From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Following on from posts regarding valued pieces of archery equipment and the thread about Agincourt and bows used in war, I was asked if I'd post some pictures of some of the bows in my collection .... so here we are.
I'll start with what I consider the definitive English Long bow. For those that have read Horace Ford's classic book Archery Theory and Practice first published in 1854, Ford stated that all his bows were made by London bowyer James Buchanan. In 1847 James Buchanan announced that he would be moving his premises from Oxford Street to 191 Piccadilly and that he had sourced new supplies of premium Spanish Yew. Buchanan changed his name stamp from Buchanan London to Buchanan Piccadilly The bow here is Yew(proberbly Spanish) 72 inches from nock to nock, 51lbs at 28inches and has the London stamp indicating it was proberbly made some time before 1947
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Buchanan top nock
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Buchanan grip
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Bottom nock
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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ERROR ......
"and has the London stamp indicating it was proberbly made some time before 1947"
THIS SHOULD READ 1847
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Buchanan Yew
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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A bow by Thomas Aldred of London circa 1860
Thomas Aldred was one of the most popular bowyers of the mid to late Victorian era. Archery at this time was the preserve of the middle classes and those of high social standing. Thomas Aldred made bows for women as well as men, at the time archery was on of the few sports where men and women shot together.
The bow pictured is one of a matched pair. 70inches nock to nock and 35lbs at 28inches
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From: RonL
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Very Nice! I just love English long bows
RonL
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From: PaPa Doc
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Nice looking old bows!
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Aldred hand grip
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Aldred top nock with the original silk string keeper
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Bow by Thomas Grant circa 1770
This is one of only two known examples of Thomas Grants work in existance (the other known Grant bow is in the posession of Hugh Soar).
The bow is incomplete and without nocks The bow has the date 1770 and the initials A.S. written on it. The bow came from The Royal Company of Archers to whome Grant was their bowyer.
.... and yes that is woodworm ...
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From: Gorbin
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Fantastic!
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From: Ishi
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Those are amazing. Are you able to shoot them?
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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A.S initials
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From: earl
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Thanks for sharing.
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Sorry I'm typing to fast and not thinking
The initials are of course S.F (I'll post the bow with A.S initials later.
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Upper limb of the Grant bow The bow is self Yew
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Woodworm .... but it is 240 years old
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Ishi
I shoot the Buchanan once a year at the Royal Toxophilite Society and the Aldred once a year at the BLBS indoors
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From: dire wolf
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Phil..Thank you for the pictures and descriptionsof the older Yew longbows.. Buchannan and Aldred I am familiar with..Reacll Buchannan was one of the first to change designs of the longbow to make a semit rigig handsection..dips..to transition working limbs from the hansection.. Your's appear to be target bows of the 35-40# class.. The grain on the yew isn't first rate as it concerns growth rate....but apparently good enough for the target bows..
That last one..Grant's..has some worm boring holes in it..How did that occur?Jim
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Hi Jim The Grant bow was stored in an Ascham (the Victorian name for a bow storage cupboard) for about 200 years. I guess the woodworm had a real feast. I agree about the Buchanan yew quality ... not the best I've ever seen. It's a pity you and Buchanan weren't alive in the same era ... Imagine the bows he would have made
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Very interesting. Thanks for posting those pictures, Phil.
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From: Paul M
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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cool
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From: woodinhand
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Thanks for the posting, very interesting. How did you acquire these pieces of history? Carl
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Interesting to think that the Thomas Grant bow was being shot 6 years before The US Declaration of Independence.
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From: jeffhalfrack
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Phil I'm speachless,,,,,I have one word,,,,MORE thanks JeffW
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From: mjh
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Thanks for sharing with us!
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Not a long bow, but interesting never the less.
This is the frontispiece from an 1854 first edition of Horace Fords Archery Theory and Practice. The comments in pencil at the top of the page were written by Ford
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From: Jay B
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Great stuff Phil, thank you for sharing! Keep em coming!
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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A 24lb ladies bow by Aldred circa 1860-65 What makes this bow interesting is that it has the classic Aldred shaped top nock but the bottom nock is a nock shape normally associated with Scottish bowyer Peter Muir
Aldred Hand grip
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From: Phil
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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The bottom nock of the above bow. This shape of nock is normally associated with bowyer Peter Muir
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From: Crossed Arrows
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Wonderful! Many thanks for the eyecandy. English longbows are the most beautiful form of bow that I have ever seen. Simple, elegant and very effective.
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From: The Beav
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Nice collection.
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From: Buzz
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Those are fine looking bows Sir.
Thanks for your post.
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From: T.C. Weston
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Wonderful collection!
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From: DavidV
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Amazing.
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From: DavidV
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Amazing!
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From: DavidV
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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lol, thought it deserved an exclamation :)
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From: olbuflo
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Date: 27-Dec-12 |
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Threads like this (though really rare) really add to this website. Many thanks...
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From: johnnyrazorhead
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Excellent collection of some great bows,and thanks for the history.Very interesting.
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From: Stalker
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Thanks for sharing !!!
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From: HillbillyKing
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Enjoyed very Much Thank you Sir !!!
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From: Phil
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Thank you all for your kind comments. I'll photograph and post some more when time allows.
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From: Lou
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Very impressive. Thanks and I look foward to your next post. I am amazed that you shoot these bows at all but it does make sense;what better way to honor the bowyers of the past. Lou
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From: KYArcher
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Very interesting! Thanks for Sharing.....KYArcher
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From: Scowler
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
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From: Kwikdraw
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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The word "AWESOME" is more than appropriate here!!!
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From: traxx
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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I agree Kwikdraw.
And im one who thinks that word is over used in this day n age.
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From: Gaur
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Date: 28-Dec-12 |
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thanks for sharing. Very nice collection of longbow history you have there.
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From: Longbowsmith
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Date: 29-Dec-12 |
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You are certainly blessed to have such a fine collection. We are fortunate that you are kind enough to share some pics and photos with us. Thanks!
Chris
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From: dire wolf
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Thot I'd ressurect this older post for Zach..Bigsky..Jim
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From: woodshavins
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Didn't catch this thread back in '12. Thanks for pulling it up! Here I. The US it's hard to come across a specimen that is older than the 1930s ;-)
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From: Phil
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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For anyone interested, I recently acquired a very rare example of a bow by Belgian bowyer Arthur Dubray. It's rare in tht it still has it's original popinjay rest. I believe the bow was built around 1890 -1900ish
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From: Phil
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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From: Phil
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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From: Phil
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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The hand grip, bound with cord with added leather inserts
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From: dire wolf
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Phil, THAT is an oldie!..Any idea what woods they laminated together for that one?..Jim
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From: tonto59
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Here's an oldie too. Think it's American made. Long bow made by J.H. Baker. Haven't been able to find out much on this bows maker at all.
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From: dire wolf
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Tonto, I have seen a few older longbows that had similar 'horn nocks' cast-made from lead-antimony.. The rodents DON'T gnaw those..:)Jim
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From: tonto59
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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No chew marks on these nocks Jim. I guess there aren't to many examples around of early American long bows.
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From: longbowman
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Date: 28-Mar-14 |
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Unreal guys, thanks for posting!
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From: Phil
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Date: 29-Mar-14 |
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Tonto59
Nice to see the pictures of your Baker bow again. I think, if Baker was an American bowyer (which I believe he was) it makes your bow a very historically important bow.
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From: Buzz
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Date: 29-Mar-14 |
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Nice bows again.
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From: tonto59
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Date: 29-Mar-14 |
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Phil I enjoyed seeing your collection again as well. That Thomas Grant bow from 1770 with all the worm holes is just amazing. Thanks for sharing your collection and knowledge. Very interesting stuff. Don
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From: olbuflo
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Date: 29-Mar-14 |
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Many thanks. I always learn something when you guys post stuff like this. Whoever called it "eye candy" was right.
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From: Journeyman
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Date: 30-Mar-14 |
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Lovely bow phil, although I am not sure it was made by Arthur dubray. It looks like a bow made by the D'hondt family from kurne in Belgium. These guys were making bows by until the late 1990's. Cupido archery in Belgium has their history in more detail. Mr Bill Terry here in England have a large collection of these type of bows made by D'hondt which are very similar. Mr Chris Boyton meet a certain octaaf D'hondt back in 2005, our master bow maker and the Belgium master, would like to be a fly on the wall on that one!! Needless to say Mr Boyton came back and made some perfect Belgium bows, also in Mr Bill Terry's collection. With kind regards Journeynan
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From: Phil
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Date: 30-Mar-14 |
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Hi Chris
It is a Dubray bow. The Dubray family were wooden shaft and handle manufacturers in the rue de la Chaudronnerie, Houdeng-Goegnies. Arthur Dubray stopped making bows in 1897 but the company carried on making them untill 1914.
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From: MStyles
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Date: 30-Mar-14 |
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A total treat to see some bows that we normally don't.
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From: Journeyman
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Date: 30-Mar-14 |
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Thanks phil, interesting stuff: me thinks there might be some connection between messrs Dubray and D'hondt. These bows are too similar. Nice to see that Grant bow by the way. Rare as "rocking horse poo" as they say. With kind regards journeyman
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From: Firstlight
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Date: 31-Mar-14 |
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thanks for sharing, neat to see your bow collection.
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From: Berny
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Date: 29-Jan-15 |
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Phil,
maybe you can help....
Hugh Soar's "Archery in Scotland" in Archer-Antiquaries Vol 38 1995 has a line drawing & description of a "popinjay" bow attributed to John Lindsay-Rae pre-1818, item (iv) on P27 - could this bow (my pic)be the same/similar?
Other examples attributed to Reid & Muir have a similar concave back - was this just Scottish bowyers or a more general design of "popinjay" bows?
It seems that bullet wood/minusops globosa/balata/massandaruba was used in the 3 examples Hugh shows - was it common with other bows/bowyers? Was it specifically used due to the properties of it's sap?
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From: Buzz
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Date: 30-Jan-15 |
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Nice old bow.
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From: Snag
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Date: 30-Jan-15 |
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Phil, I am correct in saying that the first bow has a more flat "D" shape profile near the handle and then progressively more deep D shape as you get to the tips?
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From: Phil
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Date: 30-Jan-15 |
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Berny I only have AA up to volume 35 so I'm not in aposition to answer your question.
Snag, you're correct. The limb cross sectional profile as you get to the limb tips is more or less circular.
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From: Snag
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Date: 30-Jan-15 |
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I am working on a yew stave correctly and it was nice to see how it should look! haha
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