Making a longbow

[Planatification]

PLEASE ANSWER FAST! WHAT IS THE TOOL YOU ARE USING AT 0:28 CALLED? IS IT A PLANE, JACK PLANE, HAND PLANE, SCRAPER, OR WHAT? PLEASE HELP.

[mwlotzka]

@Planatification

The tool is called a draw knife. We have it from an online-shop for hand tools.

[Planatification]

@mwlotzka Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it. I am in dire need of that tool, ahaha.

[colizonthedragon]

does this book only teach you to use hand tools? (im kinda broke and have no power tools)

[mwlotzka]

@colizonthedragon

In this book every step of bow making is shown using hand tools, like files, rasps and planes. The stave is sawn with a bandsaw, but this can also be done with a hand saw.

[TheTBagHour]

At 0:28 what tool is used to trim the stave of wood.

Also is pine a good wood to make a longbow?

[mwlotzka]

@TheTBagHour

Usually softwoods like pine are not used in bow making, but hardwoods like ash tree, maple and so on. 

[loadedClownZ]

can i find a draw knife from any hardware store?

[dogbone222]

@loadedClownZ prolly

[CyberKurajberUltimat]

What kind a wood do you need for craftin this?

[Patchyman253]

@CyberKurajberUltimat There are a lot of different woods you can use, though some perform better than others. Yew is the traditional wood for the English longbow/warbow, though I've also seen them made out of ash, hickory, etc.

[loadedClownZ]

@CyberKurajberUltimat any hardwood thats fibrous

[joedog636]

I like fotos :)

[loadedClownZ]

the tool your using to shave to take off small amounts of wood, whats it called, i need one of them.

[camrion]

@loadedClownZ A draw knife.

[camrion]

@loadedClownZ Oh, I'm sorry. I meant wood rasp.

[camrion]

@loadedClownZ Well, he uses both.

[loadedClownZ]

@camrion i meant that big one that i held with both hands, sorry.

[minxel16]

@X007iceX you can pretty much make a good bow out of any wood (except pine -just to keep it easy). The main difference is dimensions, for a beginner such as you you should go to a lumber yard or sawmill and buy planks of white ash or hard rock maple-if you know any tree surgeons, then ask for mountain ash or black locust (false acacia) and if you want all your questions to be answered ..buy the traditional bowyers bible series (lessons from the masters)

[greg5372]

You can't make a bow out of any wood! Geezez. Assuming you are making a proper longbow for a stave with heartwood then there is one wood that is fairly easy to get and is regarded by some top bowyers as the best wood for bows. Better than Osage orange and Yew. Mulberry. As in the Mulberry trees with the berries you can eat. Apparently it's not only very powerful and springy but also lasts a lifetime.

[minxel16]

@greg5372 look up jackingalltrades-hes made a great pine bow for 2 dollars. Btw you CAN make a bow out of any wood and this is why:

every wood had compressive and tensile elasticity-these must be equal to get it to bend as far as possible without breaking. For a bow that bends very little you make it wider and thinner, for a bow that already has good elasticity you make it thinner and thicker to reduce weight(heavier). Therefore most bows of the same tiller at 50lbs come out at similar weights

[Vlaxerman343]

you can even use bamboo to make a bow

[J42494]

One was a drawing knife the other was a spokeshave.

For a spoke shave you could use flat piece of glass.

With working green wood you can't sand it must be scraped.

Then to make it stronger you could fire harden it or allow to dry season slowly.

[cragger65]

the metal tool he uses to shave the wood is called a spoke shave

[scrufy6879]

what are you using to shape the bow that metal thing you just run across it to scrape wood off what is it called

[daywalker627]

@X007iceX Osage is another excellent wood to use in bow making

[mwlotzka]

there are a lot of different opinions on which wood is the best for bow making. Yew was used a lot in older times, but in the present time it is very hard and expensive to find high-quality yew wood.

We made good experience with ash tree and sycamore/maple, and also hickory.

[filipjankovic95]

Where can i find this book? :)

[mwlotzka]

@filipjankovic95

i bought it from Amazon.

[keepvincent]

@mwlotzka How much sir? O.o

[empiregeneral31]

@mwlotzka I'm not finding it anywhere on there. Any chance you still have a direct link? This book looks amazing compared to everything else I've seen.