Hi Mick, now and then i return to your videos. The informative part is amazing, but also the video cutting is superb. I hope you are doing well. Greetings
Awesome, can't wait to see your hazel longbow! I've just purchased my first bow stave, some pieces of horn, a piece of leather for the handle, the arrow shafts with bodkin and feathers. Also linner etc for the string. First, am going to start of with a cheap bow stave to make a flat bow, when I'm more experienced, I'm going towards a traditional English Longbow, and when I'm really good, I'll give the Mary Rose warbow a try :) That fellow from which I've purchased all those bow parts, has a real replica of the Mary Rose, and I had a change to to see an English Longbow for the first time :) I think this'll be a fantastic hobby: making bows. Cheers, have a fantastic evening Mick!
Hello Arnold! You are starting the right way I think, making something that hasn't cost you too much. It's easy to become paralysed with fear of failure and never actually start the bow; making something that is inexpensive. Good luck with your bow - yes it is a fun hobby. ELB are my favourite, and they have a tremendous heritage right up to the MR bows. Have you checked out my warbow series of videos? Check out my channel if you are interested in a beginner having a go at a heavy bow. Atb, Mick
Wonderful! Cheering, and Calm. An antidote to a day in the office. As an aside, I have started to watch every video on your channel. Which are...... Wonderful, Cheering, Hugely Informative, and Inspiring. I am tempted to 'Have a Go'. Keep them Coming Wise Guru!!
Hello there - I am glad I am helping you get through your office day - I know exactly what they are like. Thanks for taking time to comment - and do have a go! It will be worth it. Atb, Mick
I look forward to seeing the finished product Mick, I have to admit I'm jealous of you and European counterparts, finding decent wood to make a bow in the bush of Australia is difficult, I'm going to be experimenting with Fig as it grows commonly near my place and perhaps sally wattle if I can find some that suits the fit. Your videos have been a huge help and I look forward to the next one. Hart
Hello there - and thanks so much for watching and commenting. I've no idea about fig as a bow wood (I love the fruit and I have fondest memories of camping under figs in East Africa) and can't offer any advice. However, here is a paste of a note from a viewer of my channel, Mr Rod Parsons, in respect of Australian bow woods - maybe it'll help: Here is a > from a Paleoplanet topic on Australian bow woods. I also knew of a bowyer in Oz who used to make and sell bows of Ironbark and Red Ash. Being a fan of all kinds of ironwood I would favour ironbark, but I expect it would be hard to work and rough on sharp tools. I know a bow can be made of Privet, if you ever find a piece big enough, but as Mick says, here it is more common as a shrubby hedge than as a potential bow wood. I hope this helps. > Good luck with your bows. Atb, Mick Show less
Hello I'm 15 and I love your videos. I am getting into primitive archery. I one day want to make a bow I can hunt with. I appreciate all the great information and I like seeing the struggles you go through to compare to mine. Thanks for the videos!!!
Hi Zane - welcome along! I hope you enjoy your archery journey - it's a fascinating pastime. Good luck with your bowmaking too - it's difficult sometimes but very rewarding. Atb, Mick
I harvested a hazel stave 3 or 4 years ago that I planned to make into a selfbow for my daughter because she was crazy about the Hunger Games series. Since then she has gotten other interests but I still have the wood. I only debarked it and it has been in the basement since. I'm thinking about giving it a shot.
Hi Mick !!! 😀😀😀 I'm glad to see you in action again ! You are a great film maker , my friend ...I am shure that manny people told you this ... 😊😊😊 Love the first episode !!! Can't wait to see the other episodes , and the bow finished ! The hazel has a tension-compresion raport of 60 - 40 ... That means is verry good in tension and poor in compresion . You need to heat-treat the belly of the bow , to resist at compresion... I am sure that you will make a great bow . 😀😀😀 Have a great weekend my friend !!! Sorin The roumanian bowman Keep up the good work !!! 😊😊😊
Love your Vids, great charm you have! Any Black locust around? It makes great bows, Flatbow design... Joe gibbs makes Hazel bows over 100lb, You don't always need a 31 inch draw.. If you only pull to your eye or chin. You probably only pull to 28 or even 27 inches.
Hello - and thank you for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed. We don't have black locust in the UK. No, 31" not always necessary but I often draw to the ear when using the longer arrows. Thanks for your comment. Atb, Mick
John Riggs White Ash is in serious trouble, Ash borer, has destroyed it! MLB and Lumber yards have already stopped buying it. Wasps and Asian ash are being brought over from Asia, and Hybrid trees
Yep, .. We've already lost almost all of our white ash here along with the black ash. No more Native black ash baskets which is really sad. I've wondered about that, the EAB evolved in Asia along with their own assemblage of ash trees that are pretty similar to ours except that their white ash, black ash..are chemically resistant to the insect. The really scary thing is that as bad as the Emerald Ash Borer is, it has a cousin that is less host specific. If THAT bug landed here, not only would the ash trees be under attack, we would be losing walnuts, maples, and a bunch of other trees when the thing ran out of ash's to munch on. There's a lesson there: If and when it hits, we better be on our guard and when we cut "fire lines" around the containment zones, moving firewood and infected saplings, etc across the fire lines should actually carry punishments.
Great video, Mick. Good idea to start a well-defined series. I'm trying to do that with the bread (uploading shortly!) Have you got yourself a new lens? This video seemed extremely crisp and the colors and light were very nice. Well done!
Hello Jim - thank you. I'm looking forward to the sourdough series very much - you'll make a great job of it. The lens is the same old Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm. That said I'm starting to experiment with colour-grading the footage (or as much as iMovie permits; amazing what's in there but I want to move to Final Cut ASAP). I use CinelikeD most of the time in camera and tweak colours etc, sometimes choosing slightly more contrasty setting for certain clips. It's maybe this that you are noticing. I do like to film with low-angled sun, and that sometimes gives a more contrasty image. Hope you are doing okay with your new editor.
Yes, I figured the UK winter sunlight might have something to do with it! I'm finally starting to play with all the settings of the G7. (Last year was shot in full auto mode.) Shooting indoors for the bread series has forced me to pay way more attention to every little detail of lighting and sound. It's completely different than just standing in natural evening light! I haven't used cinelike D yet, but I may experiment with that once I start getting outdoors again. I decided to force myself into Final Cut as of January 1 and I still haven't finished a project yet! I have 5 things I'm working on. Being able to tweak every little thing is very time consuming. It is going to be a few months before I get really comfortable with it. I feel like I'm starting over from scratch... learning a new language. It's a little frustrating, but a great learning experience.
Hello Mick! how are you? I just wanted to let you know that yesterday I cut down 3 branches of hazel (and boy that was a lot of fun) more or less of the dimensions that you specified in this video, I just hope that they're not twisted inside, because I couldn't see it; now i'll leave them to season in the bark (tomorrow i'm going to seal the ends with wax) for about 2 or 3 months, I'll give them a little more time than yours because I fear that by having cut them now that the weather is warmer there's more water in them in comparison with a branch cut in january like yours (and I live in northern Italy). This is my first attempt to build a bow so I preferred to give me some possibility of error by cutting one more for me (the third is for a friend). Just wanted to say this so you know that I'm following these videos step by step always hungry for more details. Cheers!
Hi there, well done and good luck with you and your friends' hazel bows. Make sure you seal the ends well - I should have sealed the ones on the video better than I did. After some months, you might find that you can accelerate drying by taking some wood off the staves - the belly side. Anyway, I hope it goes well for you. Atb, Mick
Hi again Mick, I saw a video today of a professional bowmaker, he said that he seals the staves also about 4 inches near the ends on every side without bark, if you didn't already do this maybe it could help you with your stress cracks on the hazel stave you are seasoning. Have a nice one!
Hello, yes that's a sound advice. I realise now that sealing the ends is a bigger deal than I thought. Next one I will do properly - but I think I got away with this one! Thanks for the tip, very much appreciated. Mick
Good afternoon Mick, I'm writing to you because I'm having problems with the seasoning of my stave, I sealed with two layers of wax the ends and I suspended it in my bedroom, I'm just a guy in an apartment :) what I think is a problem is that it's been a month now and the moisture detector says that it's always at 35% over the all lenght; what do you think? Could I have exaggerated with the wax? Or should I ask to a friend that has a cooler place with more air, to store them for me, for a couple of months and then work it a bit, while keeping again in my house? I'm sorry for making so many questions!
Good Afternoon, first check your meter against something you know to be drier just to check it's reading about right (ideally you should heat a piece of wood in your oven until really dry and then test the meter). If the bark is still on the stave, it can take literally years to dry - and it will never dry below the local humidity. I have a blackthorn stave cut over a year and it's still at 26%. With bark on and sealed ends, staves will dry very slowly and if there is no air movement around the stave it may be slower still. You can work whitewoods including hazel when wet and green but you shouldn't bend the bow until it is about 10%. If you work the stave to bow-shape, it will dry much quicker - but you have to be careful that you don't make it dry too quickly or it may twist. You can securely clamp the worked stave to a piece of timber to prevent it twisting. Hope that helps. Mick
@@Rodrigues-xg3ln Good morning Fernando. The famous English/Welsh longbow was often made from yew, taxus baccata. During the 14/15 centuries, when long bows were used by the military in England, the yew wood to make them was imported from Italy, Spain and Portugal. I hope that helps you. Good luck with your new interest in our shared histories. Mick
Looking forward to the build. We don't have hazel here in Australia so it'll be good to see how this one goes. There's plenty of privett around the suburbs though, Have you ever used privett for a bow? I've tried a couple of times but one snapped and one's seasoning.
Hi Damien and thanks for watching. We have lots of privet here but nearly always cut for hedging. I have a privet hedge about nine feet tall but all the branches are small - hence I've never tried privet. Good luck with your bow. Atb, Mick
Damien, Here is a > from a Paleoplanet topic on Australian bow woods. I also knew of a bowyer in Oz who used to make and sell bows of Ironbark and Red Ash. Being a fan of all kinds of ironwood I would favour ironbark, but I expect it would be hard to work and rough on sharp tools. I know a bow can be made of Privet, if you ever find a piece big enough, but as Mick says, here it is more common as a shrubby hedge than as a potential bow wood. I hope this helps. >
Thanks Rod, I've seen that list on another site and it has so much info on wood for bows, although I'm suprised to see a pines listed, usually bowyers avoid all types of pine but the writer might be onto something. My next bow will be Spotted Gum after I finish a merbeu backed with bamboo (or maybe fibreglass I haven't decided yet.) Actually I used the privet by accident as we had a couple growing and my wife and I are alergic to the flowers and they had to go and it was nice and stright so I though what the hell, try it. It seems ok, nothing special. Ah, the good old days, before bowyering, when a tree was just a tree instead of a leafy stave needing to be tillered :-)
Privet is one of those trees that was introduced here and it quickly took hold and got out of control, so cutting it down is never a problem. I had a good straight piece about seven foot tall but a few bad cuts made it around five and a half, it seems to have a fair amount of flex but have yet to loose an arrow with it. Bowyering is slowly becoming an addictive hobby and all trees in my area get the once-over for potential bow-wood :-) Loving your films, looking forward to more.
Mick, I was wondering if you were going to "get up" that hazel bough stave so that it could dry more quickly and discover (fingers crossed) if there was any penetrating infection from that rub at the bottom end. I would probably square up and roughly taper sides and belly, sealing the ends and leaving bark on the back (ideally the tension side in the limb?). And then leave it supported by the tips somewhere warm and with a weight suspended from the centre.
Hi Rod, in my next video (already made) I explain how I made my first hazel bow. I did that one start to finish in 16 weeks from wet. I hope to do the same or similar with this one. I did that by doing exactly as you say, shaping early (not immediately, after about 7 weeks) and drying indoors. However, I didn't weight the bow whilst drying. I left the bark on the back and retained it on the finished bow. The third video will include me working the stave into a blank then crudely to bow form before a period of drying indoors. Thanks for the advice, spot on!
Mick, Next time you harvest one, I suggest you cut it to length and weigh it straight away and track the weight loss. Getting up the stave is just a step between cutting the bough and roughing out the shape, in a bough bow, the equivalent of splitting out a stave. Looking forward to seeing the next installment.. Rod.
Dear Mick, Thanks for the this video clip. Amazing! Wonderful to know Hazel stave. I am staying at South Korea. After watching your video, i tried to find out Hazel stave from my country and from the google search but failed. Do you know where I can purchase hazel stave from UK. Could you kindly advise me the place I can purchase if a website address is available? Thanks you so much!!
I just carved a bow for my girlfriends little kid from a piece of Hazel. I'm pretty sure I'd dried it for long enough but it broke when I strung it. Did'nt snap completely. It can still be used but still, one of the arms is fractured. Think I bent it too far when stringing. Not sure exactly what I did wrong....still, not bad for a first attempt.
Hi Pete - maybe that will do, I can't say, but I doubt you'd get much draw weight from it. If you can get a 3" - 3.5" diameter stave, then that should be okay. Thanks for watching. Good luck with the bow. Mick
Hey mick 😊😉 I find you here on you tube and I like youre videos off creating longbows verry cool... I always wanted to make a longbow by myself and I see you made one whit Hazel wood. I am from Belgium and is it possible whit any kind of Hazelwood, and do I need to let the wood dry first. Greetings Christophe
Hi Christophe. Thanks for watching my video! There are two types of hazel in the uk (not sure about Belgium) wytch hazel and the common hazel. Both will make good bows. You can make a bow from wet (freshly cut hazel) but it will not be a good permanent bow. Hazel dries quickly and you can make a seasoned hazel bow within 2/3 months. Good luck!!
Ohw thank u mick I will try it whit the ones I have here Tay look verry simular to one's u showed in your video, I tink I will work I have olso a red hazelnut the other ones arre the commen ones. Greetings Christophe
Hello Mick! can I ask for your opinion? at home I have a piece of hazel and I would like to make a longbow. but it has been maturing for almost 5 years. it's too much? can i still use it? Thanks! P.s. your videos are amazing and inspirational
Claudio Bernardi I think that what is important is how it was stored. If wood is stored in poor conditions (too damp, too dry, burrowing insects etc) then it will deteriorate and will not be good for bow making. Otherwise it should be okay after five years. Have a try! Good luck.
I am new to self-style longbows and wondered about the bow taking a set when strung. How did the old archers deal with it and how today? Is it just accepted or do we do something to reset the set (string-follow). Does string-follow decrease the strength or accuracy of the bow? Thanks!
Hi there, in my limited experience different bow woods react differently to being strung. My yew bow appears to take a little set after stringing but 24 hours later it's straight again. My hazels however have taken a little set but but then that's it - it doesn't appear to get any worse over time. Not sure what they did years ago; maybe military archers were not concerned - I guess their bows may have had a relatively short life etc. Some of our modern concerns are ultimately about longevity of a bow, but perhaps ancient archers were less concerned about that - not sure! Thanks for watching. Mick
Hello mick! I am not sure of the laws in the UK, is it legal to cut down small trees like hazel? In Sweden it's not. How do you get your permission? Best regards!
Hello Sruer! It is not generally acceptable (correctly) for anyone to randomly cut down trees in the UK. Some individual trees are protected by laws and the ownership of land, in its many forms, also provides protection. In which case, small trees that are not individually protected may only be felled with the land owner’s permission. Forestry management and regulations also stipulate how many trees can be felled even on private land. The trees you see me take on video are usually from our own woodland and are trees that would otherwise be cut as part of plantation management. So our rules are maybe not so strict as in Sweden but there are still many forms of protection afforded to our trees. In the last few years I have felled very few trees for bows - but we have planted well over 2000 saplings. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching. Mick
@@MickGrewcock Ok! I am almost a little jealous of your acces to such freedome. I wanted to make a bow so bad after waching your hazel longbow series, so i went out in the snow and remembered that it's not aloud, but i'm going to call the municipality tomorrow. Thank you for the awnser! Best regards!
Seven years ago….. and it never gets old. God bless you Mick. And congratulations (?) on your new Prime Minister.
Thank you so much that has really helped me ID
Hi Mick,
now and then i return to your videos.
The informative part is amazing, but also the video cutting is superb.
I hope you are doing well.
Greetings
Thank you. I am good thank you. You might just see me reappear on RUclips in the not too distant future. Stay well.
Awesome, can't wait to see your hazel longbow! I've just purchased my first bow stave, some pieces of horn, a piece of leather for the handle, the arrow shafts with bodkin and feathers. Also linner etc for the string. First, am going to start of with a cheap bow stave to make a flat bow, when I'm more experienced, I'm going towards a traditional English Longbow, and when I'm really good, I'll give the Mary Rose warbow a try :) That fellow from which I've purchased all those bow parts, has a real replica of the Mary Rose, and I had a change to to see an English Longbow for the first time :) I think this'll be a fantastic hobby: making bows. Cheers, have a fantastic evening Mick!
Hello Arnold! You are starting the right way I think, making something that hasn't cost you too much. It's easy to become paralysed with fear of failure and never actually start the bow; making something that is inexpensive. Good luck with your bow - yes it is a fun hobby. ELB are my favourite, and they have a tremendous heritage right up to the MR bows. Have you checked out my warbow series of videos? Check out my channel if you are interested in a beginner having a go at a heavy bow. Atb, Mick
I have seen all your making of English Warbow videos, I really enjoyed it!
Wow, thanks for watching them all! Enjoy your evening, Mick
Wonderful! Cheering, and Calm. An antidote to a day in the office.
As an aside, I have started to watch every video on your channel.
Which are...... Wonderful, Cheering, Hugely Informative, and Inspiring. I am tempted to 'Have a Go'.
Keep them Coming Wise Guru!!
Hello there - I am glad I am helping you get through your office day - I know exactly what they are like. Thanks for taking time to comment - and do have a go! It will be worth it. Atb, Mick
Hi Mick.
Good luck with the new bow stave, I'm looking forward to the coming installments.
Kind regards,
Dave.
Hello Dave, thanks very much - I'll need a big slice of luck with this. Thanks for watching. Atb, Mick
Can't wait to see the rest of the build!
Hi Evan, it'll take some time - hopefully finished in the spring. Keep watching! Atb, Mick
I look forward to seeing the finished product Mick, I have to admit I'm jealous of you and European counterparts, finding decent wood to make a bow in the bush of Australia is difficult, I'm going to be experimenting with Fig as it grows commonly near my place and perhaps sally wattle if I can find some that suits the fit. Your videos have been a huge help and I look forward to the next one.
Hart
Hello there - and thanks so much for watching and commenting. I've no idea about fig as a bow wood (I love the fruit and I have fondest memories of camping under figs in East Africa) and can't offer any advice. However, here is a paste of a note from a viewer of my channel, Mr Rod Parsons, in respect of Australian bow woods - maybe it'll help:
Here is a > from a Paleoplanet topic on Australian bow woods.
I also knew of a bowyer in Oz who used to make and sell bows of Ironbark and Red Ash.
Being a fan of all kinds of ironwood I would favour ironbark, but I expect it would be hard to work and rough on sharp tools.
I know a bow can be made of Privet, if you ever find a piece big enough, but as Mick says, here it is more common as a shrubby hedge than as a potential bow wood.
I hope this helps.
>
Good luck with your bows.
Atb, Mick
Show less
Your videos are very helpful, Mick. Your delivery reminds me of Sir David Attenborough. Keep up the good work!
Looking forward to the rest this spring.
Hi Erik, thanks for letting me know - hop it turns out okay! Atb, Mick
Hello I'm 15 and I love your videos. I am getting into primitive archery. I one day want to make a bow I can hunt with. I appreciate all the great information and I like seeing the struggles you go through to compare to mine. Thanks for the videos!!!
Hi Zane - welcome along! I hope you enjoy your archery journey - it's a fascinating pastime. Good luck with your bowmaking too - it's difficult sometimes but very rewarding. Atb, Mick
That is a noble goal, Zane. There are plenty of bow makers on this youtubey thing that would be happy to give you pointers.
Cheers for that John. Mick
wow! you said you were a beginner right? your pulling some heavy draw weights already! I'm impressed!
Hi, been doing it for one year only - thanks for watching and commenting. Mick
wow, just subbed, cant wait to see the next episodes!
Thank you, I hope I keep you interested! I appreciate your comment. Atb, Mick
I harvested a hazel stave 3 or 4 years ago that I planned to make into a selfbow for my daughter because she was crazy about the Hunger Games series. Since then she has gotten other interests but I still have the wood. I only debarked it and it has been in the basement since. I'm thinking about giving it a shot.
Sounds good, worth making a bow from that!
I subscribed a little while ago and I really like your voice it's very relaxing
Hi Simon, that's a nice compliment! Thank you - and thank you for subscribing. I hope you continue to find my channel interesting. Atb, Mick
Oh ... beautifull!
Thank you :)
Thank you, Mick
Hi Mick !!! 😀😀😀
I'm glad to see you in action again !
You are a great film maker , my friend ...I am shure that manny people told you this ... 😊😊😊
Love the first episode !!! Can't wait to see the other episodes , and the bow finished !
The hazel has a tension-compresion raport of 60 - 40 ... That means is verry good in
tension and poor in compresion . You need to heat-treat the belly of the bow , to resist at compresion...
I am sure that you will make a great bow . 😀😀😀
Have a great weekend my friend !!!
Sorin
The roumanian bowman
Keep up the good work !!! 😊😊😊
Hi Sorin, thank you again - yes, I heat treated the previous hazel bow and will heat treat this one too. Thanks for watching. Atb, Mick
Love your Vids, great charm you have! Any Black locust around? It makes great bows, Flatbow design... Joe gibbs makes Hazel bows over 100lb, You don't always need a 31 inch draw.. If you only pull to your eye or chin. You probably only pull to 28 or even 27 inches.
Hello - and thank you for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed. We don't have black locust in the UK. No, 31" not always necessary but I often draw to the ear when using the longer arrows. Thanks for your comment. Atb, Mick
John Riggs White Ash is in serious trouble, Ash borer, has destroyed it! MLB and Lumber yards have already stopped buying it.
Wasps and Asian ash are being brought over from Asia, and Hybrid trees
Yep, .. We've already lost almost all of our white ash here along with the black ash. No more Native black ash baskets which is really sad. I've wondered about that, the EAB evolved in Asia along with their own assemblage of ash trees that are pretty similar to ours except that their white ash, black ash..are chemically resistant to the insect. The really scary thing is that as bad as the Emerald Ash Borer is, it has a cousin that is less host specific. If THAT bug landed here, not only would the ash trees be under attack, we would be losing walnuts, maples, and a bunch of other trees when the thing ran out of ash's to munch on. There's a lesson there: If and when it hits, we better be on our guard and when we cut "fire lines" around the containment zones, moving firewood and infected saplings, etc across the fire lines should actually carry punishments.
Hazel was used in the past to make practice bows when it was a requirement for all able bodied men to practice their archery
the scenery alone is worth the sub. now where's part 2? ;-)
Thanks - part 2 coming soon, filming part 3 next week. Part 2 should be posted early February. Atb, Mick
Great video, Mick. Good idea to start a well-defined series. I'm trying to do that with the bread (uploading shortly!) Have you got yourself a new lens? This video seemed extremely crisp and the colors and light were very nice. Well done!
Hello Jim - thank you. I'm looking forward to the sourdough series very much - you'll make a great job of it. The lens is the same old Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm. That said I'm starting to experiment with colour-grading the footage (or as much as iMovie permits; amazing what's in there but I want to move to Final Cut ASAP). I use CinelikeD most of the time in camera and tweak colours etc, sometimes choosing slightly more contrasty setting for certain clips. It's maybe this that you are noticing. I do like to film with low-angled sun, and that sometimes gives a more contrasty image. Hope you are doing okay with your new editor.
Yes, I figured the UK winter sunlight might have something to do with it! I'm finally starting to play with all the settings of the G7. (Last year was shot in full auto mode.) Shooting indoors for the bread series has forced me to pay way more attention to every little detail of lighting and sound. It's completely different than just standing in natural evening light! I haven't used cinelike D yet, but I may experiment with that once I start getting outdoors again. I decided to force myself into Final Cut as of January 1 and I still haven't finished a project yet! I have 5 things I'm working on. Being able to tweak every little thing is very time consuming. It is going to be a few months before I get really comfortable with it. I feel like I'm starting over from scratch... learning a new language. It's a little frustrating, but a great learning experience.
Good luck with Final Cut Jim, I'm sure you'll crack it in fine style.
Also good for arrow shafts :)
Yes indeed, made a few from hazel myself. Mick
Hello Mick! how are you?
I just wanted to let you know that yesterday I cut down 3 branches of hazel (and boy that was a lot of fun) more or less of the dimensions that you specified in this video, I just hope that they're not twisted inside, because I couldn't see it; now i'll leave them to season in the bark (tomorrow i'm going to seal the ends with wax) for about 2 or 3 months, I'll give them a little more time than yours because I fear that by having cut them now that the weather is warmer there's more water in them in comparison with a branch cut in january like yours (and I live in northern Italy). This is my first attempt to build a bow so I preferred to give me some possibility of error by cutting one more for me (the third is for a friend).
Just wanted to say this so you know that I'm following these videos step by step always hungry for more details.
Cheers!
Hi there, well done and good luck with you and your friends' hazel bows. Make sure you seal the ends well - I should have sealed the ones on the video better than I did. After some months, you might find that you can accelerate drying by taking some wood off the staves - the belly side. Anyway, I hope it goes well for you. Atb, Mick
Hi again Mick, I saw a video today of a professional bowmaker, he said that he seals the staves also about 4 inches near the ends on every side without bark, if you didn't already do this maybe it could help you with your stress cracks on the hazel stave you are seasoning.
Have a nice one!
Hello, yes that's a sound advice. I realise now that sealing the ends is a bigger deal than I thought. Next one I will do properly - but I think I got away with this one! Thanks for the tip, very much appreciated. Mick
Good afternoon Mick, I'm writing to you because I'm having problems with the seasoning of my stave, I sealed with two layers of wax the ends and I suspended it in my bedroom, I'm just a guy in an apartment :) what I think is a problem is that it's been a month now and the moisture detector says that it's always at 35% over the all lenght; what do you think? Could I have exaggerated with the wax? Or should I ask to a friend that has a cooler place with more air, to store them for me, for a couple of months and then work it a bit, while keeping again in my house?
I'm sorry for making so many questions!
Good Afternoon, first check your meter against something you know to be drier just to check it's reading about right (ideally you should heat a piece of wood in your oven until really dry and then test the meter). If the bark is still on the stave, it can take literally years to dry - and it will never dry below the local humidity. I have a blackthorn stave cut over a year and it's still at 26%. With bark on and sealed ends, staves will dry very slowly and if there is no air movement around the stave it may be slower still. You can work whitewoods including hazel when wet and green but you shouldn't bend the bow until it is about 10%. If you work the stave to bow-shape, it will dry much quicker - but you have to be careful that you don't make it dry too quickly or it may twist. You can securely clamp the worked stave to a piece of timber to prevent it twisting. Hope that helps. Mick
Hi sr Mick, i find you Chanel only days ago, and i love it. Your simplisity of speaking is wonderful. Great teacher. can i ask you a question?
Yes 👍
@@Rodrigues-xg3ln Good morning Fernando. The famous English/Welsh longbow was often made from yew, taxus baccata. During the 14/15 centuries, when long bows were used by the military in England, the yew wood to make them was imported from Italy, Spain and Portugal. I hope that helps you. Good luck with your new interest in our shared histories. Mick
@@MickGrewcock yes, a lot. thanks for eversing.
Looking forward to the build. We don't have hazel here in Australia so it'll be good to see how this one goes. There's plenty of privett around the suburbs though, Have you ever used privett for a bow? I've tried a couple of times but one snapped and one's seasoning.
Hi Damien and thanks for watching. We have lots of privet here but nearly always cut for hedging. I have a privet hedge about nine feet tall but all the branches are small - hence I've never tried privet. Good luck with your bow. Atb, Mick
Damien,
Here is a > from a Paleoplanet topic on Australian bow woods.
I also knew of a bowyer in Oz who used to make and sell bows of Ironbark and Red Ash.
Being a fan of all kinds of ironwood I would favour ironbark, but I expect it would be hard to work and rough on sharp tools.
I know a bow can be made of Privet, if you ever find a piece big enough, but as Mick says, here it is more common as a shrubby hedge than as a potential bow wood.
I hope this helps.
>
Thanks Rod, I've seen that list on another site and it has so much info on wood for bows, although I'm suprised to see a pines listed, usually bowyers avoid all types of pine but the writer might be onto something.
My next bow will be Spotted Gum after I finish a merbeu backed with bamboo (or maybe fibreglass I haven't decided yet.)
Actually I used the privet by accident as we had a couple growing and my wife and I are alergic to the flowers and they had to go and it was nice and stright so I though what the hell, try it. It seems ok, nothing special. Ah, the good old days, before bowyering, when a tree was just a tree instead of a leafy stave needing to be tillered :-)
Privet is one of those trees that was introduced here and it quickly took hold and got out of control, so cutting it down is never a problem. I had a good straight piece about seven foot tall but a few bad cuts made it around five and a half, it seems to have a fair amount of flex but have yet to loose an arrow with it. Bowyering is slowly becoming an addictive hobby and all trees in my area get the once-over for potential bow-wood :-)
Loving your films, looking forward to more.
That's useful Rod, thanks. Mick
Mick,
I was wondering if you were going to "get up" that hazel bough stave so that it could dry more quickly and discover (fingers crossed) if there was any penetrating infection from that rub at the bottom end.
I would probably square up and roughly taper sides and belly, sealing the ends and leaving bark on the back (ideally the tension side in the limb?). And then leave it supported by the tips somewhere warm and with a weight suspended from the centre.
Hi Rod, in my next video (already made) I explain how I made my first hazel bow. I did that one start to finish in 16 weeks from wet. I hope to do the same or similar with this one. I did that by doing exactly as you say, shaping early (not immediately, after about 7 weeks) and drying indoors. However, I didn't weight the bow whilst drying. I left the bark on the back and retained it on the finished bow. The third video will include me working the stave into a blank then crudely to bow form before a period of drying indoors. Thanks for the advice, spot on!
Mick,
Next time you harvest one, I suggest you cut it to length and weigh it straight away and track the weight loss.
Getting up the stave is just a step between cutting the bough and roughing out the shape, in a bough bow, the equivalent of splitting out a stave.
Looking forward to seeing the next installment..
Rod.
Dear Mick,
Thanks for the this video clip. Amazing! Wonderful to know Hazel stave.
I am staying at South Korea. After watching your video, i tried to find out Hazel stave from my country and from the google search but failed.
Do you know where I can purchase hazel stave from UK. Could you kindly advise me the place I can purchase if a website address is available?
Thanks you so much!!
I just carved a bow for my girlfriends little kid from a piece of Hazel. I'm pretty sure I'd dried it for long enough but it broke when I strung it. Did'nt snap completely. It can still be used but still, one of the arms is fractured. Think I bent it too far when stringing. Not sure exactly what I did wrong....still, not bad for a first attempt.
Hi Gib, of that's sad. Sorry to hear that. Where did the break occur? On the the belly or the back?
oooo mine's not as thick as that,about two inches, ill have to get another
ATB Pete
Hi Pete - maybe that will do, I can't say, but I doubt you'd get much draw weight from it. If you can get a 3" - 3.5" diameter stave, then that should be okay. Thanks for watching. Good luck with the bow. Mick
Thanks Mick I will get a thicker one & use the other to practice on.
ATB Pete
Hey mick 😊😉 I find you here on you tube and I like youre videos off creating longbows verry cool... I always wanted to make a longbow by myself and I see you made one whit Hazel wood. I am from Belgium and is it possible whit any kind of Hazelwood, and do I need to let the wood dry first. Greetings Christophe
Hi Christophe. Thanks for watching my video! There are two types of hazel in the uk (not sure about Belgium) wytch hazel and the common hazel. Both will make good bows. You can make a bow from wet (freshly cut hazel) but it will not be a good permanent bow. Hazel dries quickly and you can make a seasoned hazel bow within 2/3 months. Good luck!!
Ohw thank u mick I will try it whit the ones I have here Tay look verry simular to one's u showed in your video, I tink I will work I have olso a red hazelnut the other ones arre the commen ones. Greetings Christophe
Hello Mick! can I ask for your opinion? at home I have a piece of hazel and I would like to make a longbow. but it has been maturing for almost 5 years. it's too much? can i still use it? Thanks! P.s. your videos are amazing and inspirational
Claudio Bernardi I think that what is important is how it was stored. If wood is stored in poor conditions (too damp, too dry, burrowing insects etc) then it will deteriorate and will not be good for bow making. Otherwise it should be okay after five years. Have a try! Good luck.
@@MickGrewcock no no it is in perfect and dry condition. This is my first try 😬 thank you so much!!!
Claudio Bernardi Best of luck - just be careful that it hasn’t become too dry.
I am new to self-style longbows and wondered about the bow taking a set when strung. How did the old archers deal with it and how today? Is it just accepted or do we do something to reset the set (string-follow). Does string-follow decrease the strength or accuracy of the bow? Thanks!
Hi there, in my limited experience different bow woods react differently to being strung. My yew bow appears to take a little set after stringing but 24 hours later it's straight again. My hazels however have taken a little set but but then that's it - it doesn't appear to get any worse over time. Not sure what they did years ago; maybe military archers were not concerned - I guess their bows may have had a relatively short life etc. Some of our modern concerns are ultimately about longevity of a bow, but perhaps ancient archers were less concerned about that - not sure! Thanks for watching. Mick
I have havel nuts in my backyard.
Hi mick do you think I could make a bow from a seasoned laural branch
Trevor Dennis Not sure Trevor. Got laurel in the garden but never tried it. Why not have a go?
Hello mick! I am not sure of the laws in the UK, is it legal to cut down small trees like hazel? In Sweden it's not. How do you get your permission?
Best regards!
Hello Sruer! It is not generally acceptable (correctly) for anyone to randomly cut down trees in the UK. Some individual trees are protected by laws and the ownership of land, in its many forms, also provides protection. In which case, small trees that are not individually protected may only be felled with the land owner’s permission. Forestry management and regulations also stipulate how many trees can be felled even on private land. The trees you see me take on video are usually from our own woodland and are trees that would otherwise be cut as part of plantation management. So our rules are maybe not so strict as in Sweden but there are still many forms of protection afforded to our trees. In the last few years I have felled very few trees for bows - but we have planted well over 2000 saplings. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching. Mick
@@MickGrewcock Ok! I am almost a little jealous of your acces to such freedome. I wanted to make a bow so bad after waching your hazel longbow series, so i went out in the snow and remembered that it's not aloud, but i'm going to call the municipality tomorrow. Thank you for the awnser!
Best regards!
Well, in Estonia, here are only hazel bushes 😕
What draw weight do you expect from that stave?
I'd be happy between 80 and 100lbs. Mick
Damn these Hazel trees of yours seem ancient! Here in Czechia, all the hazel trees are so young and small compared to these massive ones!
I think some are 70-80 years old