Maple Questions

[jayman448]

About to dig into a maple sapling bow. it wants to be R/D 60" long. is there anything to watch for/ any advice for maple. also would you figure an even profile up the limbs or would pyramid work good with maple?

[Green Mountain Man]

Pyramid

Maples a white wood,,i personaly go from 2" at the fade to 1" or 3/4" at the tips and keep the limbs wider more then narrower for longer
Ah if that makes since to you

[jayman448]

yea that makes total sense. more paddle ish than english longbow ish is what i got from that, correct?

[willie]

no specific advice for maple, but if the sapling has a narrow crown, then there might be too much thickness at the fades to work out for a very wide pyramid limb style, unless you decrown

[Green Mountain Man]

Yea a flat bow design
I wouldnt make roundish or English style limbs or as Pope would say gothic arch style unless you wanted to make it a long length bow 68"+
Im sure it can be done,,but not by me with maple and still get a decent draw weight
Just my two cent

[mikekeswick]

R/d bows keep their profile much better with a parallel width for about 2/3rd of the limb. This is because a limb tapered like this will be thinner in the reflexed section and therefore able to take more bend before set compared to a more or less constant thickness on a pyramid bow.
Maple is very good in tension and not bad in compression. It responds very well to heat  treating.
I would rough out the width at 1 3/4. Then narrow as necessary if it is showing little set at 20 inch of draw. Tips can be less than 1/2 wide.
As mentioned your width is going to be dictated by the sapling to a degree.

[upstatenybowyer]

R/d bows keep their profile much better with a parallel width for about 2/3rd of the limb. This is because a limb tapered like this will be thinner in the reflexed section and therefore able to take more bend before set compared to a more or less constant thickness on a pyramid bow.
Maple is very good in tension and not bad in compression. It responds very well to heat  treating.
I would rough out the width at 1 3/4. Then narrow as necessary if it is showing little set at 20 inch of draw. Tips can be less than 1/2 wide.
As mentioned your width is going to be dictated by the sapling to a degree.

+1

The only thing I'd add is to be careful when removing the bark. I'm assuming you've got sugar maple.

[Springbuck]

yea that makes total sense. more paddle ish than english longbow ish is what i got from that, correct?

Absolutely.  Maple CAN make a longbow, but it'll be LONG, not 60".  At 60" long, make it as wide as your material will allow, and narrow it later if you need to.

R/D pyramid doesn't strictly exist.  Most R/D's need to have some parallel, but wide, inner limbs.  That section will have some thickness taper.  Since the bow is going to be pretty short, you are going to need that inner 1/3 AND middle 1/3 of the limb to do a bit more work.  Usually, a R/D barely bends in that first 1/3 of the limb, close to the handle.  In this case it will have to, or your tips will flatten out enough to negate the reasons for a R/D profile.  So, leave em wide and bend em.

[bow101]

About to dig into a maple sapling bow. it wants to be R/D 60" long. is there anything to watch for/ any advice for maple. also would you figure an even profile up the limbs or would pyramid work good with maple?

I work with Maple exclusively,  laminate bows, like others have said 60"...; to short,  and the pith may be a problem as I have never dealt with that.  I use lumber material, as long as the grain is good it should be good to go.

[jayman448]

i could steam the natural RD out if that would yeild a bow better. the bark is already off. truth be told i am not sure what maple it is but i do believe it is vine rather than sugar

[Gorzideudeus]

I've only made one bow in my life so far...sugar maple...I found that a heat gun and gravity worked very smoothly for small recurves, though I'm sure it could have bent much further...

[vinemaplebows]

Vine is a whole different character. How big around is it? How much weight are you shooting for?

[jayman448]

1"3/8 across, 60"long, hoping for 45-50#@ 27. ive begun reducing it already so im just basically going to go with what ive got. the top limb will need to be steamed back to straight as the tip ever so slightly sways off to one side. the way the stick went was a natural reflex in the handle, deflex through the limbs, and a ever so slight reflex in the upper limbs tip. i figure at this point heck just try it out and hope for the best. even if i break it its good experience i guess XD what are your thoughts maple?

[Springbuck]

If it's VINE maple, it's kind of it's own critter.  I'll mleave it to the experts on the subject, but that stuff it TOUGH!

[jayman448]

Tough as in strong or as in massive pain in the @$$ to get to work for ya?