List of Potenial Bow Wood Species - With Comments in Technical Bowmaking Information Forum BUTTERNUT .38. COTTONWOOD: black .45; eastern .40. CEDARS: western red, white .32, Port Orford .43, Alaska .44. Low SG cedars are very brittle, and about the worst possible bowwood candidates. More like balsa than bowwood. There is always the rare piece of oldgrowth heartwood or compression wood that could do a bit better. When choosing any conifer choose thin-ringed wood if possible. CHESTNUT, American, .43. FIRS: balsam .36, white .37, noble .38, Pacific silver .38, California red .39, Norway .43. HEMLOCK .42. MAHOGANY Most mahoganies and woods sold as mahogany are light and brittle. Some can reach .50 and above. MANGO About .45. PINES: eastern white .35; sugar .36; western white .38; ponderosa, lodgepole .40; red, Scots .45.

POPLARS Several species, all just above or below .37. Brittle. Since a same-size staves of poplar contains about half the wood as, say, whiteoak it will do half the work of whiteoak. Everything else being equal poplar, or similar-SG wood, can safely be made to half the drawweight, or to twice the width of whiteoak. REDWOOD .40. SPRUCES: black, eastern, red, Sitka, white .40; Norway .42. WILLOW .39. BORDERLINE BOWWOODS All of the following can become durable fulldraw midweight bows using less severe versions of the Non-Bowwood remedies, above. ASH, black .49. Black is the lightest and weakest ash. Tested samples and bows took excessive set per mass. BOXELDER .46. ELEDEBERRY To .50. There are several species. Dr. Bert Grayson's elderberry in Oregon appears denser and more elastic than that tested here in the Bay Area, and made a decent bow. Elderberry is superior wood for drill and base when making handrill fires.

EUCALYPTUS Somewhat brittle in tension, chrysals easily, tends to be twisted, leaving clues to this in its bark. Its less twisted when grown undercover and away from wind. This wood takes little set before it blows, so will have good cast as long as it holds together. FIR, Douglas .49. Look for heartwood boards or trees with a high percentage of dark wood in the rings. 50% if you can. Such usually comes from fine-ringed, old-growth wood, more frequently seen in old doors and beams at salvage yards. Such dense fir can perform like mid-weight ash. HAWTHORN, English, Crataegus laevigata. ??????????????????// LARCH, eastern tamarak .52. Several good bows reported; western .51. MAGNOLIA, southern .50. Diffuse-porous. PINES: loblolly, pitch, shortleaf .51, southern yellow .55, longleaf, slash .56. SASSAFRAS is placed in this category with some reluctance. At .46, it tends to break on its back before taken cast-robbing set.

Sassafras will become a fast, smooth bow if handled carefully. An ELB design makes the handle area do work, letting about 20% more wood store energy. At 1.5" wide and 76 or so long, with narrow outer limbs, it will be a durable, sweet-shooting bow. As with other tension-weak woods, a crowned English belly will offer some protection by allowing general and local set to take place, reducing back strain. If backed with light rawhide length or width can be reduced to that of a bow of typical .55 or slightly higher SG wood. All the sassafras I've seen has been thin-ringed, with a high percentage of early growth. This wood was thought well of in earlier times. Possibly better growing conditions allowed thicker-ringed, denser, stronger, more elastic wood. Possibly such wood grows today, in which case it would be rated here as a true bowwood. If given a choice select staves with thicker growth rings and low-percentage early wood. Sassafras is especially easy to work. SILVERBELL .48. SWEETBAY Laurel Magnolia .48. SYCAMORE .49.

Diffuse-porous. TOYON, California holly. This wood is fairly brittle, but good bows have been nursed from it. For Californians, bay is a better native wood. TREE-OF-HEAVIN .52. TUPELO .50. Diffuse-porous. TRUE BOWWOODS Assuming sound wood, proper design and good tillering, only the lowest SG species here might occasionally need light backing. APPLE .65. ASH: green .56; Oregon .56; blue .58; white .59; European .61. White is our heaviest ash. Almost all sapwood. Oregon looks and behaves almost identically to White. BAY California laurel .56. A Westcoast native. BAMBOO takes more set per mass than any hardwood. It can be tempered with heat and gain in compression strength and elasticity. Fly rod makers do this, and bowmakers in the past also. Howard Hill for one. Untempered bamboo works well as belly wood if Perry reflexed. If making a bamboo selfbow its helpful to let the outer surface serve as belly, to prevent extreme set.

The back is then composed of weaker inner fibers, but is more than strong enough. Yes, tiller on the back.. BEECH, American .64. Diffuse-porous. Usually too twisted and gnarly. BIRCHES: paper .55; silver, white .59; yellow .62; sweet .65. All birches are diffuse-porous. Somewhat brittle in tension. As with many other similar-density woods, a light rawhide backing makes birch as durable as heavier woods. BUTTONWOOD Button Mangrove .85. Found in tidal lagoons of Florida. CALIFORNIA NUTMEG is a less-dense cousin of yew. Its behaves like extra low-density yew. As with yew the sapwood is useless in compression. Working this wood releases a pleasant spicy aroma. CHERRY, black .50. Diffuse-porous. Grows tall and straight. A bright wood, taking little set, and probably having less hysterisis/returning less sluggishly than any other common bowwood. Cherry is so light and brash its almost too touchy for bow wood, but once made, a cherry bow is unusually sweet and fast shooting.

If the stave tree was smaller than about 5 in diameter or bow limbs wider than 2 its best to decrown. A thin, properly applied rawhide backing makes cherry as safe as any unbacked wood. On the other hand, Paul Rodgers, a nearby bowmaking friend, made a lumberyard board bow, about 64 by about 1 , about 55lb at 28. Its still shooting after several years of use, still surprisingly straight-limbed and fast. This bow represents the good extreme. Sapwood takes more set in compression than heartwood. DOGWOOD, flowering .73. EASTERN REDCEDAR .47. An exceptional bowwood if handled appropriately. Its a juniper, not a cedar, having berries instead of cones. Purple-red heartwood. Redcedar is quite elastic per mass. Limbs are thicker or wider per bend resistance. Somewhat weak in tension. Again, a thin rawhide backing makes it as tension safe as any wood. As with juniper and yew its well matched to sinew, the backing riding higher above the neutral plane for greater leverage, the wider ribbon of sinew holding the bow in greater reflex.

An all sapwood bow is possible, but sapwood takes considerably more set than heartwood. The boundary between sapwood and heartwood can suddenly plunge several growth rings from one area or spot to another, possibly more so than any other wood. Knot-free lumber staves are almost impossible to find, more so than any other wood. Knot free wood is best found growing in dense shelter or with one side hard against another tree. ELMS: English .49; American .50; slippery .53; wych .60; rock .63; Winged .66;; paper; white; Texas; flowering. Wych elm grows in England, where it was thought of as best or the otherwoods. Elms are especially strong in tension compared to compression. Therefor, as with the hickories, elms hold up in overstrained designs. Three unidentified elm logs from Texas yielded limbs denser than other elm, more massive per drawweight, and taking more set. Its creamy wood polished as smooth as ivory. If these three logs were typical of the subspecies this is one of the rare woods which is less efficient by its nature. HACKBERRY .53.

Similar in looks, structure and design to elm. GONCOLO ALVES About .80. Tropical. Dark red brown. An especially pretty bowwood. HICKORIES: shellbark .69; mocknut, shagbark .72; pignut .75. Due to their extreme strength in tension the hickories are about the hardest bows to break and, unless at least moderately violated, never need backing. Hickory is used for backing other bows. HOLLY: American .56; English .68. HORNBEAM, American .70. HOPHORNBEAM Eastern .70, can be treated as if a somewhat heavier maple. IPE 1.08, heavier than water. Tropical. JUNIPERS All junipers make great bows. As is true of wood in general, the denser the juniper the shorter or narrower a bow can be per given weight and draw. Juniper, of all the bowwoods, is possibly the best match for sinew--as per redcedar, it is thicker, wider, and less stiff per mass than other woods.

The hardest part of making a juniper bow is finding a long-enough straight stave. Two short staves can be spliced together at the grip. Ishis people used mountain juniper branches before the ax arrived. Saplings and branches two-inches in diameter or less work fine, especially if sinew backed. Inner bark can sometimes be confused with surface sapwood, leading to broken backs. KENTUCKY COFFEETREE .60. KOA .60. Hawaii. LEMONWOOD Degame .67. One of the icon woods of archery. At one level its disappointing to discover its just another wood, no better or worse. About the weight of pecan, not as strong in tension, taking a touch less set per width. Heartwood is stronger than sapwood. Based on personal bend tests, if back fibers are much violated it will break like any other wood. LIGNUM VITAE Ironwood. Heartwood is about 1.14, heavier than water. Ive made one bow from its sapwood, density estimated at .85. A bend test yielded of set when bent 3 to 38lb.

Osage yields about 3.5 at 34lb. A slight thickness adjustment would have them testing the same. An osage-design bow took near zero set. A heartwood bow might best be 20% narrower than Osage. LOCUST, black .69. Stronger in tension than compression. A flat-back design is fine, but a crowned-back, wide-belly design is ideal, as from a smaller diameter limb or trunk. This wood is more likely to fret and chrysal, but here there is variation between trees. Nature loves bowmakers. She knows its hard to tiller a bow for best safety and speed, so she gave us the locust tree as teacher. If a locust bow develops clusters of frets in one or a few small areas this is locusts way of telling us we havent tillered the bow well. The fretted areas were put under greater strain, the unfretted areas loafing . Someone may think theyve tillered a bow perfectly, but in the case of locust, the bow will actually tell you if you have or not. A well tillered bow will either have no frets, or else small frets spread along almost the entire length of the limb.

If a locust bow is tillered perfectly and still develops frets, this is locusts way of saying we havent designed the bow properly for its weight, length and draw. The locust stave is a classroom. LOCUST, honey .66 A little less dense than black locust.. One of the prettier woods. Its sapwood is about twice as thick as that of black locust. Thorns grown on both trunk and branches MADRONE About .60. Somewhat brittle in tension. Rawhide would help here. Some have reported shorter madrone bows breaking even when lightly sinewed. MAPLES: bigleaf, silver .47; red .54; black .57; rock/sugar .63; vine, about .60. A vinemaple bow is thicker than most. John Strunk discovered and announced the good qualities of this wood. He points out that when felling staves its important to indicate which side more faced the sky, which side the ground. Important because most vinemaple leans as it grows. Even more so than with other branch staves, if a vinemaple bows back is made of side wood it will twist during tillering.

This is an important consideration when ordering staves. As with other strong-in-tension woods, there can be an advantage to a crowned back in medium to narrow designs. The crowned back has less mass, the flat-belly takes less set, so outshoots flat-back versions. The lighter maples are somewhat brittle in tension. All maples are diffuse-porous. Rock and sugar maple are the same wood. MESQUITE, honey .81. MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY About .80. Very heavy, hard, tough, wood. Doc Safford of S. California reports good results with this wood. MOUNTAIN LAUREL .68. MULBERRY, red .66, a distant cousin of Osage. A mulberry bow should be about 15% wider than osage, all else being equal. As with locust and osage, a ring or two of sapwood can be left on the back if the wood was felled and dried before sapwood decay began.

OAKS: California black .57; southern red .59; northern red, sessil, pin, bur .63; scarlet .67; white .68; Whiteoak is about as close to unbreakable as wood can be. In my bend tests it breaks after hickory. Bows Ive made of white oak took large sets without much excuse. On the other hand, I havent been able to break a bow made from this wood. One was steamed into 6 of reflex. When tillered it took 7 of set, standing at one inch of string follow at 55lb, and equaled the cast of any equal-follow bow. Of several whiteoak bows, from several different trees, the one that stayed straightest was fine-ringed, high-percentage early growth. Quite strange. One correspondent reported less set in his white oak bows, others report similar set. White oak is extremely strong in tension. Swamp white, Oregon white .72; Live .82. Semi-ring-porous. Our heaviest oak, and the only non-ring-porous oak.

OSAGE At about .82, osage is the heaviest common native North American wood, except occasionally for live oak. It seems that light yellow osage is less dense, weaker, takes more set, and is more brittle. For equal safety less-dense osage should be a little wider or a little longer than denser, darker osage. Staves having a low percentage of early wood are also heavier and stronger. Osage is easily heat or steam bent. Everything else being equal, osage will make the narrowest bow of all common US woods. For osage to equal the cast and low handshock of lighter woods outer limbs and tips must be proportionately narrower. [[[osage disadvantage,,, brittle if low mc PADAUK .67. Diffuse-porous. Tropical. Tested samples were somewhat brittle in tension, but this may not be typical. PALM Black palm is the most commonly used. Palm is not wood in the normal sense. Related to grass and bamboo, it doesnt grow by adding a new ring each year, gradually increasing in diameter. Instead it exudes out of the ground like bamboo, or animal horn.

And somewhat like bamboo it is denser at its surface, gradually becoming less dense moving toward its pithy center. As with bamboo, set can be reduced by using its outer surface as belly. Ive seen bows from Amozonia reversed in this manner. If a stave came from a large diameter tree the density difference within the first inch likely wouldnt justify reversal. But small diameter trees of this very hard wood are easier to work with primitive tools. Long, narrow, bows are therefor easier to make than shorter, wider bow, and this is the most common primitive design. Generally found in areas of high humidity these bows are also unusually long in order to prevent set. Once dry, palm will serve for any design. I have a 50lb black palm bow, which even at 75 is only 1 wide and thick at midlimb. Very stiff wood. This bow was made and used by the Bari people of the South American rainforest. It took many monkeys from many trees for many years in extremely high humidity. In our drier climate the bow gained considerable weight so was retillered. It still has only of follow. The bow is more than a foot taller than its maker.

The wood is dark and dense and heavy, about .90-plus by the feel of it, so heavy its outer limbs must be unusually narrow to avoid handshock. Hardwood yards sometimes stock palm, but seldom surface wood, so density/strength/elasticity will vary per its place in the tree. Adjust limb width per density. PEAR .73. PECANS: nutmeg .60; water .62; bitternut, pecan .66. All in the hickory family. Pecan and hickory are often sold under the same label in yards. PERSIMMON .74. Interlocking grain. Semi-ring-porous. Very attractive with an off-white sapwood back and dark belly. Tested samples and bows took slightly more set per mass, but strength in tension allowed corrective reflexing PLUM About .70. A desirable bow wood, both for its beauty and toughness. But its one of the most difficult to dry without cracking and checking. After felling, if you dont intend making a bow immediately, leave the bark on and seal the ends with two or three coats of paint or glue, or a paraffin dip.

A day or two might be needed for the ends to dry enough to hold paint, but dont wait too long . If making a bow straight off, remove its bark the first day or so while it will pull off freely (possible during the growing season only). A dull table knife helps. Otherwise bark must be worked off with sharp tools. This is more work and often leaves a marred back. You might want to leave the bark on smaller diameter branches and saplings. It makes a beautiful back. Plum bark will crack when drawn unless the more brittle outer layers are sanded down, leaving the more supple but still dark plum-colored young bark. This is especially needed on older branches. When the finished bow is oiled this young bark turns a rich, near-black plum. 30lb bows can be made from branches as small as 5/8; 40lb from ; 50lb from 1, and on up. If you leave the bark on the entire branch drying can take a couple of years. Better to floor tiller the bow, keeping it full width for full length to avoid lateral warping. Coat exposed wood with carpenters glue and it will be dry in a couple of months.

If you take the bark off of the back and floor tiller the branch, keeping it full width for full length, the wood will be so thin it likely wont check or crack (unless in very low humidity air) and will be dry in ten days or so. Narrow branches make long, narrow bows. Wider branches can make shorter, wider bows. Again, when drying wood, the most valuable item you can own is a humidity meter. Know the humidity and you know finished moisture content. 45% to %55 is a good target humidity, yielding about 9%MC. PURPLEHEART .82. Diffuse-porous. Tropical. Usually from heartwood board staves. Purpleheart has the compression elasticity of perhaps .70 wood, fretting more easily than other woods. Pretend youre making a bow of hophornbeam to be safe. Or, even more carefully than with other woods, execute thickness taper so that no portion or the limb is overstrainedno local or general dips or rises. If once past mid-limb you taper in a straight line to narrow nocks outer limbs will be light enough to pay for slightly wider mid limbs.

Handshock can be a problem with such heavy woods; narrow outer limbs and tips help here also. A couple of my early purplehearts blew due to small hard-to-see back knots. A thin hickory backing looks good on this dark wood (rawhide too). A hickory backing can be applied in Perry fashion, protecting the belly as well as the back. RAMIN .59. Diffuse-porous. Often found in the form or dowels and tool handles. ROWAN Quicken Mountain ash A small tree native to the north and west of Britain, is mentioned in a beautiful little book, British Woodland Trees, written in the 1940s by H. I. Edlin. Its said that the wood is reddish brown and tough and that the fruit makes an edible jelly. Used by the British in past centuries. Several current European bowmakers have reported good result with European rowan--Sorbus aucuparia, about .60 specific gravity. And Orgeon bowmakers have use the American version, Sorbus americana. SERVICEBERRY About .70. SNAKEWOOD 1.0-plus. Very dense tropical wood.

Thought highly of in the past, it was once harvested in southern Florida and still may possibly grow there. SCOTCH BROOM is a yellow-flowering little bush that grows along the roadways of California, watered by runoff from the crowned streets. Its like countless other such plants, in that at first glance it seems more like a useless weed than the makings for an first-class bow. There are surely scores of such unsung shrubs waiting to sling arrows as well as the known woods if just given a chance. Scotch Broom is a great little bow wood. Dense and tough. If any size at all it tends to be twisted and gnarly. This wood tends to check easily when drying, so treat it like plum. Use trunks as narrow as 1 in diameter. Two such trunks spliced together at the grip will yield a 66 or so bow. The high crown will be safe, the resulting low mass only improving cast. The narrower the limb the longer the bow should be. But sub 48, even 36, self staves make evil little Indian bows, the shorter ones limited to 40lb with drawlengths just under half of bow length.

50lb-plus, and stronger draws, can be gotten from mid-50 and longer bows. SUGARBERRY .51. SWEETGUM .52. Diffuse-porous. Good bows have been reported. TANOAK .65, semi-ring-porous. TEAK .57. Oily, extremely rot resistant. Tested samples and bows were slightly brash. TROPICAL WOODS Space only allows a few here. There are scores available. Any over .50SG will serve. TULIPWOOD .86. Tropical. WALNUT: black .55. Semi-ring-porous, easy to work, elastic for its mass, similar in performance to cherry, but more tension-safe. Will try to chrysal where cherry wont. A wonderful, overlooked bowwood. Bows can be all sapwood or all heartwood, or mixed, sapwood taking a bit more set in compression. The off-white sapwood can be worked down to 25% or so of limb thickness, creating appealing contrast with the almost black belly. Very high heartwood extractive level, so as with similar woods, it may be more resistant to water absorption.

Its reported not to warp with rising and falling humidity, possibly for this reason. WALNUT, European .56. Design as per Black. Not as pretty, but makes a nice bow. Strong enough in tension to tolerate being a backward bow: the crowned sapling surface as belly, the split back surface tillered. WENGE. About .67, determined by comparing same-size samples to known SG woods. African hardwood. Common in hardwood yards. Oils to a rich near-black. Looks impressive with a white hickory or rawhide back. When worked, wenge dusts up badly on its back, causing backs to pop off unless cleaned unusually well before gluing. The wood seems somewhat oily. Of possibly 100 boards observed, all were fairly thin ringed, but with even thinner earlywood. Wenge is more brittle in tension than same SG pecan. It wont allow the same degree of back fiber violation or as much overbending before breaking. A Uniform Bend Test sample took of set when bent 3.5 at 24.5lb An average of three osage tests yielded 3.5 at 34lb.

So, at equal thickness Osage and wenge were equally elastic, but wenge would have to be about 30% wider to have equal drawweight at equal set. This is based on just one wenge test, but comports with wenge bows Ive made. WITCH HAZEL .60. YEW, pacific Taxus brevifolia .63. Sapwood is strong and elastic in tension but takes enormous set in compression. Heartwood is elastic in both tension and compression. The back of a heartwood-only yew bow is safe and efficient. Sapwood/heartwood will bend a little farther before breaking, but would have to be far overstrained for this margin to come into play. Knowing this allow the use of inner splits of yew as selfbow staves. Low level yew, on average, grows faster than at high levels. Fast-growing, thick-ringed conifers yield lighter, weaker, less elastic wood. The opposite is true of hardwoods (diffuse-porous hardwoods may be as strong whether thin or thick-ringed). Unlike hardwoods, the percentage of late growth is usually higher in slow growing conifers.

A crowned belly will increase safety in an overstrained design, as per the 100-plus-pound old English warbows. A crowned back will help performance, having lower limb mass. But for safety youll have to stay true to a back ring, or close to it. Due to its low bend resistance and high elasticity, yew can be narrow and thicker than any other wood, save possibly juniper. Only yew will make a same dimension and weight old English warbow. Horn nocks are not just for show. Yew is soft, and bowstrings can eat into the nocks on especially heavy bows with narrow strings. From one point of view, the more hoary and wild a yew stave the better. Yew bows full of pins and even untouched twigs, a few yew leaves waving in the breeze such bows look ancient and full of mystery. Surely the Druids made them this way. YEW, European Taxus baccata .66 on average, thin-ringed being considerably more dense than thick-ringed. ZEBRAWOOD About .68.

The Wood Used for Archery Bows | LIVESTRONG.COM The Wood Used for Archery Bows by JEREMY HOEFS Last Updated: Oct 29, 2015 Jeremy Hoefs Based in Nebraska, Jeremy Hoefs began writing fitness, nutrition, outdoor and hunting articles in 2006. His articles have been published in "Star City Sports," "Hunting Fitness Magazine" and RutWear field journals, as well as on the Western Whitetail website. Hoefs graduated with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from Nebraska Wesleyan University. A man is holding an archery bow. Photo Credit Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images Archery dates back hundreds of years when bows were used during battle. Some of the first bows were developed by the Egyptians and were made from wood, animal horn, sinew and glue. Since that early wooden bow, recurve bows, longbows and other traditional bows have been made from various types of wood. Types While the first wooden archery bows were made from yew, numerous types of wood have been used through the years.

Among these wood types are hickory, mulberry, walnut, ash, cherry and hickory along with exotic woods such as basswood, yucca, osage orange, lemonwood, blackwood and ironwood. Despite the long list of potential wood for an archery bow, maple is the most common core wood, especially for glass-faced and backed bows. Construction The overall design and construction of the archery bow may affect the selection of the wood. For example, early archery bows were made from yew and combined with animal horn, sinew and glue for the other parts of the bow. Composite wooden bows–made with several different materials–can actually use different wood for different parts of the bow such as the riser, limbs and grip. Benefits Making archery bows requires several characteristics for the best performance. Wood provides these physical characteristics and also provides several other benefits. Overall, the wood must be flexible enough to handle the bending and stress applied during every shot. Maple, for example, can be consistently found in good, clear grades and is a hard, dense wood with a straight grain. Similarly, the other types of wood provide a light, cheap wood that can be cut and handled during the bow manufacturing process.

Drawbacks Wood offers numerous benefits for archery bows, but they still have several drawbacks compared with other synthetic or aluminum materials. Wood, for example, can warp or change shape as a result of temperature or environmental changes ). Another drawback to wooden archery bows is the inability to replace limbs if it breaks. If you are considering making your own wooden bow, choose maple as it is the easiest to work with because of the absence of knots or twisty grain patterns. Related Searches Lose Weight. Feel Great Change your life with MyPlate by LIVESTRONG.COM GOAL Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week GENDER Yew Longbows for sale. Hand Crafted. | Primeval Arc We may have pacific yew bows in stock, please email for more info. Most bows are custom made. Heartwood only, Bumpy, Smooth.. they all work Great. Yew Bows Each of our yew bows is meticulously crafted by hand.

Our bows, have reached a level of primitive elegance seldom found nowadays. Inspired by bowyers from another time and place where a bow was the hunters sacred tool to feed the family , and the warriors optimistic partner in the darkness of battle. Our bows are brought in the world as a rugged companion for its caretaker. A bow forgiving in aim, and dependable at the end of a long day of hard shooting that will smile proud in the moment of need. Our bows are meant to be admired and caressed around the campfire and pushed and shoved through the bush on a wet day. The bow will take its place among the finest bows in any tribe. Modern time saving techniques and tools have their place in the world but not in the making of our bows. Pacific Yew is the wood used for many of our bows. This is high elevation yew from the ideal habitat in British Columbia, it is carefully chosen, harvested and seasoned by the bowyer or purchased from local first nations. Yew has ancient roots in traditional archery for thousands of years.

It was the bow wood that won wars in Europe in Medieval times, at the same time on the other side of the planet yew was being made into bows of all shapes and sizes mostly for hunting, sport and warfare. The secret to the Yew bow’s strength and beauty is it’s natural laminate of heartwood and sapwood. The heartwood is where the power comes from, it’s ability to be compressed and return back to its original shape is almost unmatched in any other wood. The sapwood of the tree is superior under tension and protects the heartwood from being able to break, but also adds beauty. This is why some Native North American tribes believe this tree was put on earth for the making of bows and referred to it as the chief of the forest, being a small tree mostly almost vine-like under towering Old Growth forests. The simplicity of self-backed self bow, it’s natural beauty, it’s feel in the hand and sense of satisfaction after the arrow is loosed on the target is what makes it so desirable. In thousands of years of development, the wooden bow saw only small changes being made that would be tested for generations and improved one century at a time. The wooden bow has proven it’s abilities the world over and has shaped whole nations.

It had cultural significance to almost every human that has existed and still does for a great many archers today. There is perhaps nothing more satisfying to some archers than the plucking of wood bows. Character Yew Bows English Longbow with Horn nocks, leather handle, 72 inches long on average. 30-65 lb, up to 32 inch draw. Western North American Native Style Flat bows. Our Flat bows are made with designs from various Native tribes of North America. Many different uses of these bows as well as different climate conditions helped develop many different bow styles coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Flat bows were not all flat or short. The typical almost rectangular cross sections made wood more efficient, the application of animal sinews to the back of the bow made it more durable, strong and tight, the reflexed tips added strength to the bow and allowed it be smooth shooting. The bow could also be much shorter now that it has been refined so much thus making the tool easy to handle in real hunting and war situations with peoples that did not line up and shoot from a distance. The craftsmanship of these bows would have been something unbelievable to us nowadays.

Some of the First Nations peoples perhaps had a deeper connectedness than most people the world over with there bow as it was many times a sacred spiritual item. Native people struck a very delicate balance with their bows, making them as fast shooting and efficient as possible with just heavy enough draw weight for it’s purpose as to be less a burden when carrying of long distances. Every bow would have been different. All we can do is assume from research some general designs of these bows and add our original finishes and artworks inspired by them. English Style Yew Longbows (D Shaped) The English Longbows were bows designed so they could send heavy, long hardwood arrows with heavy tips across a couple hundred yards and pierce armor. Yew was the most important wood for these bows. The bows were typically as tall or taller than the archer, thin in width, with a D shape cross section. The bow was very thick. This design allowed the bow to have massive strength and the extreme length of the bow made sure it was not bending in one spot very much. The D Shape put the strength of the bow along a very small amount of wood along the center of the belly, thus making big heavy limbs light in a sense.

Bows back in the day would be so strong that it would take years of training to pull one back and even then would be a very tiring and painful experience. Even the most modern bow would not do the damage of these bows, the draw weights would be impossible for the recreational archer. The deformed bones of the remains of English archers examined prove this. You can see why large numbers of archers training from age 4 and pulling these monsters back would be the most effective army around. The horse -mounted armor-covered knight with a sharp sword could be taken down by a peasants arrow at 100 yards. The French Crossbow men would be loading their bow while the English archer would have 3 heaver arrows already in the air, and much more accurately. The same bow of course developed as a recreational item that could be shot comfortably by even small children The tradition of English longbow has been preserved so well that it is safe to assume that we are historically accurate with these bows when we want to be. Character bows shoot straight, but have twists and turns. They are hard to make as one must follow the shape of the wood. Custom Bows Woods – Pacific Yew harvested by the bowyer.

Nocks – Self nocks, options such as nocks of elk antler ( fancy or plain ), horn, hemp cordage, hardwood overlays, or bone overlays are available at additional charges. Handle can be bare wood, leather or hemp cordage or perhaps other. Most are leather. We have painted, stained, carved nocks and in other ways did our best to create art on the yew longbows as per requests. Artwork is extra. Finish can be with a water based stain in basic colors and natural with several coats of a clear hemp seed oil that brings out the natural beauty of yew without altering its character. Comes Waxed. The Medieval English Longbow The Medieval English Longbow by Robert E. Kaiser, M.A. This article was first published in the Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, volume 23, 1980. Please read the copyright notice! From the thirteenth until the sixteenth century, the national weapon of the English army was the longbow. It was this weapon which conquered Wales and Scotland, gave the English their victories in the Hundred Years War, and permitted England to replace France as the foremost military power in Medieval Europe.

The longbow was the machine gun of the Middle Ages: accurate, deadly, possessed of a long-range and rapid rate of fire, the flight of its missilies was liken to a storm. 1 Cheap and simple enough for the yeoman to own and master, it made him superior to a knight on the field of battle. 2 Yet, important as this weapon was, most of our present day beliefs concerning it are based upon myth. There are many statistics available on the longbow, but few agree. The term longbow implies a weapon of greater length than the 4 foot bow used on the continent. Geoffrey Trease, author of The Condottieri, maintains the longbow used by the 14th century mercenary troops of Sir John Hawkwood "was as tall as themselves or a fraction taller". 3 This would make the bow approximately five feet long, since the average height of the medieval yeoman soldier was five feet to five feet two inches. 4 The Royal Antiquaries Society of Great Britain maintains the weapon was "of five or six feet" in length. 5 Major Richard G.

Bartelot, Assistant Historical Secretary of the Royal Artillery Institution says "the bow was of yew, six feet long, with a three foot arrow". 6 Finally, Gaston Foebus, Count of Foix, wrote in 1388, that a longbow should be "of yew or boxwood, seventy inches between the points of attachment for the cord..." 7 These quotes demonstrate that the weapon was considerably longer than its continental counterpart, but still leaves the length in question. Another chracteristic of the English weapon was its superior strength. An early 14th century English inquiry into the murder of Simon de Skeltington records the instrument of death as an arrow shot from a five foot seven inch bow. "The wound measured three inches long by two inches wide and six inches deep". 8 This was the powerful weapon used by Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, in the Hundred Years War. The two current authorities both agree the weapon was much stronger than our present day bows. Count M. Mildmay Stayner, Recorder of the British Long Bow Society, estimates the bows of the Medieval period drew between 90 and 110 pounds, maximum. 9 Mr. W.F.

Paterson, Chairman of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, believes the weapon had a supreme draw weight of only 80 to 90 pounds. 10 A bow of the strength described by Stayner and Paterson would project a war arrow a long distance. But here again, no one is sure how far: Stayner believes the war arrow had an effective range of 180 yards; 11 Paterson maintains a slightly further distance of 200 yards; 12 and Bartelot estimates a useful range of 249 yards. 13 Captain George Burnet, Secretary to the Royal Scottish Archers, notes that the members of the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, who still shoot, use six foot long self yew bows of 55 to 60 pounds draw weight. The range of these modern bows is 180-200 yards shooting light target shafts. 14 The longbow, because of its rapidity of fire, was a medieval machine gun. It has been calculated that a bowman of the Hundred Years War period, when military archery was at its zenith, could shoot 10 to 12 arrows a minute.

15 The closest weapon in range and strength to the longbow was the crossbow. But, as the battle of Crecy (1346) showed, even the superior Genoese composite crossbow - made of wood, horn, sinew and glue - was no match for the English weapon. 16 After firearms were introduced into continental warfare, Sir John Smythe, soldier of fortune, and Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to the Spanish Court of Philip II, noted that "archers are able to discharge four or five arrows apiece before the harquebusies shall be ready to discharge one bullet. 17 The reason for present day confusion and controversy over the longbow is the limited number of surviving artifacts. There are no longbows in existence from the Early Middle Ages. There are, however, five surviving Renaisance weapons. All of these bows are similar. They are nearly six feet long; made of wood; shaped in order to use both the centre and sap wood; are symmetrically tapered; and appear to have a very stiff draw weight. What is more, all five weapons are self bows. This means that they are made from a single stave of wood.

Horace Ford, Champion Archer of England from 1850 to 1859, and an authority on English archery, maintained: "The self bow of a single stave is the real old English weapon - the one with which the mighty deeds that rendered this country renounced in by-gone times were performed." 18 The first of the five surviving bows, by tradition, dates from the Battle of Flodden (1513). Burnet verifies that the artifact hangs on the wall of Archers Hall, headquarters of Royal Scottish Archers, in Edinburgh. 19 About the turn of the twentieth century, Colonel Fergusson of Huntly Burn presented it to Mr. Peter Muir of the Royal Scottish Archers. Fergusson claimed the artifact from the rafters of a house near Flodden Field where it had been for generations. 20 The Flodden Bow is a self yew weapon, 'probably of English yew", approximately six feet long, and "rather roughly made". The estimated strength of the weapon is between 80 and 90 pounds. 21 Burnet's decription can be deceiving. The rough appearance of the weapon does not imply it was poorly made.

Most yew, even the kind that makes the finest bows, is quite irregular in appearance.The sapwood of the stave, following the longitudinal line of the trunk, rises and falls and tilts upwards or down in places. It has 'pins' (tiny black knots) too, as a rule." 22 It is ironic that a weapon should survive from this battle. "Flodden is a landmark in the history of archery, as the last battle on English soil to be fought with the longbow as the principle weapon..." 23 Modern authors maintain that the victory of Flodden was due to archery. Indeed Longman and Walrond in their book, Archery, maintain that a 1515 statute endorsing the use of, and practice with the bow was a result of the victory. 24 These authorities are probably correct, but not for the reasons they believe. The sole contemporary account of the battle notes "that a few of thaim (the Scots) wer slaine with arrows, how be it the billes (spears with hooks on the head) did beat and hew thaim downe..." 25 It is apparent that the law was passed because of the poor showing of the archers.

The most interesting and least known Renaissance longbow comes from the armoury of the church in the village of Mendlesham in Suffolk, England. Records show it was there in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; however, Paterson believes it may date back to the time of Henry VIII. 26 Unfortunately, the Mendlesham Bow is broken. It is a self bow of 53 inches length. Paterson believes: "Assuming that the mid-point of the bow is about one inch above the centre of the grip, this would suggest a bow length of about 68-69 inches - if the remnant is an upper limb - or about 71 inches if it is the lower limb. I am inclined to suggest the former as the more likely choice." 27 The surviving limb tip is shaped to take a horn nock for the bow string loop. That would make the total length of the bow a little over six feet tall. Measurements suggest a draw-weight of 80 pounds at 28 inches. 28 The Mendlesham Bow, a typical longbow, is also unique for two reasons.

First, although it is shaped to use the properties of the yew centre and sap wood; the bow's "cross-section approximated more closely to a rectangle with the corners rounded, than the reputed traditional 'D'-form" found in the other four artifacts. Second, the longitudinal taper of the bow limb is not straight but whip ended. This would better distribute the stress as the bow is drawn and force it to bend in an elipse instead of an arc. 29 Like the two previous artifacts, the Hedgeley Moor Bow is also something of a mystery. It is reputed to have been used at the Battle of Hedgeley Moor (1464), during the War of the Roses. The weapon was presented to Alnwick Castle by John Wilkinson, whose family lived on the Castle estate from the time of the battle. "It is 65.5 inches inches in length, 3.5 inches at its greatest girth, with greatest width of 1.5 inches. The wood is probably yew..." 30 There are no nocks, but the ends have been notched to take a string.

"At mid-point where the handle is, there are two deep cuts which look remakably of the shape of a bodkin head (sic) would make if it were overdrawn." Draw weight is estimated at 50 pounds. 29 The remaining two Renaissance longbows, like the Mendlesham artifact, come from the reign of Henry VIII. Unlike the Flodden and Hedgeley Moor Bows, we are sure of the age and use of these artifacts. They were recovered in 1836 by John Deane from H.M.S. Mary Rose. 32 The Mary Rose, flag ship of the British fleet, sank off Portsmouth while engaging an invading French squadron on Sunday, 19th July, 1545. 33 These two bows are on display in the Armouries in the Tower of London. Inventory records show that they are made of yew wood, "of rounded section, tapered at tips to take the nocks, now missing". 34 The largest of the bows is 75 inches long.The smaller stave is 72.75 inches long. Both bows are 4.5 inches at "greatest girth" and weigh 1 pound, 10 ounces.

35 They are symmetrical weapons, utilising the same 'D'-shape as the Floddern Bow. Both weapons are unfinished looking, but as pointed out previously, this is a characteristic of yew wood. Ford, in his study of the Mary Rose bows, notes that they are self bows, made from "foreign yew" and had an estimated draw weight of 65 to 70 pounds. 36 The variation in length between the Mary Rose, the Flodden, and the Mendlesham bows; as opposed to the Hedgeley Moor artifact, lies in the fact that the individual archer had his personal bow made to measure. The Mary Rose weapons were arsenal issues meant to suit the tallest men in service. Shorter men would cut their weapons down to suit their height and arm length. This point is supported by Roger Ascham's treatise on Archery, Toxophilus, published in 1545. During the Middle Ages, the yeoman archer was illiterate, while the scholars of the day, by virtue of their noble birth, had little knowledge of archery. Ascham was both a scholar and an ardent archer.

As tutor to Elizabeth I, he had considerable influence on the royal family and was favoured by Henry VIII for his writing on this subject. Commenting on the selection and adjustment of a longbow, Ascham writes: "Take your bow in to the field, shote in hym, synke hym wyth deade heauye shaftes...whe(n) you haue thus shot in hym, and perceyued good shootynge woode in hym, you must have hym agayne to a good cunnynge, and trustie woorkeman, whyche shall cut hym shorter, and pyke him and dresse hym fytter." 37 All five weapons are remarkably similar and may be said to be typical longbows. They are approximately six feet tall, made of the sap and centrewood of the yew tree, are rough looking, and stiff weapons pulling between 65 and 90 pounds. Given this draw weight, a maximum effective range of approximately 200 yards with a heavy war missile is not unreasonable, especially considering the performance of the present day Scottish Archers. The making of logbows changed little from the Medieval period until the turn of the twentieth century.

They still were wooden self bows utilising the centre and sapwood of the stave. The best bows continued to be made of yew wood; and all bows were made by hand thus, each was unique. According to Ford, yew was the only wood for a self bow, and the best yew came from Spain and Italy. The foreign wood is "straigther, finer in grain, freer from pins, stiffer and denser in quality, and requires less bulk in proportion to the strength of the bow". 38 Stayner adds that the best wood is grown in the poor soil of the mountains; this produced the desired light grained wood. 39 Ascham described the best yew for bow staves as coloured: "...lyke virgin wax or golde, having a fine longe grayne, even from the one ende of the bowe, to the other... the short grayne are for a most part very brittle." 40 Staves were cut only in winter, when the sap was down. 41 Stayner notes that the yew wood trade was tied to the wine trade.

To insure an adequate supply of bows, "at one time, all wine imports (from Southern France) had to have longbow staves in the cargo as well." 42 Why was yew such a superior wood for bow making? The natural properties of yew are much like a modern thermostat: by skillfully cutting and shaping the stave in a 'D'-section, a layer of sapwood was left along the flattened back of the bow. "When a bow is drawn, the inside face of the arc undergoes compression while the outer surface is stretched. The heartwood of yew is able to withstand compression and its sapwood is elastic by nature, and both tend to return to their original straightness when the bow is loosed." 43 Bows were not made all at once. Cut down in winter, they were roughed out and left to cure for a year or two. After the bow was "seasoned", it was worked in slow stages into the finished product. Often these steps occurred at intervals of a year for three or four years. 44 Once the bow was made, it would provide long service with minimum maintanance.

Smythe tells us that archers of the Hundred Years War used to rub a mixture of "wax, resin, and fine tallow" into the bow to protect it from "all weather of heat, frost, and wet". 45 Ascham says that the archers also had bow cases, not of leather, but of canvas or wool to protect their bows from the elements. 46 Bow strings were of two materials: in the sixteenth century, strings were made of "good hempe...(but, earlier, strings were made of)...fine Flaxe or Sylk". 47 A waterproof glue was used to preserve the Renaissance bow string and it was reinforced by a whipping of fine thread. 48 The strings were attached to nocks made of bone or horn. 49 The English Medieval war arrow, like the longbow, is a controversial subject. Known as the clothyard shaft, it was efficient, cheap, capable of being mass-produced, and "made in greater numbers than any other type of arrow in history". 50 But few sources agree to its length: estimates range from 27 to 36 inches. 51 A close examination of the sources tend to point to approximately 27 inches as the correct figure.

The clothyard was not a standard yard.The term comes from the reign of Edward III, when he introduced Flemish weavers into England. The weavers brought their own system of measurement with them. Known as the "clothyard ", "clothier's yard", "ell", or "Flemish yard", it was 27 4/10 inches long. 52 The late John E. Morris, the acknowledged authority on the military organisation and tactics of Edward I, supports this conclusion by noting that a draw length of 36 inches from a 65 pound or strong bow is biomechanically impossible. 53 The final and most conclusive argument for a war arrow length of a "Flemish yard" is the sole surviving Medieval war arrow. The artifact, now in the Library of Westminster Abbey, was found in one of the turrets of the Chapter House in 1878. The exact age of the arrow is unknown; but, due to the construction of the war head, it was probably made during the second half of the Hundred Years War. Dr. Howard M.

Nixon, Abbey Librarian, notes the head belogns to type 16 in the London Museum Catalogue: "This is a typical medieval war head, with small barbs to prevent the arrow from being easily withdrawn. It seems likely that the wood is either ash or birch." 54 This type of war head was devised to negate the protection offered by the combination mail and plate armour, which came into wide use after the Battle of Poitiers (1356). (Froissart tells us that the archers of the Black Prince shot (broadhead) "bearded" arrows). 55 The Chapter House Arrow is 30.5 inches long. The diameter of the shaft varies from 1.07 centimeters at the war head to a maximum of 1.14 centimeters at a distance of 30.5 centimeters from head. The diameter reduces to 0.756 centimeters at the nock. The total weight is 1.5 ounces. 56 This arrow is a 27 inch shaft (approximately) mounted to a 4 inch or 5 inch socketed war head.

Bow woods Bow building for poor people and apartment dwellers Brought to you by: SAM HARPER Home | Update Archives | Other bow building sites | Thanks to all who helped me | Gallery | Youtube Channel Bow woods There are bow woods I've tried and bow woods I haven't tried. This is a list of bow woods (and grass in the case of bamboo) I've tried or heard a lot about. I'm only considering limb wood material, not handle wood material. Don't limit yourself, though. People are trying new things all the time. Red oak The great thing about red oak is that it's easy to find and it's cheap. It's ideal for somebody who is just starting out. Just about every Home Depot or Lowes I've been to has it. They sell it in the perfect size, too. It comes in a 72" long board they call a 1x2, which is actually 3/4 x 1-1/2. Red oak is very porous, and most of the pores are in the early growth rings, so it's important to find a piece with thick late growth rings or else it will seem brittle. Those boards will feel heavier.

If you find a board with very straight grain, you don't necessarily need to back it, but it's a good idea to back any board bow. Bamboo The wonderful thing about bamboo is that you're guaranteed to have straight grain. Bamboo bows rarely fail if done right. Some people call bamboo nature's fiberglass. It's great bow material, and it's cheap. Bamboo comes in different forms�raw bamboo and bamboo flooring boards. If you get the flooring boards, be sure to get vertical grain. The horizontal grain will come apart. Bamboo flooring makes a great bow if backed with raw bamboo. All bamboo bows are my personal favourite. They're quieter than any other bow I've made, and there's just something about the way they feel when you draw them and shoot them that's hard to describe. There's a smoothness about them. The only bad thing I have to say about bamboo bows is that they take a lot of set. It's a good idea to put a lot of reflex in the bow at glue-up if you want to have any left after tillering. Vertical grain flooring boards can also be cut into laminations.

People sometimes refer to it as "action boo." It's ideal in the core of a fiberglass bow, because it's light and strong. Raw bamboo is just a slice of a solid piece of bamboo with the nodes still intact. It makes a great backing to almost any kind of bow. Bamboo is very strong in tinsel strength, so it needs to be very thin to avoid overpowering the belly wood. Some woods that are good with raw bamboo backing include osage, yew, ipe, and bamboo, because they can withstand the compression forces. Hickory Hickory is popular for backing bows. Like bamboo, it's very strong in tinsel strength, so it needs to be thin. It's not quite as strong in compression strength. It makes a good self bow, too. I haven't made a self bow out of it, but from what I've read, it's almost impossible to break. Some people question its durability, though. Apparently, it takes a lot of set over time and becomes sluggish. I think this may be due to the fact that hickory sucks up a lot of moisture from the atmosphere. It needs to be a tad dryer than other woods to get the best performance out of it.

The only problem with using it to make a self bow is that it's almost impossible to get the bark off of it. I've heard several different methods, the most popular being to put it in a hot shower for 20 or 30 minutes before trying to get the bark off with a chisel. Osage Some people consider osage (bois d'ark) to be a weed, but to those of us who make bows, it's gold. I love everything about osage except for the fact that it's hard to find a straight piece of it without knots. It smells good, it looks good, and it's the ideal bow wood. It lasts forever without taking a set, and it's very strong in compression strength. I can't say enough about osage. I just love it. If only it were easier to come by! Ipe It's pronounced EE-pay. It's the same thing as Brazilian walnut. It's very strong, so you can make thinner and lighter limbs, resulting in a faster bow. It goes well with a bamboo backing. Ipe is used in decks, because it's so resistant to decay. That makes it a good bow wood, too.

Some people have allergic reactions to it, so beware. Ash I hate ash. I don't know why anybody bothers with it. It breaks too easily. Cedar (or Juniper) There are different kinds of cedar. That cedar you find at Lowes and Home Depot is pitiful for making bows. It's way too brittle. Juniper (or aromatic cedar) is a lot better, but it's brittle as well. It's great under clear fiberglass, though, because some pieces of it are just beautiful. It smells good, too. Poplar It's tempting to try poplar since it's so cheap and available, but it's too soft to make a decent bow out of. Black Locust Okay, I haven't actually tried this one, but I've heard good things about it. Yew I haven't tried this one either. Yew is supposed to be ideal for making longbows, because it's so strong in compression that it's one of the few woods that can withstand the D-shaped cross section of an English longbow. The problem with it is that it's too expensive. Black walnut I've only used walnut in a fiberglass bow. I think it's beautiful.

I didn't like the way it smelled when I first started using it, but the smell grew on me. I've heard it works well in non-fiberglass bows, but I haven't tried it. Bow building for poor people and apartment dwellers Yew Wood Bows - Ravenbeak Natureworks Order a Custom Bow Longbow This is the traditional style from Great Britain. These bows are typically as tall or taller than the archer. They have a "D" shape profile (cross-section) - flat back and rounded belly. Usually with horn caps, tip overlays are also used. Often shot without an arrow rest (off-the-hand) or grip (keeping to the bare wood). Often seen with a small inlay arrow pass or a bowyer's mark to let you know where to shoot from. With a smooth draw and very little stress on the bow, these are beautiful to shoot and stunning to see. The other guys in the club have been round to admire your work, Everyone's in agreement it's best looking longbow any of us have ever seen and I've got seven now. ~Benjamin~ Flatbow North American style bow (though there are references to these bows in Europe).

This bow is rectangular in cross section, with a stiff handle. It is more common to see recurve tips in flatbows. Arrow shelfs carved out of the handle and/or an additional arrow rest is the norm. These are shorter bows, reaching, on average, to the archers nose to eye height. These bows have low hand shock. They give you a sure, hard shot that feels sweet as it leaves the string. She's beautiful, perfect in every way. I love the finish and details, and she shoots really sweetly. Thank you so much! ~Alison~ Warbow Same style as the longbow, but usually longer and definitely heavier. 70+ pounds in draw weight. These were the bows used in the great battles between the English and their enemies. Often bows were in the 100+ pound range. Archers could routinely hit moving targets that were 150-200+ yards away. These give you a real sense of power behind the most influential weapon of the medieval ages. Great for launching heavy arrows really far. There is absolutely no hand shock and the pull is nice and even throughout the entire draw. The name Magni is perfect because it takes the Norse god of strength to draw it.

It is in a good home and I will always be proud of owning a true work of art. ​~Ben V.~ Paddlebow These are the bows of the Pacific Northwest (British Columbia, Washington, & Oregon). These bows were short, wide, and made with Pacific Yew (many Native groups referred to this tree as the "bow plant"). Short bows (40"-55") built for a short draw (up to 23"), these bows are ideal for a draw to the chest - often used while hunting in areas with denser brush and at close quarters. The tips were often styled with a diamond or wedge shape. And a characteristic ridge down the belly (sometimes a double ridge or scallop) is seen on many of the surviving bows. The bow shoots very well and is quite powerful. ~Jeff P.~

Question: From which wood were longbows made?
Answer: YEW