The workshop
A small bench with one obsession: tackle that is set up to shoot, not just to sell.
We started where most archers do — frustrated. A bow that arrived untuned, arrows that fishtailed because nobody had matched the spine, a string that buzzed. We built Cordavel to send tackle that is ready for the line the day it lands.
How it started
Cordavel grew out of a club shed and a shared annoyance. Between us we had shot recurve on the target line and longbow in the field for years, and we kept watching newcomers buy a bow online, struggle to string it safely, and give up before they ever felt a clean loose. The kit was fine; the set-up was missing.
So we built the service around the set-up. Every bow that leaves us is strung, braced to a known height and shot in. Every arrow is cut to the customer's draw length and spined to their poundage. The bow and the arrow arrive as a matched pair, because a bow without matched arrows is only half an instrument.
We work with a small circle of bowyers, fletchers and leatherworkers who share that standard. Each bow carries the grain of a real stave; each Flemish string is laid up by hand; each quiver is cut from full-grain leather that will outlast its owner. We taste-test nothing, but we shoot everything before we list it.
The workshop today
Today the bench runs a tuning station, a fletching jig and a spine tester, and we keep the range deliberately tight: a handful of recurves and longbows, matched arrows in carbon, wood, alloy and bamboo, hand-laid strings, leather goods and the targets to shoot into. We would rather carry thirty things we shoot ourselves than three hundred we don't.
Orders are built and tuned to order, which is why we quote 72 hours rather than same-day dispatch. That window is where the value is — it is the difference between a parcel and a bow you can shoot the moment you open it.
Values
01
Tuned, never guessed
Draw weight, brace height and arrow spine are measured and set before anything ships. If we can't tune it to a standard, we won't sell it.
02
Materials with a name
Osage, yew, walnut, bamboo and full-grain leather, from small makers who put their name to the grain. No anonymous mass production.
03
Honest about the numbers
Published specs are real. Draw weights are tested, lengths are measured, and the spine you order is the spine you get. No surprises on the line.
From stave to shooting line
Selection
We choose bows, shafts and leather from makers we shoot with. Each item is inspected for grain, straightness and finish before it earns a place on the rack.
Spine & cut
Arrows are spine-tested and cut to your draw length on the bench, then fletched and pointed to match how and what you shoot.
Tune
Bows are strung, braced to a known height and bare-shaft checked. We set the nocking point and confirm clean flight before the bow is boxed.
Pack & ship
Limbs are socked, strings are protected and everything is padded for transit. Orders ship within 72 hours, ready to shoot on arrival.
The bench
Master bowyer & tuning
[Team member — pending]
Responsible for bow selection, tuning and the bare-shaft checks every bow passes before it ships. Shoots barebow recurve and a 50 lb longbow.
Fletching & leather
[Team member — pending]
Cuts and spines arrows, lays up Flemish strings and works the leather goods. A field archer who would rather walk a 3D course than shoot a flat range.