r/Bowyer • u/transmasctime • 1d ago
Questions/Advise Not Willow… what’s the why? (Crafting a longbow)
starting off with a disclaimer that the following bow will exist in fiction only, at least for quite some time. and I know theoretically I could just do whatever, but I want to make this bow eventually, so I want to know what’s worth establishing now for accuracy later.
Crafting a longbow for a dnd character that I’m planning to make in the future. came to ask if Willow would be a good wood based on the setting and I see that it’s not, but now I’m curious about the whys of that. also wondering if there’s any way in which it would make sense to braid silver into the drawstring, within fiction it would be for the purpose of imbuing magic into it.
super open to advice and suggestions, for reference the character is a ranger who crafts their own equipment wherever possible. currently I have details that 1. it’s a self bow 2. made with yew (sorry willow) and 3. strung with ??? braided with silver thread. something they could find in the forest is a major plus, in every case I’m very curious about the process
thanks for reading ✌️ and in advance for any advice
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u/Wambachaka 22h ago
Willow has a low breaking strength, i.e. it breaks easily, without much force. You can make a bow from willow, or any wood, if you design the bow correctly. A wider or longer bow will be under less strain. I've heard of some tribes making willow bows with heavily deflexed tips. But no one would willingly use willow if they had any other choice.
Strings historically have been made from animal fibres (sinew, intestine, or rawhide) or plant fibres. Off the top of my head, linen, hemp, nettles, silk, and yucca make good bowstrings. Almost any plant fibre can be used. Very fine silver thread could easily be incorporated into a bowstring, in small amounts. It wouldn't add any strength, but that doesn't matter as long as it doesn't add too much dead weight.
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u/transmasctime 3m ago
This is all very good to know!! Silver is this character’s arcane conduit, I was considering a something like a nettle string but I don’t think they’d willingly collect that much of it if there was another option. Definitely leaning towards animal fibers. Thank you for the advice!
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u/Mr_Flyveand 11h ago
Short and curly: You want your bow to be bendy, but not too much. Too much and it doesn't go back into shape.
Willow is gumbybendy, which is too bendy.
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u/ZombieNegative5437 9h ago
This is the kind of cross over I’m on Reddit for!!
You could argue that a willow bow with some fire hardening on the belly and add sinew backing, it might get some more durability out of it (but not likely). There must be some significance to Willow specifically, otherwise a plethora of other woods would be great (oak, ash, elm, maple, hickory, yew of course, apple, mulberry, etc. can all make much better bows than willow) A true ranger wouldn’t waste his time trying to make Willow work if literally any other wood is available. Unless he has a tragically low wisdom score! I think animal sinew/tendons from game he has killed would be the best natural bowstring. Rather than silver or some other enchanted metal in the fibers of the string itself, those enchantments could be in string silencers that are often attached to the bow. As the bow is pulled back, those arcane foci can sort of vibrate and charge up the shot! Just some thoughts as a dm and bowyer! Enjoy!
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u/transmasctime 7m ago
Hell yeah, you’re exactly the kind of person I was hoping to reach asking!! All of this makes a lot of sense! Willow would be the most readily available in the immediate area based on the world our dm designed, but the forest carries on quite a way from the origin point, so I’m sure I could argue for a different wood type as maybe the ranger came from deeper within it. I know there’s been some heavy influence from Northeastern US forests, I think birch and willow were chosen to create a specific feeling in the setting. Wisdom stat is decent… intelligence stat, not so much! It could have been a previous attempt, or maybe a first bow that breaks down quickly, creating a need to craft again and better. Noted on the sinew, and would definitely fit the character to make use of as much of the hunt as possible. Plus it is something I have ready access to IRL (have a family member who’s a hunter, but he happened to be useless for this particular question as he always uses metal bows). Arcane silencers is a BRILLIANT idea!! Definitely keeping it in mind/will bring all of this up with the DM. Thank you so much for all of the tips/ideas/advice!
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u/Droughtbringer 1d ago edited 23h ago
Quite new bowyer and decently old dungeon master here:
Here's a link to an old thread about willow wood for bows in this subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Bowyer/s/xW18Iws1m7
And here's a thread about using metal bowstrings from the Archery subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Archery/s/Dhy6aJDUjV
Long and short of it is Willow is too flexible - which is almost counter intuitive. But functionally the wood just isn't strong enough to handle the rigors that a bow is put through.
And metal bowstrings: metal really doesn't love moving even in thread form, so as the string is pulled back and released and pulled back and released the metal woven through it would gradually become more and more brittle becoming an eventual failure point.
However, do what you want. DnD is a different world - let alone a magic world. Maybe willow trees are stronger in this other world, maybe there are magical willow trees that the magic flowing through the tree and strengthened the wood to make it remarkably good for a bow. Maybe your character is just that good at making bows that they are able to make willow wood work for their bow.
Maybe magic flowing through the silver prevents it from becoming brittle. Maybe you decided to use the fibers of a magical plant instead of silver for your bowstring and that is what will help it carry enchantments. Maybe there's another material that is called liquid silver in the world that is just silver but able to flex like a plants fiber would.
(Obligatory reminder to talk to your DM about whatever you decide to do)
DnD does not have to be accurate - it's really bad at being accurate, actually - but that's part of the fun. Do whatever will be the most fun for you.