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pupper
03-12-2008, 09:52 PM
Does anyone out there know of a good long bow maker?
Is anyone reading this a good long bow maker?

the reason I ask is...

I have some exotic hard wood from south america that I would like to get made into a bow. What type of wood is ideal for long bows?

PM me if you know a good bowmaker or you are one.

I am looking for a 60# bow at 28.5" draw

feel free to post any good bowmaking information on this thread.

ROEBUCK
03-12-2008, 09:57 PM
you can only make a real longbow out of yew wood!

Grantmac
03-13-2008, 07:28 AM
What type of wood is it? What are the dimensions? Is it a stave or a board? Just because it's exotic doesn't make it suitable.

Hickory backed Ipe makes an excellent bow. Also are you looking for a North American or English design? They both have their merrits.
I haven't been at the bow making game for long, but I think that you could easily get that kind of weight from domestic wood with just a few attempts. Then if you want more you can use the imported stuff.

Cheers,
Grant

sealevel
03-13-2008, 08:01 AM
Do you want a one piece selfbow or a laminated bow. There`s a few good guys i know of making laminates

sealevel
03-13-2008, 08:08 AM
you can only make a real longbow out of yew wood!
Not so there was longbows made allover the world . Just some think the english longbow was the only one.

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 08:22 AM
Not so there was longbows made allover the world . Just some think the english longbow was the only one.
the longbow originated in england and was used to defeat the french its traditionaly made from yew,longbows from any where else are copies,when the english invented the longbow it gave them a far superior advantage over there enemies as you could shoot it much further than all other bows at that time, the english archers used to stand out of range of there enemies and pick them off with the longbow

sealevel
03-13-2008, 08:51 AM
The american indians used a longbow before they got horses . I am pretty sure they didn`t copy the english .

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 08:58 AM
they may have had a bow which was long in length but that dont make it a traditional LONGBOW

sealevel
03-13-2008, 09:17 AM
So here in BC a traditional kootenei nation longbow is far more traditional then any english longbow . Probley better to.

Thunderstix
03-13-2008, 09:19 AM
I would say Algoma Bows but the maker has some personal things going on right now and has stopped taking orders......beautiful bows though made by a great guy!

Awishanew
03-13-2008, 09:26 AM
Have you considered making a bow yourself. There is alot of info on the net. Try an ash bow backed with hickory or red oak backed with hickory. When you have gained experience tackle your exotic wood if it is any good for bows. After you have done your own research you will know whether it would be a waste of time.

sealevel
03-13-2008, 09:29 AM
I would say Algoma Bows but the maker has some personal things going on right now and has stopped taking orders......beautiful bows though made by a great guy!
Is he the guy in prince george thunderstix. ??

jack kempf in edmonton makes some really nice bows.

greybark
03-13-2008, 09:33 AM
:smile: Hey Pupper , Stop in at Chek-Mate . Tell them what you have and maybe a trade or info for a you build .
Several web sites have stats on "rebound and memorie" attributes of various woods which is critical for bows ..
Cheers

Onesock
03-13-2008, 09:52 AM
Second the suggestion on Chek-Mate. Talk to Marc.

Bow Walker
03-13-2008, 10:13 AM
Does anyone out there know of a good long bow maker?
Is anyone reading this a good long bow maker?

the reason I ask is...

I have some exotic hard wood from south america that I would like to get made into a bow. What type of wood is ideal for long bows?

PM me if you know a good bowmaker or you are one.

I am looking for a 60# bow at 28.5" draw

feel free to post any good bowmaking information on this thread.

Richard at Bucky's Sports in Duncan makes very, very nice bows. He'll take all the time to talk to you that you feel is needed. Very knowledgeable about being a bowyer.

http://www.buckys-sports.com/entranceframe.htm

The 'Hummer'
03-13-2008, 10:23 AM
Richard at Bucky's Sports in Duncan makes very, very nice bows. He'll take all the time to talk to you that you feel is needed. Very knowledgeable about being a bowyer.

http://www.buckys-sports.com/entranceframe.htm
X2 for Richard.

Tinney
03-13-2008, 01:53 PM
Talk to Taylor Sapergia of PG. He will make you the best bow of anyone in Canada. The man is an amazing craftsman. I don't know how you would get in touch with him. I used to have a card, but that was a while back. Ted @ T&F Country Sports may be able to put you in touch 963-7538.
If you want a good bow, talk to Taylor.

Thunderstix
03-13-2008, 02:21 PM
Is he the guy in prince george thunderstix. ??

jack kempf in edmonton makes some really nice bows.

Yessir! Lorrie Arnold-Smith.

Thunderstix
03-13-2008, 02:32 PM
Talk to Taylor Sapergia of PG. He will make you the best bow of anyone in Canada. The man is an amazing craftsman. I don't know how you would get in touch with him. I used to have a card, but that was a while back. Ted @ T&F Country Sports may be able to put you in touch 963-7538.
If you want a good bow, talk to Taylor.

Taylor is a great craftsman for sure. Just take a look at his obsidian knives or his homemade black powder rifle and you will be inpressed. I have shot quite a few 3-D's with Taylor, Lorrie Arnold, and Rick Newnham (spelling) and those boys can shoot...especially Rick and Taylor.

sealevel
03-13-2008, 02:50 PM
The only bows that i have seen of taylors have been authentic primitive style bows . If thats the style of bow you want he wood be a good choice. but i can`t see him making anything more modern.

Thunderstix
03-13-2008, 03:17 PM
A "self bow" as I believe they are referred to...you either like them or hate them.

sealevel
03-13-2008, 03:24 PM
Is it still a selfbow if someone else makes it?

Grantmac
03-13-2008, 04:00 PM
As long as it's one piece of material not including knocks, grip and decorations it's a selfbow.

P.S. On the longbow topic. The Engish are the most famous for it's use, but not first to use a long bow. They do appear however to have used among the strongest bows in history, but they are very crude when compared to the technology of other nations at or before their time.

OOBuck
03-13-2008, 04:24 PM
DIY...

http://www.renegadearchery.com/building/bow_building.htm

Thats just one I found with a quick search, dam cool too......

The Hermit
03-13-2008, 04:30 PM
Does anyone out there know of a good long bow maker?
Is anyone reading this a good long bow maker?

the reason I ask is...

I have some exotic hard wood from south america that I would like to get made into a bow. What type of wood is ideal for long bows?

PM me if you know a good bowmaker or you are one.

I am looking for a 60# bow at 28.5" draw

feel free to post any good bowmaking information on this thread.

One of the best bow makers in the world lives in ... ABBOTSFORD!!! He works at Chek-Mate and his name is Marc. He would probably be keen to play with some new woods. I was at his shop (out by the airport) last weekend and he was saying that anytime I come across some good yew to let him know! If you want his contact info let me know and I'l pm it to you.

Tanya
03-13-2008, 04:46 PM
Richard Kennett at Bucky's Sport shop in Duncan makes beautiful bows.

rkennett@buckys-sports.com

pupper
03-13-2008, 05:22 PM
wow, Im surprised at the response I got, thanks for all the tips.
I am a sawyer at a custom cut sawmill so I can get any type of wood. I just thought this stuff was special and wanted to do something with it, seeing how I wanted to get into traditional archery I thought it would be a good fit.

sealevel
03-13-2008, 05:28 PM
I met a fella from fraser lake a couple weeks ago . He`s making longbows not chekmate caliber yet but was working with one of the best.

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 05:36 PM
So here in BC a traditional kootenei nation longbow is far more traditional then any english longbow . Probley better to.
your wrong mr sealeval there is only one true longbow and thats a english longbow made from yew! there may be simmilar bows made by differant nations but they arent traditional english longbows

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 05:42 PM
So here in BC a traditional kootenei nation longbow is far more traditional then any english longbow . Probley better to.
some people have a problem with the fact that england achieved many things in history, the longbow happens to be one of them if it werent for the longbow they would not have one so many battles ,

sealevel
03-13-2008, 05:55 PM
your wrong mr sealeval there is only one true longbow and thats a english longbow made from yew! there may be simmilar bows made by differant nations but they arent traditional english longbows
Moose turds Thats only from an englishmans eyes .

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 06:03 PM
the longbow is still held in high regard in english history up there with the spitfire, many have tried to copy it none have beaten it

bigwhiteys
03-13-2008, 06:31 PM
some people have a problem with the fact that england achieved many things in history, the longbow happens to be one of them if it werent for the longbow they would not have one so many battles ,


I watched a show on the history channel about some of the battles they won with the longbow... One battle in particular where they fought the french legend would have it that several thousand archers defeated a legion of french nobles. They recreated the battle and after testing with several long bows figured out there was no way the arrows would penetrate the french armor... The french were defeated because it rained so hard the battlefield was mud... The french in their heavy armor couldn't manouever well and the english kicked their a$$. NOT with the bow though - hand to hand!

Carl

greybark
03-13-2008, 09:04 PM
:wink: Hey daniel , The holmgaard (sp)bow found in the bogs of denmark I think predates the english longbow and is a more effective design ....
Cheers ....

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 09:13 PM
:wink: Hey daniel , The holmgaard (sp)bow found in the bogs of denmark I think predates the english longbow and is a more effective design ....
Cheers ....
im not saying england invented the bow im saying the english invented the LONGBOW ! i dont know of anything the danish have done apart from making nice cakes, good bacon and hot women

The Hermit
03-13-2008, 09:18 PM
all there hot women moved to Amsterdam! LOL

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 09:30 PM
what is fact is that if it were not for the english longbow we all probably would not be speakin in english right know because the longbow was a huge factor in warfare in its day like the spitfire , the .303british to name but a few. with the right arrow heads it could easily pierce its enemies armour from far greater ranges than its oponents could manage. it was easily built with fairly quick manufacture which helped during wartime and what made it such an awesome weopen

greybark
03-13-2008, 09:30 PM
;-) Hey daniel , The danish bow was a longbow and if it predates the English longbow ( well you being second is not too bad) just second !!!:eek:
Cheers

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 09:43 PM
;-) Hey daniel , The danish bow was a longbow and if it predates the English longbow ( well you being second is not too bad) just second !!!:eek:
Cheers
your not danish by any chance r u ? not that theres anything wrong with being danish !!!!

pupper
03-13-2008, 09:52 PM
talk about a hijacked thread eh? this has turned into an argument of who invented the first longbow, which is an unwinable argument by the way.

Sikanni Stalker
03-13-2008, 09:54 PM
yup, a couple guys have already mentioned richard 2 BUCKY'S

Sikanni Stalker
03-13-2008, 09:55 PM
yup, a couple guys have already mentioned richard @ BUCKY'S in Duncan.He makes nice bows.

ROEBUCK
03-13-2008, 09:56 PM
talk about a hijacked thread eh? this has turned into an argument of who invented the first longbow, which is an unwinable argument by the way.
sorry about hijack ,wont happen again, but england did invent the longbow over and out daniel

Grantmac
03-13-2008, 09:58 PM
The Holmegaard was from about 10000BC, so yes it predates the English designs by oh; 11 millenia. And then there is the Meare Heath bow, which came about around 2000BC; which was also long and a bow.

Without a doubt there were better designs made at earlier dates, hell just look up hornbows if you want to stretch your concept of the performance of primitive archery equipment. Speeds in the mid to high two hundred FPS range are attainable.

I'm of UK decent, I have to admit that far too many people from Britain overestimate the effectiveness and power of their particular long bow. Which was often as not crafted of Ash and Elm as it was Yew.
What the English did best was train lots and lots of archers and make lots and lots of bows. Hell for a while most other sports were banned because they took away from archery practice.

I'm working my way up to the accepted minimum war bow weight of 100-120lbs @ 31", I think it will take both my boyering skills and shooting skills several years to get there though.
Cheers,
Grant

greybark
03-13-2008, 10:08 PM
your not danish by any chance r u ? not that theres anything wrong with being danish !!!!

:biggrin: Heck no , but I spent a lot of time in Copenhagen (had to check my tattoo for spelling) !!!!!!!!!!! You are right about the ladies !!!!!!!!

;) Hey pupper ,sorry for the hi-jack - will buy you a beer ....

pupper
03-14-2008, 06:12 PM
Here is the wood I cut that I want to use for my bow:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Hwood_slab.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Hwood_Limbs.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Hwood_bowsample.jpg

sealevel
03-14-2008, 06:18 PM
What do you call it ?? looks like wood i made a stock for a rolling block

Bowzone_Mikey
03-14-2008, 06:26 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archery
look at the history section ...

this would also be relevent as its the article of the weapon bow

Bowzone_Mikey
03-14-2008, 06:40 PM
oh and I highly reccomend the Jack Kempf(sp???) of Edmonton
Best Boyer I have ever had the pleasure of seeing

greybark
03-14-2008, 09:08 PM
:mrgreen: Het Pupper , You live minutes away from Marc M of Chek-Mate with thousands of bows under his belt . A seven month waiting list with almost no advertising speaks for the quality and craftmanship of his bows and he and Dorthy (former World CH) , and Larry (co-founder of Chek-Mate )- older than dirt and a piece of Canada`s archery history !!!
I don`t recongnize the wood but it seems rather porous and may be mohogany (sp). That may mean nothing as it is the lightness and memory that is critical.
Cheers and good luck.

pupper
03-14-2008, 09:58 PM
yah it could very well be mahogany but it seems more pinkish than the mahogany ive seen.

greybark
03-14-2008, 10:06 PM
yah it could very well be mahogany but it seems more pinkish than the mahogany ive seen.


Hey Pupper could it be bleached or faded?

Hans
03-30-2008, 09:18 AM
Here is some info for what it's worth.

The longbow IS NOT an English thing. While they refined it for the woods that were native to the area a longbow is just that, a long bow. Had the French had Turkish, or some of the other asiatic bows, the English would have been destoyed. The English used the long bow style as it is easy to make and anybody could build one. Recurves, reflex, deflex take more effort and smarts to make. The English archers were not the most educated as they were mainly the peasants and lower class and they had to be able to maintain their own equipment. A noble wouldn't be caught dead as an archer. The archers were also fodder and were not very well treated by the nobility of the time. When it got to hand to hand, archers were dessimated, very little armour of any kind and virtually no other weapons training.

The reason the English used a longer bow is the weights in which their warbows came to 80-140lbs. The reason they used a longer stave of wood is something called wood stacking. It feels like hitting a wall on a compound bow. The wood can only bend so far before you start crysallising the cells. At that point the bow breaks, or you lose poundage that never comes back. The longer the stave, the more weight of the bow as it doesn't need to flex as much, though the stave is thicker or wider. And the big momma warbows were up in the #200 range and shot by sitting down and using their feet on the bow with two hands on the strings, they were "a man and and a half " long, say seven to eight feet.
.
English bows used two main styles "D" and flat. But they didn't discover or invent them. While they did use yew, there were many other woods used. Had the enviroment been condusive, they would have probably backed them, but the times led to hide glue which doesn't stay together very well in a humid enviroment.

Any wood can be used for a bow, you just have to make sure the bow is designed for the wood used. For some goofy reason people seem to think you can only make a bow out of Yew or Osage orange.

I've built 25-30 bows using many woods, styles and techniques. Built one out of a Home Depot 2x4 for someone that said it wouldn't work. He used it, and got a nice 6 point deer with it. It ended up being #47 at 28", if I remember right, it ended up being about 75 inches long. He liked it so much I never saw it again, except when we shot together and he brought it with him.

The old Turkish flight bows were composites and were comparable to modern day composite bows. Old art, and takes FOREVER to build one.

If you want to build a bow, I'd suggest going to stickbow.com. You can also look at traditional archery magazine or Primitive Archery Magazine. There are others, but these would be good starts.

For supplies I used 3riversarchery.com, expensive, but good stuff.

Drop me an email and I'll send you a couple of step by step directions for building a selfbow and a takedown. Tell me what wood you have, the weight you want and draw length and I'll give you a general idea of the dimensions you will need. Also, are you making a flat bow, or one like the "D" style that are in the Robin Hood movies? By the way, draw leangth for traditional equipment can very likely be different from compound stuff.

If you want to get into building bows "The Bowyer's Bible" is indispensible. I think there are 4 volumes now.

Do a search for Paul Comstock, Tim Baker, Jim Hamm, Jay St. Charles, Jeff Schmidt, and Jay Massey, a few of the Gods of traditional archery IMO

OOBuck
04-14-2008, 07:21 PM
talk about a hijacked thread eh? this has turned into an argument of who invented the first longbow, which is an unwinable argument by the way.

I invented it, take that.. :lol:

The circus left town you clowns, this thread is about BOW MAKERS... not the F!&#&ing English long bow or the Canadian long bow or cupids bow for that matter... Go argue somewhere else.:-D

OOBuck
04-14-2008, 07:27 PM
Hey Pupper

Here's one for you, how hard would it be to cut eastern maple into 1/8" strips, seeing how you work at a mill and all???

islandboy
04-15-2008, 07:43 AM
Hey Pupper

Here's one for you, how hard would it be to cut eastern maple into 1/8" strips, seeing how you work at a mill and all???

I am building a set of cabinets out of eastern maple and find the wood dulls your tools (saws/planers) really quickly. Hence its nickname "rock maple". Working on a couple of board bows out of it as well.

Oh and regarding your (OOBuck's) signature - remember you would have to claim it as income and they will tax you twice! :biggrin:

Grantmac
04-15-2008, 12:02 PM
Hard Maple isn't what I'd call the best lumber for bow building. Moreover gluing-up many laminations of the same wood dosn't get you much in the way of performance.
Every glue-line is added weight that stores no energy. If you want a fairly exotic shape then you want to do it with as few laminations as possible and you want to use different woods for their different qualities.
Hickory or Bamboo on the back is good because it's very strong in tension, Ipe, Juniper or Osage on the compression side.
Cheers,
Grant

OOBuck
04-15-2008, 01:16 PM
I am building a set of cabinets out of eastern maple and find the wood dulls your tools (saws/planers) really quickly. Hence its nickname "rock maple". Working on a couple of board bows out of it as well.

Oh and regarding your (OOBuck's) signature - remember you would have to claim it as income and they will tax you twice! :biggrin:


I checked out a really cool sight last night bowstick.com, check it out!!

Monashee
04-16-2008, 10:44 AM
Nakusp yew bowyer , http://www.thewoodenbow.com/about_us.html