Yew Mary Rose style ELB

[Len]

This is what I have been doing over the Christmass break, making a Mary rose replica warbow. This one is about 75% size of the actual bow its based on as the origanal would have drawn approx 130lb or maybe even more and thats well beyond me. This one is looking at approx 100 - 105lb draw. Its 75 1/2 " long and is 35mmmx 31mm at the handle with 13mmm x 13mm tips. It had quit a bend in it which I had to steam out and lots of knots to work around which was great experience.

[kerrille]

looks good mate .......now wheres mine

....nev...

[stringnstik]

yeah what Kerille said )

great work Len, lookign fwd to seeing it throw an arra one day

[Len]

Thanks guys, btw, the other bow next to it is an English elm 60lb Elb and the arrow is a replica Mary Rose arrow; 30 1/2" long, 1/2" thick at shoulder tapering to 3/8" nock, weighs 1375g.

[White Hawk]

AWESOME work Len, and having seen this beast 'in the flesh' I reckon shooting it would be the archery equivalent of saddling up a wild bronco bull and staying on for 8 seconds... but ooooh the power!

This has been a long standing goal for Len in his bow making and for those that saw it at the LB100 I think will agree, the work is top notch.

Now if we can just get the damn thing back past our front elbows!

Gav

[longbow steve]

Beautiful Len, Should be quite durable if no one in the country can draw it .
Here's to many more. Steve

[Len]

Yeah, good point Steve At the moment I've pulled it to 25" on the tiller ( 85lb ) which is also about how far I can draw it. Once I get back to about 26 - 27" I think I will then be able to ' shoot in the bow' and get it back to 30" OK, its just getting it back far enough to get that style working thats the prob at the moment

[timbow]

Good job Len looks great,
l bet l can pull it back but knowing my luck with elbs l would most likely break it so give me a go mate!

[Steven J]

Anyone else having problems viewing the image?

Steve

[greybeard]

Hi Len,

The bow looks first class.

Can you give us details of the supplier of the Yew billet?

Daryl.

[gundy]

Now if we can just get the damn thing back past our front elbows! Gav

LOL! I would not have a hope!

[kerrille]

i know tryin hues on the weekend the foofer nealy blew that would be a definite


...nev...

[Gringa Bows]

good looking bow Len,would have been a lot of hard yakka getting it to that stage i bet...Rod

[Len]

Thanks guys. Greybeard , thanks, a compliment from an expericened bowyer means a lot. The yew came from Dennis La Varenne. Dennis brought the yew in from the US and split it in two so he could get a light bow and a heavy bow from it. He also knew how jealous I was and I kept asking him " have you started yet ? " In the end I think I wore him down and he very generously gave me the yew . Now I have nearly finished the warbow I'll be starting his lighter bow with the other half. I did the heavy one first to get some experience with the yew as I don't want to stuff up Dennis's bow after he's been so kind.
Working with yew has really been a great experience, for someone into history like me it was really a fullfilment of what I've been on about for the last twelve months or so ( and years of reading/research ) and hopefully there will be more in the not too distant future.

[Len]

Here I'm getting the bow back to about 25 - 26 " , still a long way to go to 30"!

[matt_d]

It's fantastic to see you shooting it Len, it must be a big thrill to have achieved your goal
It's such a pretty bow and looks even better in the flesh..
Have fun with it mate and don't go hurting yourself.. I want to have someone to shoot with when I make my 100#'er!

[Brumbies Country]

Now if we can just get the damn thing back past our front elbows! Gav

LOL! I would not have a hope!

Me either-no hope at all but what a really good looking bow and a tremendous acheivement. I'll be sticking to the bows you make around 40lbs Len, but doesn't stop me appreciating your efforts making it and drawing as far as you have so far.

Simon

[Len]

Matt , thanks mate and don't worry, I'll be taking it slowly to get both the bow and myself used to full draw and I'm looking forward to getting you into WBA, we are steadily getting more archers involved. I'll be starting a 80lber for kerrille in the next couple of weeks so that'll be another warbow on the line.
Simon , I have been following your progress as you have talked of it with the elb and are mighty impressed, I don't know of many archers who are shooting so much with a historical class elb , well done and more power to you. I know you are thinking of having a go at making one yourself and if you need any tips just drop me a line, I'd be happy to help if I can.

[ed]

nice hunting weight - for French!!

suppose it would be pretty good for piggies, camels, scrub bulls and buffalo...

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Looks good!

It's all relative, isn't it? Most bowhunters consider my 80# bow heavy, whereas it's just a baby compared to what a true warbow enthusiast shoots!

Happy shooting!

[ichiban]

its huge!!! you cant just grab a tree and put a string on it thats not how this works!!!

seriously though awsome work 7 thumbs up.
dave

[Brumbies Country]

Simon , I have been following your progress as you have talked of it with the elb and are mighty impressed, I don't know of many archers who are shooting so much with a historical class elb , well done and more power to you. I know you are thinking of having a go at making one yourself and if you need any tips just drop me a line, I'd be happy to help if I can.

Len, thanks for the offer re advice. It's much appreciated and I will take you up on when I get to the tricky bits.

You'd be comparing bows of different weights but I just wondered about your initial impressions of yew vs English elm vs ash when it comes to self bow materials in ease of workability of material and, importantly, cast pound for pound. Yew is historically seen as the prince of Elb timbers, but is it noteably superior? In asking that question I realise that there's not been a lot of replication re the yew and elm bows and the question therefore may not be a reasonable one. By the way was the English elm imported or same as grown here. We've got a couple of over 100 year old elms on our place and some younger ones.

Simon

[Len]

Simon, as I've only made the one yew bow so far and its 20 lbs heavier than any others I've shot its a bit hard to say how it compares to elm and ash, though I have shot a mates 60lb yew bow as well. That said my gut feel is that it is indeed better than any other wood I've used. It seems to feel a little lighter and springier in the hand than a hardwood bow of the same size. The straight grained ash I mostly use is very nice to work with with the elm just a little harder because of knotts etc but you get that with most hand split staves and thats what you want. That elm bow was hand made from start to finish except for the chainsaw I used to drop the tree ( had to do it very quickly as it was on the side of the road ) If you have any elm go for it. The hardest part is splitting it down into a bow stave, elm is very hard to split, it hangs on with long splinters. I use that elm bow for target, 3d and hunting and really like it.
I'll be starting the lighter yew bow soon so we will be able to do a direct comparision with some ash and the elm bow and see how they all compare, i'll post the results. One thing I will say already though is that the yew is more forgiving of knots than the ash and certinaly takes compression better than any wood I've seen so far.

[kerrille]

hey len now i know youve got my order this time ive started swimming 4 days a week and light weight training,heres hopeing nothing breaks or falls out when i try and pull it back

....nev...

[Brumbies Country]

That's great feedback Len and I really appreciate the information.

Simon

[Len]

No probs Simon
Nev, don't get too excited but I sorted through my timber when I got home from work and have selected the piece for your bow

[heavybows]

Very Nice bow Len. Its coming along keep pulling. Len remember if you live and its dry. Your bow needs humidity 50 percent or it can break. Marlon

[Mububban]

What a beauty. Yew just looks so lovely with that orange and cream layering. And talk about a chunky bow!

A friend who makes bows made a yew bow, it feels super ligt to hold in the hand, he commented that you have to be very careful with it as it can dent and get knocks easily?

I'm still working on my first bamboo floorboard bow, this sort of bowmaking is far off in my future but definitely on my list of things to do before I die

[Len]

Mububban, yew is very easy to matk or dent, I used leather patches for padding whenever I had to clamp it down but I would say to anyone into making bows if you get a chance to work with yew go for it, its great stuff.
G'day Marlon, thanks for the encouragment and yes it has been very hot and dry around here lately. I've taken to putting buckets of water in my shed/workshop to try and keep the humidity up, don't know if it really works but I figured it was worth a try