wood Data Sheets vs Material Properties of Hickory, Wood Class IV (5-10y) | Wood Data Sheets though they are for woods of different ages.....).

If you could expand on this I for one would be interested?
 

Yew Selfbow

Active member
Paradox
Most wood choices for Longbows come down to personal preferences and the quality of materials available.
In my personal opinion bamboo is a little too "bouncy", where as Hickory is that good combination of spring and dampening. In my opinion Hickory gives faster limb speed recovery than Bamboo.
I think (and I don't want to be disrespectful to those who make their own bows) there's a reluctance to use Hickory, because preparing a single growth ring for backing, requires skill ,patients, and good quality material.
 

dusty

New member
Yes Hickory Is a good backing BUT trying to get hold of the quality you need for backing is getting harder and harder

Not all hickory makes good backing some sub species that are sold as Hickory are not that good

This is why some of the top bow makers are using bamboo as backing

Yes we would all love to work with Yew staves but quality ones are rare

Quality osage in the UK is like trying to find rocking horse droppings that is one of the reasons that IPE is now being used

Quality timber takes some finding so we have to find other materials to work with even GRASS
 

Yew Selfbow

Active member
Yes Hickory Is a good backing BUT trying to get hold of the quality you need for backing is getting harder and harder

Not all hickory makes good backing some sub species that are sold as Hickory are not that good

This is why some of the top bow makers are using bamboo as backing

Yes we would all love to work with Yew staves but quality ones are rare

Quality osage in the UK is like trying to find rocking horse droppings that is one of the reasons that IPE is now being used

Quality timber takes some finding so we have to find other materials to work with even GRASS
Dusty ... I think you've hit the nail smack square on the head.
There are very very good bows being made out of materials that aren't of the best quality.
 

tinkerer

New member
I'd back Dusty's first comment on ash versus bamboo when combined with lemonwood. I even think ash would be better than hickory for the same reason (Not overpowering the belly). If true, the bow would show less stringfollow, other things being equal. Sometimes weaker, or at least less stiff, is better. David
 

Yew Selfbow

Active member
I'd back Dusty's first comment on ash versus bamboo when combined with lemonwood. I even think ash would be better than hickory for the same reason (Not overpowering the belly). If true, the bow would show less stringfollow, other things being equal. Sometimes weaker, or at least less stiff, is better. David
Ash backing better than Hickory..????? have you made many bows David..???
 

dusty

New member
Yew Selfbow
Yes ash can be better than hickory depending on quality and the belly wood

I have made bows from 25lb to 80 lb with Ash backing The 80lb bow is one that I have been using for over three years at roving marks If will draw to 32inch Ash back Pupplehart core Lemonwood belly 76inch long. Its is not the faster bow I have made but still a good bow

I find Ash & Maple good with lemonwood
Its is all about matching the backing to the belly

Hickory can over power a lemonwood belly if put on to thick
If I could get hold of the quality Hickory I wanted to be honest I would not waste it on lemonwood save it for the heaver belly woods
Eg Oasage Ipe Wenge

I will be posting pictures soon of a bow I have made from Bamboo Maple and Ipe
Now that is a fast bow

I find it better to keep and open mind on bow woods

Dusty
 

tinkerer

New member
I should have said 'might be better than hickory'. Bit of rowing back there! I've made plenty of bows using American ash as a backing in combination with lemonwood, ipe and cumaru bellies and lightweight core woods such as red cedar and douglas fir. Such bows have held, and, I think, still do hold a number of FITA flight world records. It might be that, in these bows, ash succeeded better than hickory in reducing both mass and stringfollow because there were ultra lightweight cores. So a big possible proviso.

I shouldn't say ash is better than hickory, but keep an open mind and try it out, and compare the two. American ash is certainly cheap and widely available as good quality planks. David
 

Phil Sheffield

New member
Please note that bamboo is frowned upon by this organisation:
**** The I.L.A.A the International Longbow Archers Asoociation ****.

(Bamboo is technically a grass and not a wood), and will be banned for all forms of distance shooting. The definitions of a longbow make very interesting reading. Other parts of the website either don't work as intended and/or the spelling is very poor. Interesting nevertheless..

BW

Richard
The ILAA states

M1. Bows are to be constructed only of natural wood. No laminates are to be impregnated with resin or any other material.

M2. The only deviation from natural wood allowed is the use of bamboo, (strictly a grass), for a back laminate ie. the laminate in tension. This concession is allowed for safety reasons.
However, in bows used in distance shooting no bamboo is allowed in any part of construction.

Though it does not say why some 9 years after rtjstevens wrote the above quote that the ILAA still holds onto this now old fashioned and outdated thinking, not just in regard to this topic. Is not as though the use of bamboo in bow making is new.

All materials are available for use by anyone wishing to build a bow to enter distance shooting or indeed any other competitions and it is certainly not necessarily apparent what materials have been used in the construction of any bow without taking a sample for analysis which would of course damage the bow. Its only distance shooting that is living oin the past apparently as bamboo may be a bow component in all other disciplines.

Perhaps it is time the ILAA woke up, new, or more often non-traditional materials and advances in and uses of new technology and and have been incorporated in many sports.
The earliest references to tennis are from around the 12th century and the ball was struck with the hand, now racquets of wood aluminium carbonfibre and even ceramics are allowed.
The orginal longbows were one piece of wood throughout and self-nocked ..this is no longer the case so there has been room for change in the past so why not now.


 
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