Ozbow

Evening all,

Just wanted to share a little experiment Im currently working on. I have recently been working on a set of bows that I'm making for sale at the Abbey Medieval festival in July. I have chosen ash backed cypress for the bows since it resembles Yew for the re enactors and also performs admirably at the low draw weights.

However, I really want to see what it can do as a bow timber, so I glued up something heavy, 6mm of Hickory back and 38mm of clean cypress boards! the bow will start 82" ntn (long for a bit of safety) and will be 35mm wide at the handle and start at 32mm thick. I'm aiming for 100-110 lbs@30 inches to be used as a display bow since its a relatively easy draw weight for me and will look the part!

I checked through the material properties last evening after I glued up the stave and was pleasantly surprised to see that European Yew and Cypress are nearly identical in crushing strength and Elastic modulus! Also have similar densities... That immediately put a smile on my face and gave me a bit of hope for this experiment.

Careful work on it and I might get something really special as the end product. Time will tell!

Photos as I progress with the build.

Colin

that indeed sounds interesting Colin! Look forward to the build.

Looks to be an interesting little project.
Where do you get cypress boards that thick? Or did you mean a couple of boards glued together with a hickory back?
I've seen some numbers that make cypress look pretty good, and there's been a few experimental bows done. I pushed a 3/4" Bunnings fence picket to a fearful extent, which yet survives.

This one is 2 boards glued together... just straight up glued, now cutting at all so the stave is 45 or so mm thick at the moment. When I cut the belly taper I will have a glue run out on the belly but it wont matter at all.

It will be interesting to see how far it will go and could be a big surprise!

Evening Gents,

Well I got an early mark today from work so decided to spend the arvo working on the warbow, and I have a successful result! I managed to get 107# at 30 inches out of it, bang on where I wanted it between 110 and 100lbs.

I was very surprised at how easy the bow was to shape and tiller... sometimes they just behave as you want them too!!

Little bit bummed that there is as much sap wood in the limbs as there is, it kind of wrecks the impression of a "yew" bow but its still pretty cool!

Shoots quite nicely and has very little set, maybe 1/2 inch tops.

There was one knot in the limb that revealed itself while I was shaping the bow so I decided to leave it quite proud for some character.

Here it is at brace (around 6 inches, bit under) top limb is the left limb.
And the knot.
Just needs a good scrape and sand, fitted some nice black buffalo horn tips and some finish now. Would like to try a more "medieval" finish on this one so I will be doing some research on that.

Im a happy little bowyer at the moment

Will get some full draw photos up asap, ran out of good light this arvo.

Col

Interesting as always Colin, look forward to seeing the Bows at the Abbey.

regards Perry

I marvel at how quickly you became adept at fashioning these formidable war bows Colin.Great work!

Thanks for the kind words Bob!

I owe it all to Dennis really tho, he got me started into warbows and elbs and he guided me and motivated me to perfect them.

Still learning with every one I make, and this one was definitely no exception. Come along to the Abbey medieval festival and you'll see me shoot it

Colin

Finally managed to get a few shots of it on video and have taken a full draw one out of them. Here she is!
Not a bad bend I reckon! Tad short in the draw tho Need more practise I think!

Good work Colin, might be the angle of the photo but the top limb looks a slightly different shape to the bottom limb. I remember Lochlan's [ rest his Soul ] Cypress Flatbow back in the 90's was tough as all get out, survived being strung and shot backwards repeatedly, every torture test we could come up with. Crikey I wish my Back had not gone - watching you with your War Bows gets me stirred up.

regards Perry

Good stuff, Colin! I'm really glad to see we're getting a picture of how this stuff works at the higher draw weights.

When I get you that Yew stave you'll have to do a comparison of the two timbers - the numbers are remarkably close, Cypress *might* well be the Aussie answer to that particular timber.

Cheers Perry!

Hold a straight edge up between the tips and have a look at the shape under the limbs. Seemed pretty close to me, thought the picture isn't the greatest.

Haha I will have some in action at the Abbey mate! Main field at 2:45 on the Sunday I'll have all my bows with me at the encampment as well as a heap of arrows, some Medieval blunts I've just started making and hopefully a little forge!

Neil, I will agree it is very Elastic as the material properties suggest but I think the slightly lower density and MoR will make it a little inferior to Yew. Though it will be a wicked comparison (even though the Yew bow will be a tad heavier hopefully )

I also think the structure of the timber (less distinct growth rings) have a bit of effect on how it holds weight. For example, a bow of the same dimensions to this one made in Spotted gum for example would be 20-25lb heavier easily.

Still its a good substitute for the real deal, looks the part and didn't cost me a kidney

Once its wearing some nice black horns it will look great and might even fool a few folks.

Colin

hunterguy1991 wrote:......Hold a straight edge up between the tips and have a look at the shape under the limbs. Seemed pretty close to me, thought the picture isn't the greatest.........

It may take a heap of arrows before the limbs settle in.

Daryl.

hunterguy1991 wrote:Neil, I will agree it is very Elastic as the material properties suggest but I think the slightly lower density and MoR will make it a little inferior to Yew. Though it will be a wicked comparison (even though the Yew bow will be a tad heavier hopefully )

I also think the structure of the timber (less distinct growth rings) have a bit of effect on how it holds weight. For example, a bow of the same dimensions to this one made in Spotted gum for example would be 20-25lb heavier easily.

Still its a good substitute for the real deal, looks the part and didn't cost me a kidney

Agreed - it's no substitute for Taxus but I'd say it's closer than perhaps Hickory, Maple or any other native timbers. Except, perhaps, Celery Top Pine... I'll get you a board when I'm down in Tasmania and drop it off with the Yew stave. CTP has a grain on it very, very much like Yew, the biggest difference being the colour of the timber itself. Aside from that, it's remarkably similar. Being a distant cousin to Yew, it's not surprising though.

Maybe I am seeing the stiff section from the Knot you raised Colin which is as it should be if it is as substantial as it appears in the Photo. As the Abbey gets closer I like to polish up and refine my Skills and knowledge a little as I like to be fresh for talking to the Public so I am likely casting a critical eye on your Bow. I will write down and commit to memory when you will be shooting so I can arrange time off to come and watch. When the crowd is watching and asking questions the day slips away.

I'm going down to Mingoola in a couple of weeks and will be cutting a Cypress Tree for my Abbey Stave, maybe a Wattle as there is plenty of that down there also. I'll likely cut a smaller Tree as my Back wont allow me to hammer away and split out a Stave from a large tree so I wont get the relationship between Sap and Heart wood but my experience is that it's only cosmetic with Aussie timber anyway - love experimenting . Plan is to rough it out on Saturday, Sunday morning and to switch to last years Abbey Stave and tiller that out Sunday Arvo. Then at the Renaissance Fair down the Gold Coast in October I will finish roughing and tiller out the Cypress Stave.

regards Perry

Very much looking forward to making an Aussie Yew warbow Neil!! I dare say that will be a one of a kind for a while too!!

Always interested to see what I can make into a warbow! haha definitely keen to give the CTP a crack and see what happens with it.

Still waiting to see some ELB's from you using that template too mate



Thanks Perry! Im always keen to get the perspective from another much more experienced bow maker than myself. Looking at the photo to me suggests a little stiff right out at the top tip but looks ok through handle and mid limb I think. You can have a look over it in person at the abbey anyway. I will be shooting on the main field between 2:45 and 3:15 I believe. I'm going to attempt to get a bow shooting on the Saturday and then an arrow from raw material on the sunday, but with talking and hopefully selling a few Ash backed Cypress "faux Yew" bows I may not get either done. Don't mind a good shin wag about archery in any case.

I will definitely get over and pay a visit and look at the staves you're playing with. Im just finishing up a nice new Red Ash ELB specially for the archery comp there (and hopefully some hunts after the abbey) at the moment. Will get some shots of it up when its all done.

Colin

Took a few weeks but I finally got this thing done!

Very happy with how its turned out so I'm a happy little bowyer at the moment

I ended up shortening it by 2 inches from original length so its finished up at 80"ntn and 105lbs @30" and I think I could have taken another 2 inches off it! Very little set, top limb is straight unbraced, bottom has a tiny bit of set (due to it being sap mostly I think) but still shoots great! Got some very respectable distances from it with very heavy arrows on the weekend.

The cypress sands up so nicely too! It feels so smooth and glassy to touch and the colour is awesome!

Few finished shots.

Nice bow! Cypress looks good I have a little CTP but certainly not in the dimensions needed for a bow of that nature.Using it mainly as accent pieces'though been reliably informed it makes a fast longbow used as laminations.

hunterguy1991 wrote:......Very happy with how its turned out so I'm a happy little bowyer at the moment.......

Well done, I like the colouring in the cypress. I will have to put some on my shopping list along with some European birch.

bigbob wrote:......... I have a little CTP........though been reliably informed it makes a fast longbow used as laminations.

Celery top pine can be a good choice in a timber/glass laminated longbow [owned two Vince Hamilton longbows, 65 and 60lb in my younger days] but as we are aware not all longbows are created equal.

Daryl.