hackberry

[luke the drifter]

will hackberry make a good warbow?  any advice on working with hackberry would be helpful.  what exactgly makes it a good(?)  bow wood?

[tombo]

I have the South Texas variety, Sugarberry or Texas Hackberry "Celtis laevigata ". It has smooth leaf margins, not serrated. It is a great wood to work with and makes excellent bows when you get a clean stave without a lot of big knots. It makes a light bow and gets hard when well seasoned or heated. It's real hard to break so I'd use whatever Hackberry you have and see what happens.
Tom

[luke the drifter]

I thank you, Tombo.  i am going to cut the tree down. it is not a very big tree, about three to four inches in diamater.  should i let it season real good or is it advisable to split it now and then let it season perhaps quicker(?).

[Justin Snyder]

Several guys have made good bows from hackberry, including myself.  I would recommend splitting and debarking it. Justin

[tombo]

Drifter,  I live near the Texas coast, so it's usually pretty humid. I never have splitting problems with Hackberry. It's pretty soft when green but hardens with age or heating and is nice and soft to plane or carve. The bark peels pretty easy too. I wouldn't worry too much about how to handle splitting, debarking and things from my experience. Hackberry is under rated.
Tom

[adb]

will hackberry make a good warbow?  any advice on working with hackberry would be helpful.  what exactgly makes it a good(?)  bow wood?

Hackberry makes a super bow, but more of a flatbow design. I've never heard or seen it used to make a warbow. When you say "warbow", I think about long, stacked profile, heavy weight (>80#), and long draw  bows.

[nickf]

I guess it'll do if you keep the belly flat. I've even made a 95#@32" from hazel, wich was only 72" long... and hazel much lighter than hackberry

[sulphur]

i Love some hackberry!!  Adb is right though.  better suited for a flatbow design if you want a good draw weight out of it.  I made a few short narrow pony bows with it and it takes lots of set if too narrow or belly is too rounded.  Makes a great recurve flat bow for sure!!  I have one stave left.  waiting for fall to cut some hack and osage.

[GregB]

I've only made one hackberry bow, but it turned out to be a really good shooter. When you first lay the bow out, I'd advise starting with the limb thickness heavier then you would for say osage or hhb. I found it took more wood due to I guess less density then some other woods to make draw weight. I guess that also is why the physical weight of the bow is so lite in the hand.

[Justin Snyder]

I guess we better define warbow. If you are talking about an ELB, probably not. If you are after a heavy weight warbow in a ALB design, yes.

[JW_Halverson]

I've finished a few hackberry flatbows in the last year and I agree they seem to better suited to the flatbow design.  I find the wood very pleasing to pull a spokeshave through...feels a bit rubbery, but the wood has a very consistent grain and I can take really big bites with the spokeshave even when the wood is really well cured.  The wood comes out with a pale buttery yellow color, looks great with s simple oil finish, but you can also get it to take stain really well.  I have put some nice recurves to the tips of two of the bows, it takes dry heat well, steam works pretty well, too. 

One nice side benefit is that the wood smells like hot buttered popcorn when worked. 

As far as making a warbow...go for it.  Give it a try, start a bit wider than you think you might need just to be on the safe side.