How to make a Longbow

Our series on `how to make a longbow`, we look at pretty much the complete process, this video is a complete version of the series of 6 videos we released over the past few months, time stamps below if you want to click around the 6 parts. A massive thanks (you know who you are) for donating and making this series possible, we could not have done it without you.
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TIMESTAMPS
09:33 Part 2 Tillering
24:10 Part 3 Glue on Horn Nocks and carve shape
51:21 Part 4 Fit an Arrow Plate
01:03:37 Part 5 More Tillering and some Finishing
01:14:35 Part 6 The Handle
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[@longbows]

If you would like to see more videos like this and channel continue please help us out if you can...www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SPKPNPZL55NLE

[@mickrosedale2940]

May the force be with you Richard

[@longbows]

Thanks, I will pass that on to him.

[@michaeltaylor7194]

Hail to England!!! My distant ancestral homeland. Down with dreadful “prince” John, HAIL RICHARD THE LIONHEART!!!! In this year of our lord, 2023.

[@longbows]

Thank you.

[@marcoengelbracht4141]

Awesome, just awesome! Thank you so much! Well visible that you had a looong apprenticeship with your father. Even connecting the marks on the bow is so natural that it shows how often you did it. Even more when you work with the shave. Many thanks for sharing!

[@longbows]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@M45t3rJ4ck]

Thank you for the long video...it was relaxing and informative. Would like to try making my own, but have never even touched a bow...

[@longbows]

You can do it!

[@M45t3rJ4ck]

@@longbows ❤️ I have an off cut lemon tree stump that I will designate test piece (probably not the best type to use, but for a first try).

[@f1pitpass]

loved the whole process! Great skills throughout and very pleasant to watch! Thank you both for sharing this.

[@longbows]

Thanks so much!

[@mervynpatterson7164]

Hi Philip,many thanks for taking the trouble to make this valuable and informative video to help us would be Bowyers.

[@longbows]

Glad it was helpful!

[@makita883]

Beautiful craftsmanship..!!

[@longbows]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@caigner]

Great videos! Thanks so much for showing the whole process from start to finish. What glue did you use for the laminate?

[@mattheweskender7781]

That horn nock string keeper would be very helpful. 👍❤️

[@longbows]

Definitely!

[@adbraham]

Love the way nocks look like a cross between something from Punch & Judy, and a chess piece!

[@longbows]

Lol, interesting observation! I have never thought of the Punch and Judy one!

[@gazpal]

Very suitably impressed by your First Class craftsmanship and presentation. Thankyou to everyone involved

[@longbows]

Thank you very much! Kind of you to say.

[@nicolas6226]

Perfect video, Thanks sir. I make arrow, for decoration ^^ (with the help of your video) but now it's time to bow !

[@longbows]

Glad I could help!

[@henrywalters9130]

Beautifully crafted. Good one, Richard Head

[@longbows]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@craigchristalaw2317]

pretty cool I really like those those look good excellent craftsmanship thank you for doing this video I've really enjoyed

[@longbows]

Glad you like them!

[@jordanarther8798]

Awesome series gents! Thank you for taking the time to put this out. Daft vids are great but I'd really appreciate another series about hand spining, straightening, tapering and fletching a matched set of woodies made for a specific draw weight and length. Maybe 1/2 doz target shooting arrows and another 1/2 doz hunting arrows???

[@longbows]

Thanks, glad you like the videos. We could do a video make a set of arrows for a particular bow from start to finish... hunting is not allowed here so we would stick to target arrows.

[@jordanarther8798]

@@longbows Only the Royals get to hunt the Kingswood right? As an American by birth I can never imagine what that's like. The day I nabbed my first fish and the day I finally got to be the one to take the shot that brought down another creature of Earth, cleaned and hand ed it to my mother to fix for dinner were two of the happiest and most proud days of my father's life. (Cottontails mom made rabbit stew with)

[@jordanarther8798]

@@longbows Maybe half dozen matched target shooting arrows and another half dozen matched flight arrows??

[@kodycasteel6028]

I'm sure this video is old so I hope you get this message. Where do you get your rat tail files, and your little precision gouges? Your work is beautiful and I couldn't help but notice you have some very fine looking tools to achieve this level of quality. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@longbows]

Glad you like the video, thanks for watching and commenting/liking, it really helps the channel. We sell the rat tail rasp here...www.longbowandarrow.co.uk/rat-tail-rasp-tool-for-nock-grooves-60-p.asp

[@charlesdavis9937]

Beautiful work

[@longbows]

Thank you so much 😀

[@danielbarnes6873]

You could use this bow as a small spear as well if you really needed to for close combat if you really needed to

[@longbows]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bInLlKKKnJKVnNE

[@almubarizunarchery4607]

A very nice concise video on how to make a bow, excellent work. Ever attempted to repair a completely severed bow limb? What about one very close to the tip. I have a boyton recurve yew long bow that i bought off ebay (the seller sold it as a pair, one broken as he clarified, one in perfect condition) and im trying rebreathe life into it.

[@longbows]

Thanks. I wouldn't repair a complete break like that, you could shorten the other limb to match, but then you would need to do a huge amount of tillering, you are basically making a new bow, I would just retire it

[@growinmoflower3391]

Beautiful bow, would love to shoot one someday!

[@longbows]

Thanks, I am sure you will.

[@growinmoflower3391]

@@longbows I'd never be able to afford one LOL but yea nothing wrong with dreaming ✌

[@Exvixity967]

Hi! this is pretty cool and relaxing

[@longbows]

Hey, thanks! really appreciate you watching, did it feel long at an hour and a half?

[@Exvixity967]

@@longbows kinda

[@longbows]

this video was put together using 6 separate videos I produced, would you find it easier to watch the six shorter videos?

[@Exvixity967]

@@longbows idk

[@longbows]

sorry?

[@isidroserranogranados6529]

Thankyou to share Bro!!!Il. I love the archery

[@longbows]

Thank you too

[@leedavis7508]

Excellent Video, Thanks.

[@longbows]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robertalexander3721]

Thanks

[@longbows]

Thanks for the support, it really helps keep the channel going, you have made my day!

[@robertalexander3721]

@@longbows Sorry it was such a brief thank you. I posted before I could say how much I enjoy and how much I have learned from your channel. Many thanks Rob

[@longbows]

No problem, hadnt occured to me, I am just so amazed when people want to contribute to keeping the channel going, I am always amazed.

[@charlesdavis9937]

I'm thinking about making one with Osage, purpleheart and bamboo.

[@longbows]

great, let me know how you get on.

[@charlesdavis9937]

@@longbows I will

[@craigchristalaw2317]

thank you again

[@longbows]

Always welcome, anything you can do to help the channel is really appreciated.

[@pagaricrc]

Marvelous vidéo and great job. Can you give me the brand of your mixed rasp please ?

[@longbows]

Thanks for watching, glad you liked it, we use Bahco. Any help you can give with the channel will be appreciated.

[@pagaricrc]

@@longbows thanks so much

[@adbraham]

Is your Lemonwood actually Lemonwood? I used to buy staves of “Lemonwood” from Quicks back in the mid 90s. I think it what actually something variously called Castello or Maracaibo boxwood. Used to back it with hickory. Did the the job but nowhere near the quality of your stuff. I’d heard of you back in those days. Bumped into Chris Boyton several times at “The Company of 60”, and got Ron Palmer (God rest) to make me something stupidly heavy back when I thought that was a good idea! Love your video!

[@longbows]

Sorry for late reply. There is no such thing as `Lemonwood` its a generic term. Funily enough I was at the importers we use the day Les from Quicks turned up to buy that batch of `Lemonwood` they sold in the 90s! It is indeed lots of things, Castello hasnt been abvailble for some time, though we do have some from an old Bow Making company that went out of business in the early 1900s. Also Degame is another culprit.

[@RAkers-tu1ey]

Very nice, as per usual. Question - Could the belly be made up of 2 or 3 pieces laminated into place with scarf joints or fishtail joints? I have some nice mahogany, but too short for a whole stave.

[@longbows]

Glad you like it. Yes, we usually joint smaller pieces of wood in the handle.

[@RAkers-tu1ey]

@@longbows Thanks!

[@lucd271]

Hello to you and your family, Yes it is a very nice video indeed. Oh and I have a few questions. When was the "D shape" became standard and replaced the natural round shape of the wood? The best way to maintain a bow is it to put wax, oil or an other compound? The best way to store a longbow and arrows, is it vertical, horizontal or other? In some video you mention that leaving a bow unused for a long time, Few years, Would make it brittle but in some other video you mention you used Yew to make longbow that was cut in 1945, why would it be as brittle as the bow? Do you know when they started to laminate longbow? Please correct me if I misunderstood this point, did the handle wrap started in the Victorian era or earlier, from what I understood the handle used to be bare-wood so they adjusted their hold to situation, weather and distance? Thank you again for your great videos.

[@longbows]

Hi, thanks. D shape has been around for a long time, there is no natural round shape as such, this type of bow is Victorian, they tend to be D shaped, perhaps you are thinking of the more oval shape of a Warbow, that is completely different. I use varnish. Store them horizontal. Yes the wood from 1945 could also be brittle, but it hasn't been worked to the dimensions of a bow, we won't know until we do. Elaborate handle wraps started in the Victorian era, again, this is a Victorian bow we are making, not a Warbow.

[@alessandropigna8124]

Bellissimi

[@longbows]

Thanks

[@Skenderbeuismyhero]

For a laminate long bow like this do you use cuts that you've chosen and then cut into boards yourselves or do you cut the laminations from boards? Also, did you put the slight reflex into the stave when you glued it?

[@longbows]

Hi, we cut laminates from planks of wood, then glue them together on a former, check out our `gluing laminations` video, hope this answers your question. More here www.howtomakealongbow.co.uk

[@herryson6747]

Mantap.. 👍

[@keen9629]

Would it help to have horizontal lines two inches apart to help judge the curvature?

[@longbows]

If you think it will help you, then go ahead, We have one tiller we made back in the 90s with lines on, but mainly I use a tiller without lines as I am used to tillering and have tillered without lines for decades.

[@jamesfraser4173]

What type of mask have you on?

[@longbows]

Reusable half masks with replacement filters

[@awoodenkiwitoy6293]

How to make a longbow: -make a bow -do it again but long

[@longbows]

lol, not quite, it's just a name, more because it goes long ways instead of cross ways, a Longbow can be short, we have made many for children etc.

[@Dr._Spamy]

I'm still wonder why those longbow freaks keep hanging with this D-Profile thing. I really can't imagine that it has any benefit over a rectangular profile. In contrary, it make things worse. It weakens the belly of the bow, that is even the weakest part of the bow anyways because wood usually could take about double the amount of tension, in comparison to compression. If you want to make a lightweight bow, make a narrow rectangular profile and I'm sure it would be more lightweight than a bow with the same draw weight in D-Profile.

[@longbows]

Yes, all true, but an English Longbow is D sectioned, thats how they are made.

[@funkyfreak97]

53:24 "the 'shape' of the arrow plate..." "arrow plate"

[@longbows]

Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@funkyfreak97]

@@longbows it was so fascinating and relaxing, that it distracted me from going to bed. It's been years since I've shot my flatbow, but I want to get back in to it and work up to a proper warbow, if I could ever handle such draw weight 😅

[@longbows]

Glad you found our videos, help us out with a few thumbs up if you watch some more. Go careful working up to heavy weights.

[@PYPN]

THERE IS NO AUDIO

[@longbows]

OK, perhaps you need to refresh or check your volume, the audio is fine.