Juniper, What's a rookie gotta know?

[JoJoDapyro]

I went with a friend and harvested some Juniper on Sunday, What should a rookie know?

[Newindian]

Compression strong, tension weak, best wood to pair with sinew, takes a lot of wood to make weight if you are used to hardwoods, the heart wood will give more resistance then sapwood however it is slightly more brittle. Chasing a ring can be challenging sometimes in the sapwood (hard to see). Has a reputation for breaking badly personally I haven't found this to be true. Try to use a D cross section.

[JoJoDapyro]

Should I rough it out green? Heartwood down? I believe I read that some place.

[wizardgoat]

You can peel the bark off and depending on size, split it. If its small, just use an hatchet and halve it. Seal the back and ends with shellac, and although it doesn't have a huge reputation for warping, strap it to a 2x4. Loefflerchuck on here tells me he steam bends his juniper while its green, because when it's dry, it doesn't go so well. Maybe he'll chime in on this one. Unbacked bows can be done, but most back juniper. Sinew is the best, haven't tried other backings, but I plan too. Cheers

[JackCrafty]

Juniper will check badly, so I would peel the bark and rough it out as soon as possible.  The skinnier and thinner the stave, the less it will crack and check.

The way I deal with juniper is to cut at least 3 trunks and/or limbs, peel them, seal the ends, and let it check/crack/warp all it wants.  After a month of drying, I split the staves where the natural cracks have opened up.  There will be a lot of waste but if you get a clear, straight section then you know the wood will be sound and won't check any further.  Take the good piece(s) and strap them to 2x4's so they won't warp.  You can also correct warps at this stage by applying wedges in strategic locations while you are tying or clamping the juniper to the 2x4.

Juniper is very elastic wood and makes an excellent bow with surprising speed.  It's true that you will need a LOT more wood to create a strong bow, so split and/or rough out your staves at least 50% fatter.