A new contender for king of bow wood

[Jim Davis]

I agree with sentiment Jim, but I wouldn't go so far as to say  "the kind of wood has no bearing on the performance of the bow."  Look at some of Bakers best performing bows (Pecan, Maple, Oak) while these are white woods and have different design requirements than say yew or osage, they all have mechanical properties that make them good bow woods. 

You don't see great self bows made of alder, balsa, hemlock, pine, or lots of tropical hardwoods for a reason: their mechanical properties don't make them suited to the stress of being bent.

Gabe

Gabe, as usual, I wasn't clear enough and didn't limit the scope of my comment. Certainly true that many woods cannot make useful bows. What I meant was that among woods that will make a useful bow, matching the design to the wood is more important than the kind of wood.

Jim

[vinemaplebows]

Keith,

                   It is everywhere, BUT finding a reasonable size piece, and getting it dry is another story!

[Elktracker]

I really like Vine Maple because its easy to locate dry and work and makes a great bow! But since I started working Ocean Spray I agree I really think it is becoming my favorite as well! It takes to heat very well! and is easy to make a bow out of a small diameter stave in a matter of a few hrs once dry. But drying is the tricky part! I have had ok luck with sealing the entire stave and drying very slow in a basement. One thing I have also noticed that makes it favorible to me is it takes little to no set through the entire tillering process, it is also very strong in Tension and compression. I like just about any wood that makes a bow but I will say oceans spray is probably my favorite with VM barely behind that.

Josh

[sound maker]

Can someone post a pic of vine maple please. I'm not sure what it looks like around here since the only ones I see online are the groomed or giant ones. And randman your forgetting scotishbroom, the ones I have now are dry through and seem fun so far. Plus the ones I put shellac on got checking on them but I'm still going to try to make a bow out of them since its not breaking and it keeps spring back at me (still a pain to work on since all I got that is sharp enough is a small knife) but I got a decent one about 1" or so thick and its not really bending. forgot to say that  I didn't really find any with nothing coming off them so I got the stems and stuff on them but so far they're not hurting it and one of them looks nice with them.
(the weed for the win)

[Bryce]

Can someone post a pic of vine maple please.

Vine Maple

 




Ocean spray leaf

[RobWiden]

    I'm in Vancouver BC right now, 800 miles from home. I have the opportunity to get some ocean spray while I'm here. Could someone tell me how to dry it? One or two poeple on this thread have mentioned that it's hard, but not how to go about it.
    I'm also going to get some vine maple. Is there any special precautions to take?
    Sorry if I'm highjacking this thread, I'm new on the computer and not sure about proper manners.

[Elktracker]

I have found sealing the whole stave with shellac, even two coats and then drying it very slowly works 50 percent of the time if it checks you just have to hope it checks in a spot you can still get a bow out of it! Vine maple I havent had any problems with, peel the bark as soon as you get it cut and let it dry in a cool place for a week or two then reduce it down and let it dry some more. It doesnt take long to dry and make a bow from Vine Maple I have gone from green vine maple just cut to bow in just over a month with good results if you keep reducing it down as it dries.

Josh

[randman]

Yeah what Elktracker said. You can peel vine maple right away and let it dry in the round. I usually gather it while I'm camping so I peel it and rough it to shape while I'm sittin around the campfire and take it home roughed out. Just be aware that it will dry with massive reflex sometimes (make sure you use the tension - usually the upside of the branch) when you rough it out wet so you might think about strapping it to something to keep it straighter if you don't want to deal with a lot of reflex. Ocean Spray is real tough to season in the round so like Elk tracker said you can seal it or wrap it with plastic (perforated with pin holes) to slow it down and it's still 50% chance it'll check. I have had good luck band sawing it in half down to the pith and then it wont split on you but you won't have a deep handle unless it's a thick stave. Better for a bendy handle or something. If you saw it down don't leave a round handle or that's where it'll check split on you. I do have a 1 3/4" round stave that I haven't done anything to and it has been seasoning for a year so far with no splits but I keep watchin it expecting it to check but so far...good luck. When you are gathering it you can see the dead ones in the shrub (if it's a big one) and you can see how split up they get while drying. Some of them make good bows too if you can get one with a split on one side only and they are ready to work, no seasoning involved.

[RobWiden]

    Thank you, guys. I'd hate to ruin some good bow wood over a little bit of ignorance.

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

im sorry, but all my readings have lead me to believe that lemonwood is the best bow wood, yet i have never used it, and have heard that it is not easy to come by...

[woodsrunner]

All I can speak towards is osage, hickory, hackberry and elm. I've worked one piece of Yew. Never even seen an Ocean Spray tree ( I thought it came in a bottle) Kansas does not lean towards alot of trees and what trees there are come in yellow. I like Osage.

[Knocker]

Hi Randman,

Where you originally from on the East Side?  I love some of the Okanogan - especially around the Republic area.  The Tamarac is gorgeous in the fall with a bit of snow on the ground.  Any good bow wood on the East Side?

Hey Brian,

I went backpacking on the Olympic Penninsula a couple of weeks ago and I saw Ocean Spray EVERYWHERE.  But you are right, most of it looked pretty small.  I got some great photos of a pair of Peregrine Falcons feeding a young fledgling up at Point of the Arches if you are interested in seeing them.

http://www.keithandersonphotography.com/f201392164

Keith

[Carson (CMB)]

Bryce: "Has anyone seen that awesome Strunk ocean spray bow?"

Bryce, I am sure Strunk has made more than one ocean spray bow, so not sure if you are referring to this one I posted a while back, but here is

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,30660.0.html

Revisiting that thread reminded me I need to post a full draw pic!  Soon.

I have only played around with ocean spray, but I have harvested quite a bit, and have one very promising piece coming up in the batting order. I can say that seasoning without checking is difficult.  I found that roughing out the stave is best. I cut my limbs in using a drawknife to get to the pith (1 1/4" stave). I left the handle area intact. bark left on back. Sealed belly with elmer's glue.  Round staves with ends sealed check check badly, though most can still make bows.

[Marc St Louis]

If Witherod did not always grow in a spiral and also grew to a bigger diameter it would easily rival Yew or Osage as a bow wood

[vinemaplebows]

Damn Keith thats how ya get away with it.....call them models....I like it!