Red cedar obsession.

[Aaron H]

I also have the bug,  I am working on a sinew backed juniper  (virginanas) right now.

[BowEd]

Well we milled the trunk.To me the log turned out to be useful for boards,boxes,and benches.From making boxes from logs in the past I thought maybe there was a good chance of getting some straight edge grain 2" square pieces.Not so.It was foggy here toady.Kind of unusual for december 22.Sams' mill is about 10 miles from me here.There is another too but I'm not familiar with those people.I did'nt resize these pics.Hoping photobucket does that through the transference.
Fog

Logs to mill.He does mostly pallet wood cutting of oaks,cottonwoods,and really any kind of tree through there.

Cutting the log here.




Well it did'nt take all that much of my time so to me it was'nt a waste.Thinking now I should take this branch of cedar I've got decrown it.Cut it in half.Splice it in the middle into a deflex handle.Should work as a deflex/reflex bow if it don't blow.Pretty sure I can do it.Like they say nothing ventured nothing gained.

[BowEd]

Hope yours works Aaron.Good luck.I gave my previous cedar bow about 6" of reflex sinewing in a D/R design and she blew delaminating the top ring.

[BowEd]

Yep Steve.With this cedar I'll have to pay very close attention to the mass weight formula.Starting out wide enough to begin with.

[LittleBen]

Only times Ive found cedar clear enough for a bow, especially a selfbow, is to find two trunk growing right up against each other so there's no branches. Clean staves exist, but you gotta know where to look. Also out East (don't know where you are but I'm in NY) most of the cedar is in the woods, so it's growing ridiculously slow, and a lot of it is in hardwood forests where it's overtopped and waiting to die. I would suspect that cedar growing out in a field or something would grow fast and be even lighter.
I've had some luck finding clear cedar in board form. Let the other guy mill 1000bdft, then just buy the one clean board. For most uses other than bows they don't care about the knots one bit, so there's minimal competition for buying the clean boards.

Cheers.

[PatM]

From Rolf in the Woods, by Ernest Thompson Seton:

"From the dry store hole under the rock, he produced a piece of common red cedar. Some use hickory; it is less liable to break and will stand more abuse, but it has not the sharp, clean action of cedar. The latter will send the arrow much farther, and so swiftly does it leave the string that it baffles the eye. But the cedar bow must be cared for like a delicate machine; overstring it, and it breaks; twang it without an arrow, and it sunders the cords; scratch it, and it may splinter; wet it, and it is dead; let it lie on the ground, even, and it is weakened. But guard it and it will serve you as a matchless servant, and as can no other timber in these woods"

 

[Pappy]

Dang PatM that almost inspires me to try another ERC, I said almost  Thanks for sharing that.
 Pappy

[PatM]

Dang PatM that almost inspires me to try another ERC, I said almost  Thanks for sharing that.
 Pappy

 Very rare that an author can write about our subject in a way that we "get". That paragraph puts the  ERC bow  in perfect context.
 This book was written about 90 years ago.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Soooooo, its just like the all the others? Other than osage. Got it!

[BowEd]

Yep Little Ben and thanks.I realize the places to look and all,and the shortcuts to the woodsmith store to get a board but I'll be pateint bang my head against the wall breaking them.Let the obsession rest but still hold the grudge to try again later.
Pat M...Cool....That pretty much sums her up.Some people can put into words their feelings better than others.Bet he is a romeo....lol.Pretty much describes a finicky bow wood if you ask me too.Dents like yew but is'nt as elastic.Knew that getting into this but want to see these snappy limbs work like they say.
I hav'nt broke one in a while Pappy I'll get around to it.
Pearly...We can be assured you can't throw a cedar bow out of the tree stand to get down....heh.
Think I'll make that curved piece of cedar a little at a time over months while making other bows in between then when she blows it won't piss me off quite so bad.The feeling of construction time won't be so current.I have learned to shrug my shoulders and move on though.Not making a big deal out of it.I want at least a 48# bow.48#@ 28" has a nice ring to it.Preferably 52# though.