ERC bow experiment

[peacefullymadewarbows]

This definitely falls under the warbow category but I thought from an experimentation standpoint this had value for bows in general so decided to post here. My apologies if I'm wrong.

So I was reducing down to a ring on an ERC stave the other day and if any of you have seen a mature ERC tree they will often have these deep fissures in their otherwise cylindrical trunk. Well, this stave had a couple of those and they were unavoidable. Had I chased a ring faithfully I would not have had a bow in there. Then what crossed my mind was what I'd heard from bowyers who had held the original MR bows about their backs and how they were hastily reduced without even coming close to following a ring. So inspired by that idea I thought I had nothing to lose with trying it on this stave and here is the result.
109# @ 31"
Brace-5"
81" ntn

Shoot vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mAOfihMDAc&feature=youtu.be

Braced pic and close ups of back rings and fissures.

[Dante_F]

hate to break it to ya but yer back is violated  interesting that is held up as erc is supposed to be brittle in tension

[Bryce]

Yep, tension strong woods, for the most part don’t give a rip if you violate the rings. The dogma that comes with following a single ring comes from working Osage and similar woods where taking the  sapwood off and chasing a thick ring for the back of their bow.
But woods like juniper, yew and vine maple (or most maples) I know to not care if their rings are harshly violated. Well, as long as they’re smoothed out nicely, it’ll be fine.

hate to break it to ya but yer back is violated  interesting that is held up as erc is supposed to be brittle in tension

She’s a juniper the sapwood is great tension wood.

[Rākau]

Crazy violations! such a beautiful wood though!

[Limbit]

Wow. That stuff keeps surprising people...or should I say enticing people with its seductive appearance and then breaking their hearts as it shatters into a million toothpicks. Thing is, when it works, it makes a really quick and beautiful bow.

[ohma2]

Limbit x 2

[DC]

I have a piece of ERC sapwood That Wizardgoat gave me. It's just sapwood. Should it have sinew or will it work by itself?

[peacefullymadewarbows]

Thanks for looking guys.

DELTA WOLF - haha I hadn't even noticed! But anyways yeah I thought it would be cool to try but was wholly expecting a bang as the last tree I pulled staves from did bang eventually on all four attempts. Though two of those four made it to the range.

Bryce - I know that the diffuse porous woods tend to fair better with violated rings vs ring porous but as I'd never seen it before wanted to give it a try specifically with ERC. What I am slowly gathering I think is that ERC can have a wide range of tension strength from tree to tree. Where some is as brittle as it is commonly posited to be but others being much better and able to make tenable self bows. Interesting that maple can handle it as well that's news to me but I suppose it is used as a backing wood so would make sense. 

Rakau - I know! Honestly while this was an experiment in functionality I am very pleased it held up because the violated rings are so pretty to look at. I may even try it again.

Limbit and ohma2 - Yeah I am definitely still a bit spooked every time I draw that string. But, while I don't own a chrony I swear this is the fastest bow I've ever shot. Not that that means a lot. I've only shot my own bows  . The light mass of the wood leaves all that energy to be slung into the arrow. I mean jeez they came screaming off this thing. Those two reasons you listed are exactly why I keep circling back to it. Speed and beauty.

DC - How long is it? Without the heartwood to press up against the sapwood with its comparative compression strength the sapwood would probably fair greatly with a flatbow design. I've heard multiple reports of sapwood only ERC self bows being very quick shooters. It takes mega set with stacked designs which is why I implied flat bow design. Sinew always makes the archer feel safer though  .

[DC]

It's 62" long.

[PatM]

"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."

From "Rolf in The Woods"   by Ernest Thompson Seton

[peacefullymadewarbows]

DC - Depending on draw weight and how much width you have to work with I bet that could make a selfbow safely to 26-27" draw.

PatM - I could not have said it better myself. That's a beautiful excerpt. It describes them so accurately. I would never take one out into inclement weather or in thick bush. They pretty much only see the range but they send the arrows the fastest down that range.