Making a Warbow: progress report 1

Hello all,
Easter, April 24th, happened to be my birthday and my girlfriend graced me with a wonderful gift. A new 4 in 1 rasp! It works like a charm and I my muscles are very grateful to have a tool that does most of the work now, haha.

Below is a short video of me showing the current bend of my stave. The upper limb is on the righthand side of the video.  I hold up 8 fingers to indicate that this is the 8th tiller video I've recorded. However, I've decided to stop using videos as a guide to the tillering process. After reviewing video 1 and 8, very little difference is visible in the bending of the stave. I believe the video scews the angle and therefore the viewpoint of how the stave is bending. If you'll notice how stiff the upper limb is near the tip, I have been scraping and rasping my heart away there, and noticed very little difference throughout the videos. As other people have suggested I will be getting a tillering stick at the least to help with the tillering process.  Also, I am using a shorter string in this video as others have suggested.

On the whole, I'm glad with the way this stave is turning out. I wont be working on it any further until I get a tillering stick, just to avoid ruining the stave with my current methods.  Thanks for checking in!

Making a new WARBOW

I've had this stave for awhile and decided to start tillering it along! It boasts a hickory belly, Ipe core, and Bamboo backing. It is 76" long and 1 3/16" wide at the handle. I would like it to end up around #130@32" however anything over #90 would work.

The upper limb is on the right side of the picture (the side with the vent).  Both limbs appear to be stiff from mid-limb to the tips. I'll concentrate scraping there until an even bend is achieved. 

I've been advised to used a shorter tillering string so I'll remedy that right away. That should help give a better idea of how the bow will bend at certain draw lengths.

I'll be making a series of post tracking the progress of this bow so check in periodically to see whats new.  Please don't be shy! Comment!

Robert Hardy on the Medieval Longbow

The Military Archery at Neville's Cross, 1346

By: Robert Hardy

I found the following article to be a fascinating and insightful read.  It brought up several interesting aspects of the medieval archer and logistics of military campaigning that I not previously thought of.  Give it a read I'm sure there is something to be learned by all. Enjoy!



http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/pdfs/hardy.pdf

"The Military Archery at Neville's Cross, 1346." Medievalists.net. Themebuilder, 27 Jan 2011. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.medievalists.net/2011/01/27/the-military-archery-at-nevilles-cross-1346/>.