In today’s video we meet Robert Geddes, a professional bow maker that brings history to life through his craftsmanship while maintaining traditional ties with artisans who wielded transformative influence through weaponry. Fascinated by the meditative nature of working with wood, Robert meticulously crafts english longbows that echo the craftsmanship of bygone eras. Employing hand tools, he peels back single pieces of wood, gradually revealing the shapes required for these medieval weapons. The process is ancient and deliberate, involving constant testing to ensure the bow’s strength and optimal range. Please enjoy.
📢 Important Information:
In order to demonstrate and film the various stages of the process in the time we had, we started cutting oak; roughed out already seasoned elm; finished the tillering on yew. The wood is also dried for 3 years.
🏹 Robert’s social media:
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/robertgeddesbowyer
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/string_on_a_stick/?img_index=1
📚More info about Robert and his longbows:
https://www.raretradescentre.com.au/profiles/robert-geddes/
Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:33 – Cutting down the tree
1:53 – Stripping the bark
2:30 – Split in half
3:11 – Weigh and dry the wood
4:10 – Cut to length and shape
6:05 – Applying cow horn nocks
7:27 – String making – using a reverse twist Flemish loop
8:47 – Apply serving
9:11 – Tillering process
12:50 – Applying the finish (linseed oil & beeswax)
13:30 – In the field (shooting)
#EnglishLongbow #MedievalLongbow #Longbow #Woodworking #Bowyer #Craftsmanship #Artisan #Bowandarrow
📸 Copyright © 2023. Process Maestro. All Rights Reserved
38 Comments
Nice work on your yew longbow ❤
Utter nonsence , the englist longbow was made of yew, and you would not have been able to string it 😀 but a nice video for the uneducated
Actually thought a longbow was longer…🙃
The finished bow is yew the footage of the cuttings are oak. Very nicely made as well.
Beauty job
I'll never believe he didn't let the wood cure..
I loved the video, just wished there was explanation of what/why you were doing during the process..
Would have been useful to know what wood you used. Didn't look like yew. Tha traditional English long bow is best made with yew, exploiting the different qualities of the sap wood and the heart wood. Knowing for how long you dried it for would also have been interesting.
Watching this has made me want to go back and read the Thomas of Hookton Grail quest by Bernard Cornell,thank you
up near the treeline on the west coast (UsA and Canada) the loggers push all the slash into large piles . We'd go up to pull out the yew wood (and some interesting other woods) and cut cants and send them to Herters' Outfitters for wood crossbows . You needed a magnifying glass to count the growth rings. Now the bark is medicinal, but back in the 80's the logging would simply burn the slash piles. as required for fire reasons. It would cost more to pull the wood down to the highway.
When the wood dries – does it get weaker or stronger?
🇯🇵🗣 zzzzzzzz
Hats off to the bowyer for patiently explaining to many commentators the reason why three different wood types can be seen in this video. If people bothered to read through the comments before adding their own then there would be a lot less duplication.
Great to watch! 😊👍 I wonder what wood he used and how strong the bow was.🤔
In the days when it mattered most bows and bowmen were Welsh.
English longbows weren't made of oak.
Wow – now i have an idea of how my bow was made. i don't know where i got it, but it's about 6', has a D cross-section without those horn points (just notches), no arrow-rest, just slightly thickened in the centre. it doesn't have a heavy pull – maybe 30lb at 1 yard (the full length of the arrow) – but plenty for me (i'm 5'2"). i've only done target with my local SCA Barony with it, but i've developed a weird way of using it: it's tilted about 30-45° to the right, so the arrow can rest on the bow next to my hand, since it doesn't have a spot that will hold it. Hey, it works! Love the craft-ship and craeft-ship of this. Beautiful!
My favourite and most relatable bit of this is 07:30 when we inevitably end up in the kitchen doing something we'll inevitably get in trouble for later… 😀
I assume hide glue was used in medieval times for attaching the horns? Superb video. Useful to know that the wood had to be aged/dried for 3 years. I wondered about that after seeing Robert record the date on a new piece of wood. I also wondered what tools were used all those years ago when pull-gauges, metal rasps etc. weren't around. (I assume that's what the markings were for on the post.) Thanks for a very entertaining, informative and thought-provoking film . . . . AND not a trace of dreadful A.I. narration!!!! Hurrah!
10/10
Hi! May I ask what kind of wood did you use? Ty🙏
Welsh longbow. Not English.
Excellent. Imagine the maker of all the cutting tools back in the 1100's ??!
??? Why this title photo? Looks quite a bit like clickbaiting to me.
Wrong tree, they were using yew wood in their times. Now it is protected.
Awesome. Made it look so dang easy. Thanks for sharing
wtf does an ozzy know about longbows.Jesus your forefathers where still here then .
традиционный longbow – это оружие для сражения даже и с защищенным противником, а это – какая-то детская игрушка
Wow. Just amazing work. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Impressive craftsmanship.
What's the finished draw weight?
Straight off, that's not yew… That's what English longbow were made from. Its the two tone qualities of the heart an sap wood of yew that make the bow. So it's just a longbow.
My absolut respect for this skills 🙂
great video. What kind of wood did you use?
My eyes aren't what they used to be… is this an Oak/Alder composite?
True craftsman sadly something the world is loosing 🙁 great video
Absolutely spellbinding…needed to see that.
*Heads off to the garage to check what timber I have lol
Fletching lvl 25
Was that yew? It didn't look like it. English yew has a red colour that oxidises to purple.