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!

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/>.

Hand Forged Bodkins, Part 2

Hand Forged Bodkins

I have recently begun blacksmithing and finished my first bodkin arrowhead.  It's fairly crude but it will get the job done nonetheless!  It was forged from 1/2" diameter steel round stock in my coffee can forge.  I'd like to thank my friend Joe S. for use of his anvil, coal, and more. I'd also like to thank Matt P. for some tools, and great knowledge of smithing.  I plan on making more and hopefully better looking ones by the end of this week.

Warbow Pictures

Here are some pictures of my favorite English warbow archers of today!



Jaro: Czech Bowyer




Mark Stretton




Marlon Torrez:
Recently pulled a warbow of #225lbs made by Rudderbows!




Martin Harvey of the Company of Hollyrood



Nick Birmingham of the Company of Hollyrood

Forum name: Thimo

Thimo



Thimo



Simon Stanley: Very well known in the warbow community.



Steve Stratton of DIY Archery, Bowyer in the U.K.

Warbow Strings vs. Draw Weight

There is a school of thought within the English Warbow community that the warbows rarely, if ever, went over #100lbs in draw weight.  The argument is made using evidence from the artifacts recovered from the sunken Tudor ship the Mary Rose.  Since no bowstrings have in fact survived the centuries under water, scholars and enthusiast have looked to other aspects of the medieval archer's aresenal for support of this theory.  The evidence they use comes from arrow shafts recovered from the shipwreck.  Scholars and enthusiasts have looked at the nock (the portion of the arrow that is mounted upon the string) to determine that many so called "warbows" were probably less than #100lbs.  The nocks on the recovered arrows were only 1/8 of an inch wide, therefore, only able to accomodate a string 1/8" thick or less.  They theorize that it is unlikely a string of 1/8" thickness can support more #100lbs of draw weight.

Looking at the string of my warbow, I measured the thickness of my string at the nock point.  The thickness was exactly 1/8".  At the nock point there is and extra layer of cordage know as the serving, so I measured a portion of the string without the serving and it was less than 1/8".  The string material I use is called FastFlight and is a modern manmade material.  Warbow archers of medieval and Tudor times would have used natural linen or hemp fiber bowstrings.  I have a linen string for one of my #55lb bows.  Upon measuring that string, it too is less than 1/8" thick.  No doubt that a #55lb bow is going to require a less intense string than that of a #100lb+ warbow.  However, Myself and other warbow archers believe that warbow of draw weights greater than #100lbs could indeed have strings no more than 1/8" thick.  Here is a link to a forum thread on this very topic...
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/39555

As the topic is still in debate, I believe that warbows of the medieval and Tudor times were often over #100lbs in draw weight.  Please add your thoughs and comments...

Warbow Armor Penetration!! With Pictures!

This is me drawing my warbow of #110@32"   It will penetrate 16ga steel plate from 10 yards, and can also penetrate two layers of chainmail with a filled box in between. Very powerful!

MORE PICTURES!!! Here is the 16ga steel plate I mentioned above. It was shot at using the #110@32" waarbow from a distance of 10-20 yards. For any skeptics, I plan on capturing some video of me doing this again in the spring and summer of 2011.  So stay tuned!


The front of the plate was the damage was done!





About the size of a mans torso.




A close up of the back. Notice how the steel seems to peel.





When the arrows hit it really warped the steel!




A bodkin in one of the holes for a reference.





Here is the chaimail hauberk I will use in my next test.




It is only butted maille, so please dont through a fit. I know, and agree that riveted maille is historical and better suited for testing purposes. However, I have none and not enough time or material to create it.

 Since I was shooting from such a close distance, it doesnt give us the greatest idea of what a warbow could do in battle.  Considering that English archers typically trained at no less than 240 yards we can infer that their enemies were typically at a similar distance.

The next time I do an armor penetration test there are a few things I am going to do different.  I am going to use a dense pillow, and place a chainmail hauberk and steel plate over it.  This will better simulate an armored opponent.  This setup will be placed at 100 yards, to give a better replication of battle conditions. 

Please, comment with any tips, concerns, question, etc.  This is a highly debated topic in the warbow community and any feedback is greatly appreciated.