Author Topic: northern catalpa selfbow  (Read 16038 times)

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Offline Outbackbob48

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2016, 09:38:07 am »
Doc, great lookin bow, keep us informed on how she holds up. We have more catalpa here than osage ;D

Offline Josh B

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2016, 10:28:01 am »
is making bows from young trees a common thing? cus im not so sure if i will be able to find some very big bow trees where i live xD

Quite common.  I'd guess that half the bows I've made have been from small trees, saplings and limbs.
Thanks fellas!  I'm hoping it holds up.  I'm probably going to rawhide it to protect the back from dents and dings.  I noticed that it already has a few small dents in it just from bouncing in the truck a couple hundred miles yesterday.  This stuff makes ERC seem like ironwood.  Hopefully I can get home a couple more times to finish it up before the classic.  I always like to have an oddball bow for the classic.  Pearly, this stuff is nothing like maple.  Its softer than silver maple, ring porous with huge open pores and super light weight.  I haven't done the projected mass calculations for this build, but at exactly 17 ounces I'm sure that this is way underbuilt.  Even if this one folds up I will try this wood again with bigger dimensions. 
Thanks again fellas!  Josh
Oh yeah...Okie your dead on right about the worms being good bait.  I have two spots on the river where catalpa trees hang over a hole.  Drop a catalpa worm in there and you best be hangin on to your pole!

Offline bradsmith2010

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2016, 11:02:56 am »
looks great, bet is it smooth to draw :)

Offline joachimM

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2016, 06:10:42 pm »
According to specs in the wood database, catalpa is about the worst possible bow wood  :o
It's supposedly OK in tension but really terrible in compression.
However, you used a sapling. Wood from saplings (or in general, juvenile wood) is always a lot better in compression than mature wood. This has to do with differences in how wood fibres are oriented in juvenile wood (the so-called micro-fibril angle is much higher).

Still, seeing your bow hold its ground so well, I'm second guessing that the compression data in the wood database can't be correct  :-\
Well done! Goes to show you never really know till you make a bow out of it.

Offline Josh B

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #19 on: March 21, 2016, 07:01:03 pm »
Yes Sir Mr. Smith it does draw smooth.  As long as it is, stack is not even a consideration.
Joaquim- I consult the wood database from time to time when I encounter a new wood, but one should always keep in mind that the information gleaned there is not intended for bowyers. You can get a general idea as to the properties of a wood species, but nothing specific.  Also, even within a set species of wood there are huge variables that come into play as far as bending properties go.  These could be due to amount of sunlight/shade, water, soil, location, so on and so forth.  You can cut two trees growing within a few yards of each other and have huge variance between the two.  Reading raw data is a fine starting point, but like all reading of others work it's no replacement for your own hands on experience.  I'm not saying that the volumes of info written on our beloved past time are incorrect and should be ignored.  Far from it.  What I am saying is that all that data should be used as a reference and built upon by making our own shavings.  I'm not sure how I got off on the tangent, but thank you for the compliment and I hope this thing holds up to.  The low mass is definitely beneficial to the performance.  I just hope it's not detrimental to the longevity.  Although past experience tells me that is an unavoidable trade off.  Time will tell I guess.  Thanks again!  Josh

Offline Hrothgar

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #20 on: March 21, 2016, 07:55:47 pm »
Really attractive grain design, first catalpa bow I've ever seen. Nice job!
" To be, or not to be"...decisions, decisions, decisions.

Offline Josh B

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #21 on: March 24, 2016, 11:59:59 pm »
Thank you kindly!  I've never seen a catalpa selfbow before either....probably for good reason.  Josh

Offline Josh B

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #22 on: April 08, 2016, 08:48:51 am »
Well I'm just sitting around in Rhode Island for the next few hours waiting for the lab to approve my load so I can kick it off and head west.  So I decided to snap a few pics of the bow with some tru-oil on it.  The grain is gorgeous, but I'm not a very good photographer so you won't be able to truly appreciate that from my pics.  Here it is ready for the classic. I hope it holds up.  Thanks for looking!  Josh

Offline Parnell

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #23 on: April 08, 2016, 09:11:20 am »
Nice looking grain, Josh.  In RI?  Man, you do get around.  Where in RI?  I went to school there at URI, lived in Narragansett.
1’—>1’

Offline Josh B

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #24 on: April 08, 2016, 09:26:02 am »
Nice looking grain, Josh.  In RI?  Man, you do get around.  Where in RI?  I went to school there at URI, lived in Narragansett.

I'm at a biomed research facility in West Greenwich.  Yep...I do get around some.  Lol! Josh

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #25 on: April 08, 2016, 09:56:16 am »
The grain looks great in that handle Josh.  Great job on the worm bow.  I've got an idea for an oddball bow for next year.  I need to go cut it down soon.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #26 on: April 08, 2016, 08:38:40 pm »
Gosh I wish I had seen this thread earlier!  Then I could have told you that it would won't work and I might have saved you all the time and effort of finishing a bow that would NEVER work!   >:D
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline H Rhodes

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #27 on: April 08, 2016, 08:50:54 pm »
That grain is amazing.  I look forward to seeing it at the Classic.  First catalpa bow I have ever heard of.  Nice work.
Howard
Gautier, Mississippi

Offline Buckeye Guy

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #28 on: April 08, 2016, 09:05:58 pm »
Looks good Josh
did you get any of the purple cast that often shows up in Catalpa ? 
See ya in Tennessee
Guy Dasher
The Marshall Primitive Archery Rendezvous
Primitive Archery Society
Having  fun
To God be the glory !

Offline Aaron H

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Re: northern catalpa selfbow
« Reply #29 on: April 08, 2016, 10:01:40 pm »
Gorgeous grain Josh (aka: 2014 truck driving championship rookie of the year!)