Flatbow

A flatbow is a bow with non-recurved, flat, relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section. Because the limbs are relatively wide, flatbows will usually narrow and become deeper at the handle, with a rounded, non-bending, handle for easier grip. This design differs from that of a longbow, which has rounded limbs that are circular or D shaped in cross-section, and is usually widest at the handle. Traditional flatbows are usually wooden selfbows (bows made of one solid piece of wood), though laminated and composite flatbows have been made in ancient and modern times.

Historic flatbow use

Flatbows were used by Native American tribes such as the Hupa, Karok, and Wampanoag, prehistoric ancient Europeans, some Inuit tribes, Finno-Ugric nations and a number of other pre-gunpowder societies for hunting and warfare because, unlike longbows, excellent flatbows can be made from a wide variety of timbers. However, they fell out of favour in Europe, because yew longbows are easier to construct by the hundreds and do not require wide staves. The trade of yew wood for English longbows was such that it depleted the stocks of yew over a huge area. [ Yew: A History. Hageneder F. Sutton Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0750945974] Good quality yew wood is still much more expensive and difficult to find than woods suitable for flatbows, and beginning bowyers are strongly recommended to start with a flatbow made from easily-available wood.

American flatbow

The American Flatbow (AFB), also known as the American longbow, was developed in the 1930s. It resulted from scientific investigation into the best cross-sectional shape for a bow limb. This research was expected to explain why the English longbow's D-section was superior to all other extant designs. Instead, it showed that the best cross-section was a simple rectangle. The AFB was developed by applying these research findings to the English longbow. The result was a more efficient and stable bow. Because of its coincidental resemblance to some native North American bows, the AFB is also known as the "semi-Indian" bow.

The AFB was popularised by Howard Hill and quickly displaced the English longbow as the preferred bow for target shooting. The modern Olympic-style recurve bow is a development of the AFB, usually made mainly of fiberglass rather than wood, with a built-up handle section and recurved limbs.

Wooden flatbows

Though many people think solely of longbows when wooden bows are mentioned, the flatbow is actually a superior bow design for most types of wood because the stress is more evenly spread out than in a longbow. A bow limb is essentially a flexed beam undergoing bending, and in any flexed beam the farther from the neutral axis (line in the middle of the flexing beam which is not under tension or compression: see diagram in Bending article) the more stress there is within the material. When a limb is rounded, as in a longbow, some wood “sticks out” farther from the neutral axis, and thus is put under greater stress. In a flatbow, the flat belly and back ensures that all of the most highly strained wood is a uniform distance from the neutral axis, spreading the load over a wider limb, minimizing stress and making weaker woods far less likely to fail (break or become permanently bent and lose the springiness needed in a bow).

Because yew, the wood of choice for English longbows, is light, resilient, and has exceptional compressive strength, the rounded design can be used to produce a smooth shooting, efficient, powerful bow. This is economical of wood and of the bowyer's time. For more common, lower strength, hardwoods such as elm (a bow wood used in ancient Europe, as evidenced by bows pulled from European bogs), maple, and ash, the flatbow design must be employed to create a bow of equal power and efficiency. The flatbow design also lends itself to very dense, high strength woods such as hickory and especially osage orange (a wood favored by many Native American tribes for bow making).

External links

* [http://www.sptradarch.org/SPTA%20primpage.html A picture of the Meare Heath bow, a Neolithic European flat bow made of yew heartwood]

ee also

*Bow
*Crossbow
*English longbow
*Longbow
*Archery
*Horse archer

Bow construction techniques

*Self bow
*Cable-backed bow
*Compound bow
*Laminated bow
*Composite bow

Bow forms

*Recurve bow
*Decurve bow
*Deflex bow
*Reflex bow

References

* (1992) "The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 1". The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-085-3
* (1992) "The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 2". The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-086-1
* (1994) "The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 3". The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-087-X
* Gray, David (2002) "Bows of the World". The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-478-6