Need help regarding bows

Gunnar

Squire
Hey Guys,
Okay, so i'm the dork who has weapons made for me, and I'm getting one made. Problem is I have to give the maker all the stats about the weapon. I have all the #'s as far as the waylay tips and such go, but here's the skinny:

What I am looking for is a near max length longbow with a nice simple curve. Problem being , what materials should I be requesting, considering that its a near max length bow, and using regular PVC is going to make that a giant brick to carry around?

I've never built any weapons ever (I just design the outside to make them pretty), so I'm kind of fumbling in the dark. I need one that will be mid weight (so that its a good blocking weapon) but light enough that I won't be throwing it aside cus its too damn heavy to weild.

Please help, Weapon Making masters of awesome.

Thanks,
Ali
 
I've found that for a max length bow 3/4 PVC sch 21 (thin wall) does the trick. I like to give my bows a bit of a recurve about 3-5" from the end of the core, that bend back takes just a little flex out of the overall design which minimizes any whip that may occur.

As usual your mileage and marshall may vary :)
 
I have the bones of a bow I've been meaning to complete (since I started that project, I have gone to carrying a crossbow made of open cell foam which I can hang on my side for easy access) - the center is PVC and the ends are kite spar - the PVC forms the bend, and by heating the ends, it is possible to force the kite spar into the ends to form the arms of the bow. This makes the whole bow lighter than if made with all PVC.

Then, dress the whole thing with pipe insulation and finish.
 
I thought crossbows couldn't have any PVC in them?

Anyways Josh knows what he is doing take his word for it 3/4 PVC (with the thin wall) is the way to go for a larger bow. And if you don't have an uber pretty heat gun for the bending, sealing off the ends and pouring boiling watter into the pvc works for the poor man. =)
 
It can't. He is saying that because he started to make the bow and didn't finish, he is using a X-bow in the meantime.
 
There's another question. I thought composite and multi-part cores like Ondreij describes weren't kosher?
 
Composite cores are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, as they are not standard construction, and a chapter can, at their discretion, choose not to accept composite weapons, just as they can choose not to accept UL's in general.

-Jointed- weapons are pretty specifically prohibited (weapons in which pieces are connected at a corner), but straight composite weapons are accepted at most of the EC chapters.
 
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