Willow bow in the works (Salix caprea) Goat willow

[dwardo]

Ayup all.

Rather than build nice bows today I spent all day making a willow bow thanks to you lot 

I had this bit of willow for years and its almost become fire or carving wood several times but today after being inspired by Badger to just go till it blows. The length is all I had to begin with 63 ntn and two inches wide. Profile started flat in one limb with half inch deflex in the other and it has not seen any heat at all yet. The back has a couple of little tear outs here and there but who knows

I tillered this in a day so a please dont look too close but its pulling 47@19 and I can still tiller out the flat bit on the lower limb and bring the outers round a bit to lose some lbs. Taking very little set so far. 5 inch brace

[Badger]

  This will be interesting. You are doing better with that one than the willow I tried several years ago, mine just popped in half like a piece of cork. It was about 1/2 the weight of pine. I think you might make it. How much does your stave weigh?

[dwardo]

  This will be interesting. You are doing better with that one than the willow I tried several years ago, mine just popped in half like a piece of cork. It was about 1/2 the weight of pine. I think you might make it. How much does your stave weigh?

It is 18.3 at the minute, whats your best guess? Still have enough meat not to kill it and still get the outers working a little more?
I think half the battle is saying things like "Willow" will not make a bow rather than most willows will not make a bow. This would be a complete waste of time with crack/fragilis or white/alba or most of the osiers but goat willow might work out ok. Then there are just those special individual trees within a ssp that are just fighters.

Oh its about 5/8 thick too so far 

[Badger]

  If you can get 45 and 26 I think that would be a pretty fair accomplishment.

[dwardo]

  If you can get 45 and 26 I think that would be a pretty fair accomplishment.

Thanks for putting it so nicely

[Marc St Louis]

That is quite nice. 

The Willow up here is fairly strong in tension and I would imagine it would make a decent bow, I know I have been tempted to try it several times

[dwardo]

That is quite nice. 

The Willow up here is fairly strong in tension and I would imagine it would make a decent bow, I know I have been tempted to try it several times

Its quite ugly in person believe me, There are several sets of pin knots that go right through the limb and I roughed out the handle on a bandsaw 

This one I am a bit more excited by. Its Elder and was too about to become firewood due to its prop twist and gammy limb.


Fifty quids worth of electric on the heat gun ant its more like this now.



It is very bouncy and reactive for want of a better word at floor tiller. Have to leave it for about a week to re-hydrate or it might just spontaneously combust after 6 or so heat corrections.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Maybe rid most of the handle to get all the help you can.

[Joec123able]

Willow seems like it's fairly strong tension wise but feels like it would take a load of set would be my guess

[bubbles]

If it blows you can always make some sweet bow drill hearths from the shards!

[nakedfeet]

Willow seems like it's fairly strong tension wise but feels like it would take a load of set would be my guess

That's my impression as well.

It bends like crazy, and it's really easy to make baskets and such with the branches. But just simply judging by the "twig bend test" for suitable bow wood -- it springs back ultra slow.

[mikekeswick]

Willow is used to make cricket bats....so it must have something going for it! It can take impacts well but how exactly that translates to bow making properties....?
Our elder makes fine bows Dwardo. It's right up there with anything else native. I've got a lovely one that's about 45#

[blackhawk]

Gee...this almost makes me wanna go cut some willow    good luck...your half way there...

[WillS]

Some guy posted an 85# willow warbow on Facebook the other day.  Crazy!  Good luck dude.

[keef]

goat willow, when mature, has a reddish hard heartwood (I've been cutting and burning a lot of standing dead stuff over the last year). It is far more dense than the other native willows, which never burn and seem soft

I think that if you found a trunk of 6" dia. and split it, then worked down to the heartwood, you may perhaps have a wood worth working with

Good luck Dwardo and enjoyed the post