Good Places To Get Bow Wood, Leather And Other Things Good For Bow Building

[Elktracker]

I had a Arborist over to take out a dangerous tree leaning toward my house, while he was here I asked him if he ever cut any Yew wood and he said Yes all the time. I asked him if there was any way he could let me know when he cuts it and ill come get it. He said from now on when they cut it next to roads and there is nice clean straight stuff he would get it for me. I just got a call from him saying he had a couple ten foot chunks 10" at the butt, a couple 8 or 9 footers and some smaller ones too as I told him I could use them for spliceing bows. I will be getting them in the next couple days and will post pictures but the main reason for this thread is to let people know calling your local Arborists or logging companys and telling them what you need the wood for and if there is any way they can let you know when they cut it and where it is if its good for the takeing. I dont know about other trees in various areas but Yew is just stacked and burned here.

Also I called all of the upholstrey buisnesses in my area and asked if they had any scrap leather they didnt need anymore and if they wanted me to get rid of it for them. I ended up with a couple old couches one guy said I could strip, I got lots of bran new scraps also in multiple different colors shapes and sizes. In the end I now have two big bags of leather and a good amount of Yew wood coming AND he said he will have more soon because they are getting ready to cut about a thousand acres and he said there is allot of Yew strung through out all of it

Local butcher is saving sinew and bull horns for me, what else could I use that he may throw out?

If you know of any other buisnesses like this that you have got supplys or other things for bow building for free or cheap please share them with us.

Josh

[toomanyknots]

Lucky. My butcher sucks. Got some today and there is more meat then sinew, maybe about 3" of sinew and it's the wrong part of the cow to get it from so it's really hard to get apart from the skin/meat, or whatever it is. I did happen to find a how to sort of, of how to remove backstrap. I'm thinking of emailing him the link (http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=155191)  If you happen to get a thousand acres of yew that would be incredible!  That is how you do it though man, plenty of everything to be had is what I believe. And if you got the land then there isn't much you need to buy, . But thats a whole different thing now.

[Elktracker]

Ya its not a thousand acres of just yew its mostly Fir and Hemlock but from what he said when he did the bid on it there was more Yew than Yewsual
As far as the butcher goes Im not sure what im gonna get but I hear he does a good job and he knows I want the long strips from the back strap. I figure I can do overlays with the horn?

[toomanyknots]

Hey hey, I remember reading that hemlock used to be used in place of yew for longbows, in all honesty. You could tell him to save a couple hemlock too just to try. Can't remember where I read that though, somewhere on the internet, but I remember running around trying to identify hemlock in parks and stuff after reading that. Although there is alot of stuff saying not to use it. 

[Elktracker]

Hey hey, I remember reading that hemlock used to be used in place of yew for longbows, in all honesty. You could tell him to save a couple hemlock too just to try. Can't remember where I read that though, somewhere on the internet...

I can get as much of that as I want but I never thought it was any good for bows? I might try a piece

[deerhunter97370]

I have a Myrtlewood shop in my town that sales all their wood  by the board foot. Elm, Ash, Mytle, Yew, Vine Maple. Most any NW woods I got a Yew stave 3"x2"x80" for $28.

[sadiejane]

local archery shop is also a taxidermy
get bags full of tanned deer and other pieces he cuts off when mounting.
mostly small, but good for trim bits on quivers n such

[HatchA]

$28 for a yew stave?  Do they have a website or even a phone number???  I'm sure if I asked nicely enough, they'd post some to Ireland...  hehehe


Great bit of luck on the Arborist news, man.  I rang my dad yesterday for something specific and in passing he happened to tell me that his neighbour was there and they were just about to get back to cutting and stacking some wood that the neighbour's son had cut down recently.  I asked what wood...  he said "ash"...  "and you never thought to tell me about it..."

Long story short - I've to take a trip up there to see if there's anything salvageable...

Some people just never think of others...   

[Elktracker]

Ya allot of wood goes to waste that otherwise could be made into great bows! He also told me about how much gets buried in slash piles to be burned and I was like just tell me where and ill go dig it out he laughed like I was kidding and said ill bring you some. I called two other local arborists yesterday and they to both said the we would keep me in mind. You just never know if they will come through, just have to wait and see

O I also used another hunting and fishing forum to get free large Goose wings for the feathers for fletching on my arrows. Allot of great feathers get thown away every year so if you have a way to contact local Goose hunters in mass let them know you want the feathers. Or just sit down at your local Goose check station on a sat afternoon and ask as they come in  

[JackCrafty]

My local deer processor lets me dig through his dumpster during hunting season.  Free hides, bones, skulls, and leg sinew.  Mule deer, whitetail, and wild hog.  No antler, though.  I think he sells those.

[HatchA]

My local deer processor lets me dig through his dumpster during hunting season.  Free hides, bones, skulls, and leg sinew.  Mule deer, whitetail, and wild hog.  No antler, though.  I think he sells those.

Even without the antlers, that's a really good haul!!  You get nothing for free in Ireland!!  I paid €25 for a cow hide (think it was Black Angus though so it was fairly BIG!!)  All animal's heads are taken away to be disposed of in a controlled manor - due to the BSE scare that hit here a few years ago.  Knee jerk reaction - "let's take no chances!!!!!"   

I can get deer hides from a friend of my dad but more often than not - when I receive them, they're fit for the fire as they've been sitting around sweating for too long.  I've told the guy to tell me when he's skinning the deer so I can pick them up as quickly as possible but he still just holds onto them until he sees my dad in the pub.  He culls for the council during the culling season too so I can get hides out of normal hunting season too, which will be good

[George Tsoukalas]

Way to go Elktracker. Sounds like you have the fixins for some good bows. Jawge