Splitting English Elm for Longbow Staves using Beech and Steel Wedges. Ancient English Bow Woods 

You have the kind of voice that would be good for narrating nature TV programs about wildlife.

I dont even wait till i have watched them to like them anymore Mick. Win or loose or draw, your vids are always a good watch.

Thanks again for another delightful video, Mick. I look forward to watching your progress. Have a wonderful weekend, sir!

You make brilliant films, thank you

Looks promising! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress in future videos. Don't skimp on the awkward moments we all can learn from!

You did an excellent job . Many questions , but no lame advice from this guy . Best wishes to you and yours and thanks for your video .

David Attenborough of bow making👌🏻

Good elms, Mick!!!

The quality of this video is superb

Good Job! Love you Mick!

You ways of break a wood for long bow is good, your bow is fantastic and you are a nice man... Good job!

Good Job Mick! ...man that elm is tough!!!

Hi Mick, when you cut a log, and leave it as a log, it's best to take the bark off to avoid pesky bugs injuring the outer layers, and to take either a chainsaw or if you are really careful to avoid kickback, a circular saw and cut the log lengthwise down to center. This controls splitting: The log can shrink without causing undue damage from random splitting. It's a good technique for woods like the elms which can really get badly wonky if they are split into staves and allowed to cure. Elms and some maples go haywire. Taking the log and cutting to the center on one side allows the stuff to dry (it takes a long time) without twisting and warping. Good luck and happy bow making.

Gerald of Wales, writing in 1188 about his journey through Wales, Described archers using Dwarf Elm trees for their bows.

Looked really tough, but it's nice even split!

Elm by far is the best bow wood I'd say. Good luck

Tried to split a 15 inch diameter texas elm once. Utterly impossible with the interlocking grain. Ended up cutting trunk lengthwise with a chain saw to make staves. Worked quite well, as I followed the grain.

Nice job splitting that log. I recently had a job where we took down a decent sized elm tree, and I managed to get a pretty nice, reasonably straight 7 foot trunk out of it( with a few knots). It’s so rare to find larger elm trees nowadays due to Dutch elm disease effecting them when they reach a certain height. I’m actually really excited to try and make a bow( or two) from it, but I’m also very nervous as it’s such a rare piece of wood, and I do not have much experience making bows. I think I shall wait a while until I’m confident enough. I actually have a slightly narrower section off the top which Ive started to make a walking stick from, as the heart wood is absolutely beautiful. God it’s tough to work on though :)

Greetings Mick, once again very enjoyable to watch and listen , along with how you tackle each and every task which might cause others attempting to make their own self bows give up, as am apprentice so long ago now, my very first Boss told me to watch and learn others ,then how to make a good pot of tea, it was easier to watch other Joiners & carpenters & craftsmen to learn how things are worked out and of course the tricks of the trade, than read a book lol well done your doing really good.

good job, I always split the wood right after I cut it. This will prevent checking and will dry faster. Also it is important to take the back off with a draw knife and scraper then too seal the back of the halve logs. Bugs like getting in the bark and messing up the sapwood area. Leave the bark on yew though

lovely stuf friend, keep up the good work :)

Could you make a video perhaps on making a English longbow out of a board cause I don't have logs available to me?

Nice effort, by the way. :D

A mighty warrior that Elm wood Grain is interlocked. I have made them here in the states and read the King of England values the Yes wood for bows so much he decried other bow woods must be used ,hence Elm was one. Good luck I'm going to attempt one again soon. As mine are smaller ( ha lesson learned ) and seasoned. Hopefully I find your finished Elm wood ELB.

By the way fella, you mention a twist in the ELM, you could make a nice 72" long Elm flat bow with a 4" length stiff handle and 2 risers from handle to limbs, flat bows are far more forgiving with a little bit of twist that a narrower longbow and you could try and replicate an ELM Holmegaard bow which is probably the most efficient bow design know to man. Just a thought if the twist is too severe for a longbow, I know its all about longbows for you seeing your videos. :)

Looks like you have your work cut out ,but i see a nice bow coming out of it from you ;) good luck as well ;)

All that hammering. Bet the neighbours love you! Lol

Great video Mick. How long did it take to split? You should make yourself some wooden gluts for splitting logs. Any tough wood should work. Dogwood was used alot in the old days but I've made some out of black locust that held up pretty well. keep up the good work. Quinton

Nice elm. Here in Croatia, most, (probably almost all) elm was devastated by some disease. I think it is Dutch elm disease. They have no bark and first couple of rings of sapwood immediately under the bark is spongy and weak. I think the bow could be made if I were to chase couple of rings, but seems too much of a work for an experiment that may fail and unnecessary lose my free time. Better to spend that time doing bows out of hazel. Even found some relatively straight ash today. Ash is another matter. First time today I found straight ones. Lots of problems with wood here but I manage somehow haha

I've been mesmerized by your videos the last two days! I am interested in trying my hand at making a bow. I am too impatient to wait a year to have one dry out and too cheap to buy one online lol. I noticed you said this elm was only cut 3 months ago. What is your method for determining the drying time for your staves?

I love your videos. I have just cut a 7ft long 4-inch diameter Yew stave. Would you recommend splitting it like this or cutting on the band saw? I am worried in might not split down the middle.

Hi Mick! Where are you buying buffalo horns for tips to bow?

That's a good looking elm stave! Are you planning on doing a build along with those staves? Do you guys have issues with the dutch elm disease over in the U.K.?

Great video! Btw, what do you think about making a flatbow? Thank you :)

Thank you for sharing Mick. I got 1 question is it OK to use chainsaw to split the wood or it has to be split like you did?

What did you put on the heads and why? Please answer me!!

Looking forward to seeing how your first try comes out.

Hi Mick! Your videos are so useful i learn from it so much and i did my bow from hazel, it got one perfect arm but in second is weak point and it destroys all power. Can i fix it? Or this bow is for trash? Please help!

Great video, nice to see how it's done! Also have you heard of a wood called spindle? Someone told me it was used for arrows

I have found that splitting is much easier if you start at the bottom end. If the wood has a check in the end that has already started it"s best to start there.

I was searching on ebay but i cant find quite similar to yours only 8 inches long was pretty horns like yours. Can you drop link? Thanks for all help

I split a 30 cm in dia thick oak log in the woods with a hatchet, got a few blisters but it went perfectly, I like your wedges, I only used some oak branches.

If you make a copy of "holmegårdsbuen" from Denmark, dating from 7000 bc, you won't need the core, or "hardwood", but you will need to make the bow wider than it is thick/deep. Longbows are traditionally almost as wide as they are thick, because of the wood used, but when using elm, you would most likely make the bow 3-5 times wider than thick, because of the fibrous nature of the wood... anyways that's how I was taught it when studying the holmegård bows

Elm…. Offle stringy and a B to split but man its Tuff as wang leather and makes a good strong bow that will last a lifetime and more if its took care of and sealed good.

Tool abuse!!! ;D Mick, please make yourself a wooden maul to hit the axe/wedges with, so you don't ruin the poll's on them.

Saw some large wooden wedges for future use out of the offcuts? ;-)

you should try to make a traditional mongolian horse bow, from either a part of that elm or some other wood of your choice

Really should be using a froe and a cleaving brake to do this

Personally with Elm I cut the tree in the same day when its green and then work it down with axe to just near bow dimensions for tiller tree. Easy to work when it is green, also if you cut the tree and invest the time on the same day to work it to bow dimensions on the day you cut it the wood will dry out much quicker. Keep all dimensions uniform for uniform drying as the stave sheds moisture. You will have a working stave ready for tiller in 30 days. IF you want to do what the native american did, complete the process I just explained and then cover the entire bow stave in lard with no bark on the back, it will slow moisture escaping from your bow stave and reduce the possibility of twist and warp as it dries. I know that works as I have used that method for the past 10 years, it is what the Irish did to dry black thorn clubs when making Shillelagh fighting clubs. The Irish would cut the blackthorn when green, cover it in lard with the bark off and then stick it up the cottage chimney to dry. IT works, no need to wait 6 months for the stave to dry, cut it green, work it down to just outside tiller dimensions and take bark off and cover the entire thing with lard, its messy when you need to remove the lard when you start tiller but its 100 percent fool proof! Good luck By the way Mick having worked Elm exclusively for nearly 20 years making most bows known to man I tell you honestly that splitting ELM is the worst thing you can do, interlocking grain unique to Elm will bugger up perfectly good staves, split Ash by all means as it is perfect for longitudinal splitting but with ELM learn from our ancestors, carve the bow do not split ELM ever!

This is the first time I seen someone try to split a log this way. It's so awkward. I want to yell out stop stop your doing it wong.

Why not a froe?

You haven't the proper tools, wedges etc for splitting. Beating on axe heads certainly is a stretch. Bless your efforts. Have fun.

First mistake hitting the axe with hammer

G6u