what wood to use

[fishfinder401]

i wanted to try making a elb style warbow of 120-140lbs and wanted to know what is the most inexpensive wood to use that would work welll, as yew is way above my price range and i'm not familiar with this style
thanks
noel

[Del the cat]

Assuming you are in the US, I'd try Hickory. I've seen a 60 pound Hickory ELB which was fine.
I'd start off nearer 90-100 as that should be relatively easy, then try going higher.
Del

[fishfinder401]

Assuming you are in the US, I'd try Hickory. I've seen a 60 pound Hickory ELB which was fine.
I'd start off nearer 90-100 as that should be relatively easy, then try going higher.
Del

where can you get hickory staves, i dont think i have any in new england, i may be wrong though

[Del the cat]

Assuming you are in the US, I'd try Hickory. I've seen a 60 pound Hickory ELB which was fine.
I'd start off nearer 90-100 as that should be relatively easy, then try going higher.
Del

where can you get hickory staves, i dont think i have any in new england, i may be wrong though

I dunno, I'm in UK, so no Hickory here .
The 60lb Hickory ELB I saw at our club was bought by one of the club members from the USA, even with shipping it was ok (he bought some other stuff too) dunno how he found the supplier, but I think it was a private individual not a company. I'd guess one of the guys here should be able to help you out.
Del

[JackCrafty]

If you live in New England, there is plenty of hickory around.  I grew up in NH and there are public trails you can walk, cut a good sapling, and come home with a hickory, dogwood, or maple stave in less than an hour.

[fishfinder401]

If you live in New England, there is plenty of hickory around.  I grew up in NH and there are public trails you can walk, cut a good sapling, and come home with a hickory, dogwood, or maple stave in less than an hour.

what do they look like? also, what about ash, we have a property in the berkshire mountains with some good ash

[JackCrafty]

Ash will work fine but it's not as strong as hickory, so you will need to cut a larger diameter tree.  The back can't be too rounded with ash.

The Birkshires?  You really need to go to the property and take pictures!  There are probably lots of wood you can use for both arrows and bows.  Post the pictures and we will do our best to tell you what you have.

As for what the trees look like, just do a google search for images of hickory trees and such.   

[fishfinder401]

Ash will work fine but it's not as strong as hickory, so you will need to cut a larger diameter tree.  The back can't be too rounded with ash.

The Birkshires?  You really need to go to the property and take pictures!  There are probably lots of wood you can use for both arrows and bows.  Post the pictures and we will do our best to tell you what you have.

As for what the trees look like, just do a google search for images of hickory trees and such.   

ya the town is actually called ashfield, the ones i know of there are rock maple, ash, and black cherry, but now that you mention it there may be hickory, im going to goup at some point, do some trout fishing and get some trees, we have 86 ares so i have a large area to look   do you know what other types would be in the area, our property encompasses a swamp and mountain top if that helps

[JackCrafty]

Hmmm...not sure what you might have.  If it has been logged before, you probably have some oak.  But there are a lot of possibilities.  You may have mostly white pine and hemlock.  Even so, 86 acres is a very good size property.  I would be very exited if I were you!

[fishfinder401]

i just remembered, we have an abundance of birch of lots of different types

[JackCrafty]

White Birch is VERY good for arrows.  Actually, any birch is good for arrows.  If you have yellow birch, I would try some of it for a bow, but I don't think it would be good for a 100lb longbow.

[Pat B]

You probably have red osier dogwood for arrows and maybe one or two of the viburnums for arrows. Maybe even hazelnut.

[fishfinder401]

You probably have red osier dogwood for arrows and maybe one or two of the viburnums for arrows. Maybe even hazelnut.

whats red osier? and what does dogwood look like, we have allot of small smooth bark plants that i have used before that grow in abundance here

[Marc St Louis]

You would be better to look for some Elm as it will make a better warbow than Hickory

[fishfinder401]

You would be better to look for some Elm as it will make a better warbow than Hickory

does it grow in RI or Mass