I made an english longbow

[NCO]

I finished this baby last week and now I've been busy test shooting it. It is an 203.5cm(unstrung) self-bow made of ash(Fraxinus excelsior).

I shoot short distance (7-10m) just not to loose too many arrows in the snow. I get decent groups with five arrows. Nothing suggests major flaws in the bow structure.

I wanted to figure out if the bow is strong enough for me to hunt with it, legally. The limit here is 180N force to pull at full pull distance. I don't have a proper way to measure the poundage precisely, so I did the second best thing. I put the bow on the tiller and tied a 20kg(44lbs) weight on the string and watched how far it pulls the bow. It pulled about 28". With my pull distance being about 30" I can presume that the bow is at least 45lbs at 30". After that I did a little math magic and came to conclusion that my bow requires at least 192N of force to pull at 30" (calculated with the 20kg). So, I have a new hunting weapon!

I had a set of three pictures taken on shooting the bow.

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[crashdive123]

Well done. Is that a Mora hanging from your belt?

[NCO]

Thank you crash... is that a chihuahua on you avatar?

[crashdive123]

No, but I had one for lunch. Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[beetlejuicex3]

Nice bow, man. Impressive.

[gryffynklm]

Looks good, hows it shoot?

[NCO]

Very well, gryffynklm. Haven't tried the maximum range as of yet because I have no place to do so safely for other people. As far as shooting with good quality carbon fiber arrows it shoots straight and true. The inaccuracy is so far due my skill, or lack of it.

[hunter63]

Very nice, seems your talents are increasing.
Nice job.

[Aurelius95]

Well done. Is that a Mora hanging from your belt?

You beat me to it. I was going to ask the same question!

[FVR]

Good looking bow, tiller looks right one.

Great job.

[randyt]

awesome looking bow, I can see why it's called a long bow.

[Camp10]

Wow! Very nice.

[Rick]

I think you did a great job on it. What's the gizmos around your knees?

[Ssgt_DimeBag]

Very well done!I use to have a video on how to make longbows with multiple plys.

[Winter]

I've been wanting a long self bow for ages. Nice job on that one.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

This is the kind of post makes me like this forum. Rep sent!

[NCO]

I might whip up a short how-to on the basics with an ash self bow if I have the time(read energy).

@Rick, my work pants, the gizmos are "prolly" either reflectors or the kneepads...

@AS, thank you!

[oldtrap59]

Nice looking bow NCO. Ash does make a good bow for sure.

Oldtrap

[Ted]

Dude! Way too cool! Looks great!

I read a tut on making a long bow out of a 6' oak 1x2 a few months back (i think i got the link from one of FVR's posts) I'm going to give it a shot and hope it comes out as good as yours!!!!

[NCO]

I would hesitate on using that 1x2, unless it is cut right. You cant have any broken grain on the back of the bow, or it will not last. Also, one inch does not give you enough working room... Unless the cut is damn near perfect. I'll post the quick basics of self bow making within an hour or so.