Númenórean steel bows

[Terisonen]

In a rod of steel, only exterior layer is mechanically sollicited. That's why hollow tube are no less weak than plain one.

[Glorelendil]

In a rod of steel, only exterior layer is mechanically sollicited. That's why hollow tube are no less weak than plain one.

That's why a hollow bow is just as rigid as a solid one. A tubular bow would be unable to bend. So why make it hollow?

Honestly (and perhaps heretically) I suspect that Tolkien made that bit up without understanding the engineering implications. But now it's up to us to rationalize it!

[Finrod Felagund]

In a rod of steel, only exterior layer is mechanically sollicited. That's why hollow tube are no less weak than plain one.

Honestly (and perhaps heretically) I suspect that Tolkien made that bit up without understanding the engineering implications. But now it's up to us to rationalize it!

Professor Tolkien is always correct!

More sensibly - maybe hollow bows are lighter and easier for the troops?

[Otaku-sempai]

More sensibly - maybe hollow bows are lighter and easier for the troops?

That is a distinct possibility, although they were supposed to have a high draw-strength. If they could be lighter at the same time then that would be all to the good. There might also be an alchemical component to the crafting of the Númenórean's hollow steel bows that does not translate to the modern world.

[Feanor]

Tolkien was a language professor, not an arms expert....

However, in smithing if remember correctly, the steel can be made stiffer or softer, so with a metallurgic mix of layers of metal with different "softness" in it, i guess it is possible to explain it like that, and remember, if they are magical items, its MAGIC. It isnt always logical in fantasy roleplaying.

If a weapon has the weight of it in the correct areas, it can FEEL light, or indeed hollow, while handling it.

[Glorelendil]

I think my favorite interpretation is that "hollow steel" is a kind of steel, not a type of construction.

[Tantavalist]

After reading this thread I did some googling on the subject of steel bows to see if there was any real world versions of this which might shed some light on the issue. I found several references to historical steel bows being found- several in India and one found in the USA in the 1800s that nobody can work out the origin of being the top results. It seems that all over the world, someone would occasionally think that a steel bow would be better than a wooden one, try making such a bow, then apparently give up as it turned out that they weren't. However...

One such surge of steel bow-making seems to have been amongst archery hobbyists in the 1950s. I find a few results point to forum discussions on the topic or scans or old adverts. The British-made Apollo Merlin 55" Steel Recurve appears as the most commonly cited example. There's a frustrating lack of discussion on that bow or the existence of any others in that period, but it seems that bows made of hollow steel were an actual thing in archery during the 1950s. So, my take on why the Numenoreans used Hollow Steel Bows is that Tolkein is giving these bows to his fictional Numenoreans through the excuse that their smithing was good enough to replicate the feats of mid-20th Century metallurgy.

This still doesn't explain why these bows are supposed to be better than wood, but the real world answer- based on the fact that competition archers aren't using them today- is probably that they aren't.

[aramis]

Perhaps the hollow isn't a hollow as in tube, but as in multiple springs.

Envisage, if you will, an unstrung bowstave of steel, say, 120cm. now, at the grip, and only at the grip, join a second, slightly shorter (100cm) , bowstave of steel, on what will be the inside of the curve, with a slight roundover on the ends. now, string it. As you curve the outer stave, the inner moves along it, but creating a slight hollow above and below the grip.

For those familiar with old school automotive leaf springs, it's a leaf spring with two layers.

The draw would be insanely heavy.

Note that steel bows were used on crossbows from at least as early as the 15th C, so undoubtedly, someone made steel bows as an experiment earlier. You can make a 150# or 200# draw steel bow with a grinder and an old leaf spring... now, think of two lames at 150#.... a 300# shortbow...

Some references
http://web.mit.edu/21h.416/www/military ... ssbow.html
http://crossbow.wikia.com/wiki/Steel_as_bow_material

[MattG]

Yes, it isn't easy to come up with balanced Steel bow. I like the idea of making enemy weary on protection test and another of deducting a protection roll success die. Those sound like good compromises.
As a side note, maybe a Cultural Undertaking could be also interesting. Since the secret of making Steel bows was lost after the Great Plague, it could be adopted in the game as new, difficult prolonged undertaking lasting many, many years, to craft such bow/search for the lost lore; a background private adventure plot for a PC, intertwining with the whole campaign of the Fellowship. Fast-forward to the IVth Age and PC’s name could be written in the lore of Reunited Kingdom, if technology was to be adopted by the troops once again.

[Yepesnopes]

Elf, I like your idea of the opponent counting as weary when hit by a piercing blow. I may use it!
Thanks!