There's an ILAA shoot in Windsor great part tomorrow, a good chance to try a few bows. I thought I'd shoot the Hedeby through the chrono' to see how it performed. I was waiting to hear from the lady who commissioned it, I hadn't heard for a while and thought if she dropped out, I could cut off the long handles, fit horn nocks and see what difference it made to the speed.
I got an E-mail from her this morning so I won't be sawing the ends off!
While the chrono was set up I shot the new Bamboo backed Yew through it too. Prior to this I'd narrowed the tips, reduced the nocks and got the draw weight down to the required 40#.
Here are the results.
Hedeby bow approx 47# @28" average speed 145 fps (best 149.8)
Bamboo backed Yew 40# @28" average speed 154fps (best 156.1)
The difference between the two is there for several reasons.
The Hedeby is built to look heavy but be a manageable draw weight and thus has some deflex and also the long handles adding to tip mass.
The Bamboo backed Yew is built for maximum performance consistent with the BLBS Longbow definition. As such it has no deflex or set, the belly is heat treated yew and the bamboo back is thin and narrow.
To summarize it's "show vs go" mind the Hedby is still a sweet shooter and withing the general draw weight plus one hundred fps approximation.
Tomorrow I'll take the 35# boo backed Yew Reflex Deflex bow, the latest 40# straight version (built to replace it) and maybe my Hickory backed Yew which takes a 32" draw. Not sure which I'll shoot as I'm not 100% (bunged up sinuses) still a day out in fresh air may help shake it off.
Just found One of my best flight arrows is missing it's point.... too knackered to make a new on tonight.
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I've heard conflicting information about the bow weight + 100 for standard fps. Some sources say that this is for 500 grain arrows. Others say that this is true when shooting arrows 10 grains per pound draw weight. Which did you use?
ReplyDeleteAlso, out of curiosity, just how thin did you get the boo?
Hi, the 100 plus is only a rough guide and doesn't apply all the way up the draw weight spectrum. I take it as a working minimum, but it's much easier to beat it with a 35# bow than a 100# bow. I get the boo down to about 3mm at the tips, I taper it slightly along it's length, all just done by eye.
ReplyDeleteIf you shape it to fit the bow and then plane it to almost a knife edge at the edges (say 1mm at the edges) it will automatically be thicker in the middle and slightly tapered along the length where its wider at the grip and narrower at the tips. The nodes can be filed down to just a gentle bump and the dull matt rind taken off with a scraper. It's not as laborious as it seems at first... if you have sharp tools.
Oh sorry I didn't actually answer the Q !
ReplyDeleteI tend to use my standard arrow which is about 400gn on all bows upto about 70#.
Thanks for the responses. The BBY is really doing well then at 154 fps. Nice.
ReplyDelete