Help! Juniper...suggestions needed.

[campx]

So, I harvested this little chunk of juniper last week.  Its 76 inches long, just under 2 inches in diameter at the narrowest end and stays at 2 inches for most of the length.  7 inches of 'bow' to it.  I just de-barked it, and it is surprisingly knot-free except for a big one on the fat end.   Questions.....do I try and split it into 2 halves with wedges, or should I bandsaw it in half?  Do I chase a ring, or just cut it square and back it with some hardwood?


juniper 001 by CampX, on Flickr


juniper 006 by CampX, on Flickr

[Guessed]

Hehe, cool. Your stick reminds me of the stick my dad gave me only mine was perfectly straight and had tons of branches poking out of it. The lengths and widths are basically the same.

I wouldn't worry about the knot at the end as 76 inches is way too long, you'll probably end up cutting it off anyway.

For me I just debarked mine, it came off in strips. I didn't even bother chasing a ring at all. After that I put the roundest part of the rings in front and started hacking away at the back, or what will become the belly.

Interesting though, I've been out looking for "sticks" that are bent like yours. I've been thinking it could save some time bending it backward in the handle. After that you'd only need to bend the limbs the opposite way and you'd have what I call a "B" bow.

Or, you could make it a "D" bow and bend the tips the opposite way a little. Sorry for being no help but I'm interested to see what the others will say.

[chamookman]

I would bandsaw it in half. That's what I would do on Osage limb Bows in the past. Good luck - nice stave.

[mikekeswick]

Sinew is called for here! Juniper/sinew is one of the finest combos going.
Bandsaw it in half.

[Del the cat]

Heck, just tie on a string and call it done
Yeah too skinny to risk trying to split it, you'd possibly end up with nothing useable.
Del

[blackhawk]

Since its 76" long,and you ARE going to sinew it,you'll end up chopping off some of that length,which you'll lose some of that perfect monster reflex. How much you lose depends upon what your intended draw lenght/weight is. So what is it?

You could leave it long like 72" and rawhide back it,but that wood be wasting that perfect stave imo,and not using it to its true potential.

How many bows have you made? If none or only a few id set this one aside till it seasons untill you've made a few and have a better understanding of how to tiller. Cus that much work/and reflex will be really tough to deal with for a first timer.

[BowEd]

Here......here I'm on the sinew band wagon for that stave too.
I managed to get a  very clean ERC stave carved out of a log here too the other day.All sapwood removed and straight as a gun barrel.2and1/4" wide 1and1/2" thick 74" long.It's got one little wiggle up and down towards one end.Sinew is in order for that one too.Feels like a fly swatter compared to my hedge staves.No pictures of course I'm a primitive guy don't ya know..........LOL.
Just got in from the stand.Just counted deer this morning none within range.

[campx]

Thanks for the responses!
As I am a complete noob at this bow-making game, having made only one thus far, I think I'll do the prudent thing and let this piece dry out for a time, while I get some skill up.  Should I bandsaw it in half first before drying it out, to keep it from checking?
Just helped my granddad cut some standing dead acacia that must be over 100 years old, gonna get it planked on a big portable bandsaw.  And while poking around down there, we found 2 monster junipers that got blown down in a windstorm tis summer......gonna do some logging for them later, before someone else finds them.....

[boughnut]

I am not much help probably as I have never worked juniper but from what I have seen on here and red in books I would say make it pretty short decrown the back and sinew.  with all that natural reflex and maybe flip the tips a bit and you could get a heck of a nice 5 curve or horse style bow out of it.  I have red that juniper is great in compresion so with sinew on the back you can get alot of bend out of it.  Anyone please correct me if I am wrong about this I have no personal experience with the wood yet but I will soon as I have many staves curing now.

[Keenan]

I do allot of juniper bows and agree with using a bandsaw. I will not split straight and would certainly blow any chance for a bow if split with wedges. Is it green? What side is the top of the branch? You will be able to tell because the center of the heart will be closest to the sapwood. Rings will be tighter there and hat is your best wood.
 Shorter and sinew will give the best results.  Be carefull not to dry to fast or it will check.

[Bryce]

I cast my vote with using sinew as well. That should be a screamer!

[Blacktail]

i don't think you really want that stick..SO,i will take with open arms..LOL..i stick with what Keenan and pinecone said...it will be a beautiful bow with the tight rings...john

[campx]

I cut it from a green tree.  It curved down, so the top side (convex) is a lot drier than the bottom side of it.  I'll take it up to my Dad's place on days off and cut 'er in half on his bandsaw.
I've ordered "The Bowyer's Bible" volumes 1 thru 4.  I want to kick some azz on this new-found hobby.

[randman]

It curved down, so the top side (convex) is a lot drier than the bottom side of it.  I'll take it up to my Dad's place on days off and cut 'er in half on his bandsaw.

Hate to be the one to tell you this but that is exactly the opposite of the way you want it to be. You want the top side of the branch (tension wood) to be the back of the bow and the bottom side to be the belly (compression wood). That branch is bending the wrong way. You want the branches that bend up not down. You can also see it in the growth rings on the end (photo). The rings are closer on the tension side.
Might be possible to heat/steam bend that thing into a deflex/reflex shape but if you made a bow out of that with the tension wood as the back you'd be starting out with a bow that looks like it has 9" of set already.

[Keenan]

Randman nailed it exactly. I thought it looked like the rings were closer to the deflexed side.  Though it not a very good stave as in "heavy deflexed" you could do as Randman said and heat bend the limbs to make a Reflex/Deflex  bow.