some turkish-style-arrows and a linen string for tournament
For this years round of the European prehistoric weapons tournament series I had to make some arrows and a string. The rules allow only natural materials and no metals.
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The string is made of 44 strands of very fine old irish linen yarn. Breaking strength of one strand is about 4.5 kg, so 44 strands wil have an approximated breaking strength of 198 kg. I hope thats enough for my 70-80 pound turkish-style bow. The ears are made of 10 strands of thicker, well waxed linen yarn. Breaking strength of ten strands is about 140 kg, doubled it will stand about 280 kg. To prevent the turkish bowyers knot to lengthen the ears I served with thin linen as well. I Found in Payne-Gallwey that originals were served at this point, too.
I hope this string will last some shots:-)) What do experts like Bede and Adam think of the string? How long can it last? Bede wrote in another thread that linen strings break usually under the central serving; are there any visible indications that a string will break shortly afterwards?
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The arrows are made from fir arrow shafts, then tapered and furnished with glue-on wood nocks made of snowball (viburnum lantana) and dogwood (cornus sp.), both of which are extremely durable tough woods.
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The nocks were wrapped with fine sinew fibers. The fletching area was painted in red. I regretted the use of artist?s oil paint, as it took not only over a week to dry somewhat, but also tit turned out difficult to glue on the feathers on its oily surface. Next time I will use acrylic paint ;-))
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But I have to admit that the red colour came out really beautiful and vivid.
The feathers were cut very low according to originals. So far I?ve seen some fishtailing on short distance shooting, so these low fletchings seem to be optimised for longer distance.
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Arrow heads were made from bone as metals are not allowed in the European prehistoric championship. The finished arrows are 28 inches long and quite light (around 20 grams only).
Best regards, JJ
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![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/osman_string_linen.jpg){kind=link}
The string is made of 44 strands of very fine old irish linen yarn. Breaking strength of one strand is about 4.5 kg, so 44 strands wil have an approximated breaking strength of 198 kg. I hope thats enough for my 70-80 pound turkish-style bow. The ears are made of 10 strands of thicker, well waxed linen yarn. Breaking strength of ten strands is about 140 kg, doubled it will stand about 280 kg. To prevent the turkish bowyers knot to lengthen the ears I served with thin linen as well. I Found in Payne-Gallwey that originals were served at this point, too.
I hope this string will last some shots:-)) What do experts like Bede and Adam think of the string? How long can it last? Bede wrote in another thread that linen strings break usually under the central serving; are there any visible indications that a string will break shortly afterwards?
[external image]
![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/osman-arrows_b.jpg){kind=link}
The arrows are made from fir arrow shafts, then tapered and furnished with glue-on wood nocks made of snowball (viburnum lantana) and dogwood (cornus sp.), both of which are extremely durable tough woods.
[external image]
![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/osman-arrows_a.jpg){kind=link}
The nocks were wrapped with fine sinew fibers. The fletching area was painted in red. I regretted the use of artist?s oil paint, as it took not only over a week to dry somewhat, but also tit turned out difficult to glue on the feathers on its oily surface. Next time I will use acrylic paint ;-))
[external image]
![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/osman-arrows_c.jpg){kind=link}
But I have to admit that the red colour came out really beautiful and vivid.
The feathers were cut very low according to originals. So far I?ve seen some fishtailing on short distance shooting, so these low fletchings seem to be optimised for longer distance.
[external image]
![[external image]](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/upo546/osman-arrows_d.jpg){kind=link}
Arrow heads were made from bone as metals are not allowed in the European prehistoric championship. The finished arrows are 28 inches long and quite light (around 20 grams only).
Best regards, JJ
I especially like how you made the nocks. Good job.
Good work JJ, but why so long bone heads ? Small projectil shape heads are beatifull, histoical right, lighter and best in aerodinamic. And dont broke :D
Superb arrows, the nocks are just amazing!
I can get some snow ball - Viburnum opulus, it will be strong enough to make nocks from?
I can get some snow ball - Viburnum opulus, it will be strong enough to make nocks from?
Really nice work!
How thick are your arrows in diameter? Have you shot them yet?
How thick are your arrows in diameter? Have you shot them yet?
Very nice work on the arrows JJ. I would be careful with this linen string though. A lot depends on the quality of the linen thread. The string loops and the nocking point should be checked frequently for signs of wear. In particular, I would expect the loops to fail first. Flax is rather brittle and easily abraded. From my experience, I would not use linen strings for bows above 70lb.
Adam
Adam
JJ; Handsome arrows. Congrats for taking the extra work.
Galkid added to oil paint will speed the drying to one day if you need to use artist paints. Hobby enamels are also good and dry faster. I always drag a razor blade over the surface where the quill is glued to attach to bare wood. This is an ancient technique.
Galkid added to oil paint will speed the drying to one day if you need to use artist paints. Hobby enamels are also good and dry faster. I always drag a razor blade over the surface where the quill is glued to attach to bare wood. This is an ancient technique.
JJ,
The arrows look really good.
The bowstring is nicely made. I used to tie down the loose ends of the loops the same way. The old Turkish strings have them served separately from the main skein and then simply tied to it.
Adam is right about linen. My experience is that there is an enormous variation in strength and that the static load weight might not be a good indication of the dynamic strength. This might be what Adam means by flax being brittle. My linen string broke the strands at several places. What I mean is that the individual strands broke at what seemed random positions. I think that each one broke at its weakest point.
The arrows look really good.
The bowstring is nicely made. I used to tie down the loose ends of the loops the same way. The old Turkish strings have them served separately from the main skein and then simply tied to it.
Adam is right about linen. My experience is that there is an enormous variation in strength and that the static load weight might not be a good indication of the dynamic strength. This might be what Adam means by flax being brittle. My linen string broke the strands at several places. What I mean is that the individual strands broke at what seemed random positions. I think that each one broke at its weakest point.
Thank you very much for the nice comments on my ugly arrows... Dusan, maybe I didn?t look exactly enough at the original, much shorter arrowheads. Now they will become shorter anyway with use ;-)
The arrows are standard thickness 11/32", the butt end is tapered, but I dind?t measure it. Unfortunately their spine is somehow too low, I think its only in the 50 pounds range, but I had no stronger arrowshafts at hand. Will see how it works...
When some of the feathers flew away while shooting, I did the same as Jack suggested, to glue them on again I scraped the paint away on the glueing surface. Hope they will stay...
Virnurnum opulus has the same qualities as Viburnum lantana (snowball), it makes excellent arrows and the nocks should work well. I glued them on with simple carpenters glue (modern variant).
For the string, Adam, do you think, the loops should be served, too? Is there another recommendation for loops material? Maybe I should take sinew. I hope it will survive 3 tournaments. Have one spare string, anyway. Bede, that seems logical, each strand has its own weakest point, so it could break individual. Don?t you think the thickness of the string will save it some time?
Best regards, JJ
The arrows are standard thickness 11/32", the butt end is tapered, but I dind?t measure it. Unfortunately their spine is somehow too low, I think its only in the 50 pounds range, but I had no stronger arrowshafts at hand. Will see how it works...
When some of the feathers flew away while shooting, I did the same as Jack suggested, to glue them on again I scraped the paint away on the glueing surface. Hope they will stay...
Virnurnum opulus has the same qualities as Viburnum lantana (snowball), it makes excellent arrows and the nocks should work well. I glued them on with simple carpenters glue (modern variant).
For the string, Adam, do you think, the loops should be served, too? Is there another recommendation for loops material? Maybe I should take sinew. I hope it will survive 3 tournaments. Have one spare string, anyway. Bede, that seems logical, each strand has its own weakest point, so it could break individual. Don?t you think the thickness of the string will save it some time?
Best regards, JJ
JJ, nice work,
but be careful with the string.
Beside the experiences Adam has just posted, I guess your string to be to weak for that poundage.
My calculation is the string for a hornbow to be 6 times the drawweight at least: so the string needs 218kg
For to avoid oily colours just use earth pigments solved in water and mix it with fish- glue. Attach the feathers and than coat the shaft with linenseed-oil or whatever you want. No need to use acrylics at all.
Michael
but be careful with the string.
Beside the experiences Adam has just posted, I guess your string to be to weak for that poundage.
My calculation is the string for a hornbow to be 6 times the drawweight at least: so the string needs 218kg
For to avoid oily colours just use earth pigments solved in water and mix it with fish- glue. Attach the feathers and than coat the shaft with linenseed-oil or whatever you want. No need to use acrylics at all.
Michael
The loops should be served, if made of flax for sure. At this point you may want to wrap cloth tape where the loops contact the nock as a shortcut to avoid the work of untying etc. Sinew is a good material for loops, although I have not tried it with linen, only with silk. If the loops' material is much different in stiffness and hardness than the string material, the chance of damage at the knot is greater. The stiffer and harder material (here the linen string) simply cuts into the other.
Adam
Adam
Thank you very much all together!
Made a spare string with 50 strands that should be in the range redhawk recommends. I am very curious now about the longevity of these strings. Maybe I ve got good linen by chance;-))
Best regards, JJ
Made a spare string with 50 strands that should be in the range redhawk recommends. I am very curious now about the longevity of these strings. Maybe I ve got good linen by chance;-))
Best regards, JJ