A lot of reenactment level work is about learning appropriate historical crafts and skills. This board is for all general skills that don't have their own forum.
Found this video on my recent adventures in the vastness of YouTube. It seems like it would work fairly well. pretty cool video too, although it seems like it was filmed secretely IF anyone ever plans on making their own recurve this will help.
I think all they did was make it like a flatbow, tillered and all, then just applied the recurve to it, double check straighness and tiller, finish and done, A solid one piece recurve bow.
An archer practices until he gets it right. A ranger practices until he never gets it wrong
~Halt, Ranger's Apprentice
There was an interesting video I saw a while back about longbows in the Middle Ages that suggested the English actually did have the knowledge and material technology to produce recurve bows at the time. As I recall, they cited several different period illustrations including (I think) the Bayeux Tapestry, in which longbows were depicted as having some slight recurve at the tips. So during the show, the host had a special English yew longbow made for him, and the bowyer put it in a steam box, and gently recurved the tips over a wooden frame. The result was a classic English longbow, but with the profile of a very simple recurve. Overall, I thought it was beautiful.
Unfortunately, I can't now remember where I saw it, what the program was, etc. Maybe someone around here has seen it and knows where to find it?
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
IF anyone ever plans on making their own recurve this will help.
