"Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Tonight I was at my archery club, shooting arrows. It struck me that when I came there the first time, there was just one guy shooting a primitive design bow, and even that bow was made of fiberglass....
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I would think that if a bow is tillered to perfection - ie all required wood working to produce the draw weight at the draw length - and never over-stressed beyond it's tillered limitations, then the...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
If the bow is any good it can remain pretty constant for a very long time once it has lost it's initial brashness. Once a good bow has been shot in and come to the string it doesn't change that much...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
If it's designed properly, then the bow will last a very long time. If it isn't, it won't last long at all. I've made alot of the latter! The easiest way to tell how well a bow is designed and...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Thanks! You all are pretty much confirming my own thoughts: a selfbow will keep on shooting for a very long time, if well designed and well treated ... At least, that seems most likely. It is funny...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Time tourist wrote: It is funny though, that after thousands of years of archery, we still have no hard data on the life expectancy of a selfbow, and are talking about "a long time", instead of naming...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
My point of view is there is no direct answer to the question: how long does a wooden bow last? There are simply too many factors involved to make even a wild guess, wrt to the wood itself (much...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
My target bow (yew longbow, 51#@26") has kept its strength and snappiness from broken in until today which is 4 years and about 35000-40000 shots later. It is not, nor has it ever been the fastest bow...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
That's a bunch of BS. I don't think it's possible to wear out a wooden bow in your lifetime. Ask that dude saying wooden bows "wear out" if HE has ever worn one out....I'll bet he hasn't. Once again,...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
I Have an English Yew warbow and a Laminate Warbow made on a Stratton Warbow course, the laminate is two years old and the English yew must be at least 3,1/2 years old i shoot them all the time they...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
guess the main reason is that a nice yew bow costs twice as much? Nick
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
I have a lancewood bow that is close to one hundred years old and the only reason I don't shoot it is because it is now a fairly rare original condition example (though not expensive) of it's kind. My...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Yew Make some good points there Rod, I guess most of the woods capability to withstand the constant stresses of bow use will be down to good design and manufacture and of course there is the preferred...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Would it be possible that also the wood species has to do with how long a bow keeps functioning well? The really old bows (decades) mentioned so far, by Rod and Woodbear, are lancewood (personally I'm...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
See post #2 above. Hickory is a white wood... Osage and yew (and several other bow woods) are reputed to be more resistant to rot than the typical white woods. But I think a well cared for bow has...
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David, Hopefully that someone is not me?.....
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Ken, three years is a period long enough to give hope , but it is not the same as decades... So perhaps we will have to wait a bit to be sure . But I'm quite confident you are right! Jur, no, I do...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
A friend recently tried to sell a yew bow I gave him. He had always short drawn it and probably kept it in a centrally heated house with no humidification. His first potential customer drew it back...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Rod wrote: A friend recently tried to sell a yew bow I gave him. He had always short drawn it and probably kept it in a centrally heated house with no humidification. His first potential customer drew...
View ArticleRe: "Wood fatigue": what is the life expectancy of a selbow?
Rod, you wrote: "In finish it is still flawless since I am careful in handling it and always burnish out any small ding that it might suffer." Since treating a bow well is one of the important points,...
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