How to Make Longbow Laminations

The design of the wooden longbow dates to the early 13th century. Various woods were tested over the centuries, resulting in fine-grain woods, like lemonwood, that had bendable resilience. Recently, longbows began to receive renewed interest, which also included the concept of laminating wood strips for increased strength and flexibility. With the advent of advanced epoxies and complex, wood-penetrating adhesives, bow makers are now producing longbows that approach the power of compound crossbows. A properly designed and laminated wooden longbow will provide years of beautiful performance.

Things You'll Need

  • 2-by-2-by-8-inch hickory board
  • 3-by-4-by-60-inch hickory plank
  • 2-by-2-by-60-inch hickory board
  • Tape measure
  • T-square
  • Pencil
  • Circular saw
  • Power drill
  • 3/8-by-5-inch wood screws
  • Five parallel wood clamps
  • 3/16-inch by 2-inch lemonwood strips
  • 1/8-inch by 2-inch lemonwood strips
  • Versamid 140 boyer’s epoxy
  • Dovetail saw
  • Spokeshave or drawknife
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Instructions

    • 1

      Build a boyer's (bow maker's) holding jig with six pieces of 2-by-2-by-8-inch hickory screwed to a 3-by-4-by-60-inch solid hickory plank. They should be laid long-side down, 2 inches across from a 2-by-2-by-60-inch piece of hickory drilled and screwed to the plank. Before attaching the separator boards to the jig base, use a router to cut five equidistant dadoes as deep and wide as the width and base-height of the parallel clamps that will be used. Drill 1/4-inch holes through the base and 1-inch holes in the separator boards and drive 3/8-by-5-inch wood screws to connect the boards. Be sure the six separator boards are adjacent to but not covering the dadoes. It will now be possible to insert five parallel clamps tightly into the jig. The stack of epoxied laminate boards (called staves) built up in the jig can then be clamped in place without moving anything.

    • 2

      Insert the five parallel clamps in the boyer's jig and open them full width. Measure and cut a 3/16-inch piece of lemonwood as the first piece in the bow laminate stack. This is the longest board and should be 2-by-60 inches. Lay this piece (called the back) into the jig, ensuring that it lies flat. Measure and mark the center point of the back with a pencil on the outside edge of the piece.

    • 3

      Measure and cut the next three staves of lemonwood in the stack. They should be 3/16-by-2-by-36, 34 and 32 inches in length. Measure and cut two 1/8-by-2-inch staves 30 and 28 inches long. Measure and mark the center point on all five staves.

    • 4

      Paint the top surface of the back stave (in the jig) with boyer's epoxy 20 inches in either direction beyond the center point of the stave.

    • 5

      Lay the 36-inch stave on top of the back stave, being careful to match the side-marked center points. Wet the top surface of the 36-inch stave. Repeat this process with all remaining staves. Do not wet the top surface of the last, 28-inch, stave.

    • 6

      Tighten the parallel clamps sequentially and slowly. Wipe off the epoxy that oozes out of the stack as the pressure mounts. When no more epoxy leaks out of the stack, screw the clamps down to their maximum pressure. Allow the clamped stack to dry for seven days.

    • 7

      Remove the clamps from the stack of staves. Put the stack back into the jig. Measure and mark two lateral lines on the top stave, each 1/4 inch in from the outside edge. Use a dovetail saw to make angled cuts down the length of the staves and out to the outer edge of the back stave. This process tapers the stack into a "D"-shaped cross section. Use a spokeshave or drawknife to finish and surface-smooth the bow.

    • 8

      Taper the ends of the bow and cut string notches 3/4-inch down from the tips. String the bow and test its pull and release.