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Amateur bowyers today can make a longbow in about ten to twenty hours. [15] One of the simpler longbow designs is known as the self bow, by definition made from a single piece of wood. Traditional English longbows are self bows made from yew wood. The bowstave is cut from the radius of the tree so that sapwood (on the outside of the tree ...
The oldest surviving yew longbow was found at Rotten Bottom in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It has been given a calibrated radiocarbon date of 4040 BC to 3640 BC and is on display in the National Museum of Scotland. Yew is the wood of choice for longbow making; the heartwood is always on the inside of the bow with the sapwood on the outside ...
Several varieties of ebony are used. Ebony is often dyed to make it appear more uniformly black than the natural wood, which sometimes shows brown streaks. Paubrasilia, commonly called Pernambuco or Brazilwood, is the most sought-after material for the bows of classical stringed instruments, because of its effects on the tones they produce. [6]
Estimates for the draw of these bows varies considerably. Before the recovery of the Mary Rose, Count M. Mildmay Stayner, Recorder of the British Long Bow Society, estimated the bows of the Medieval period drew 90–110 pounds-force (400–490 newtons), maximum, and W. F. Paterson, Chairman of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, believed the weapon had a supreme draw weight of only 80–90 lb f ...
Taxus is the Latin word for this tree and its wood that is used to make javelins. [7] The Latin word is probably borrowed, via Greek τόξον tóxon, from taxša, the Scythian word used for "yew" and "bow" [8] (cognate of Persian تخش Taxš meaning bow) [9] [10] because the Scythians used its wood to make their bows. [9]
However, equally effective bows may be made from less dense timber by making them wider near the centre. The mass of equivalent bows is closely similar whatever the density of wood; approximately the same mass of wood is required whatever the density of the timber. The overall length of bending wood must be about 2.3 times the draw length.
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Eskimo hunter and polar bear slain with bow and arrow The cable backed bow, showing the bow (a) bearing the tensioned cable (b) along the face of it, attached by bindings (c). Finally, the bow strung with the main string (d). Spruce wood is nearly inelastic in compression, but usually the best available material for the belly of the bow.