Bow making contest ( drawlength changed. Make it to your own draw length )

[Thunder]

Do you have to sign up this or just show what you got by June 1st?

Thunder

[sleek]

Join in whenever but build alongs are prefered and will help in judging who won with the bow that was least likely. Build along helps us see what you had to deal with and how you overcame the problems faced.

[willie]

Sleek
this seems like a good contest for someone who is only has weird woods to work with. I often wish I could just go for a walk and find a osage or a yew tree, but thats not possible where I am, so different it has got to be.........

btw. can any body id this species?

[sleek]

Willie, I would love to see you make a bow of that! Whatever it is....

[sleek]

Would there be an objection if the weight and draw limit were done away with to allow for more creativity? Yall all just vote on the bows you like the most based on who pulled the most out of the most unlikely.

[willie]

it seems kinda brittle for a bow limb, so no need to change the rules for that, just wondering if anyone knows what it is?         might use it for parts and pieces though

[joachimM]

I always liked the idea of up-cycling used wood, like turning old chair parts into a bow and documenting it while it's being built. But that wouldn't be a one-piece bow.
Another one was fishing out narrowish logs from a fire wood stack and splicing bits and pieces together (40 cm max per piece) into a single bow.
 

[sleek]

Well go for it. It doesnt need to be a one piece. It can be a 4 piece if you can figure it out. Two piece take down with slide on tips to vary between recurve or straight levers or no tips to allow the bow to change styles and weight. Like I said.... Have fun

[PlanB]

Sleek, just one vote here for keeping the draw length and weight limits -- that's what makes it a challenge (and a bow).

I'm waiting to find the wood I want to build from -- spring is just weeks away here, and haven't gone out to find something suitable yet. But I definitely will be building when I do, and I expect more people will join in as the weather warms up. It's going to be a very cool thread when things start hopping!

[sleek]

Well, ok i guess the rules stay as they are then. 

[Springbuck]

I'm ok with dropping the draw weight restriction, but it still has to shoot like a bow.  Can't just LOOK like a bow and not be shootable.  Has to have SOME level of cast.

[Dakota Kid]

willie,

Is the branch that dark throughout or just on the cut end? I've seen branch patterns like that in beech before, but I no of zero North American woods that are that dark in color. It could be spalted or mineralized resulting in that color. Was it a dead fall or standing dead by chance? It would also narrow things down to know where you are located? 

[willie]

it was that dark when I cut it, and has not changed. the diameter of the cut end is about 3/4 inch. I wish the stick was bigger, as I might try to make a bow from it, about 3 foot long in the photo.
found on a beach in alaska, Do not know where to find more .....

[Aaron H]

Looks like the rings are delaminating

[Dakota Kid]

 If found on an Alaska beach, that could have floated in from just about anywhere on the globe.  I did think of a US wood or two that dark, Persimmon and a few desert Acacia. Given where you found it however it could be anything from anywhere.