Juniper Self bow

[Azmdted]

Juniper is backed because it has awful tension strength, but its compression strength is very good. The sinew and juniper compliment each other perfectly.

That makes sense.  Rawhide backing doesn't add any tension strength, but only makes bows less prone to breaking, correct?

That's correct, less prone to breaking or if it breaks it's more likely to hold the otherwise flying sharp jagged edges together.

[WhistlingBadger]

That’s amazing info in that paper. A lot to take in. Seeing that they used staves from the trunk this has set me straight. Thanks.

My thought is what did they do before they had sinew? They had to make it work somehow. Im not looking for one that lasts forever just a few hunting seasons hopefully.

I’ll be out this weekend, I’ll post my find if I settle on something.

I suspect they knew how to use sinew before they invented bows.  I've never seen an ancient atl atl dart, but I bet they were held together with sinew too.

This is a really interesting thread...and it's going to be interesting to see what you come up with.

[wstanley]

That's for sure! With the amount of junipers growing out there and your good moral compass, I think you can avoid one that a native may have used. I understand where your' coming from though!

Some of those trees had lived so long that the renewal scars on the edges of the cuts were repeatedly harvested. THAT is the stuff that tempts me.

For sure, there is definitely the possibility of picking one previously harvested without knowing.

[willie]

There have been ancient darts found in ice fields with the sinew intact.

paste the link and remove the spaces in  www

https://ww  w.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-atlatl-ice-patches-1.4809947

keep in mind that backing a bow with rawhide to help prevent a tension failure on the back  has merit. the bow is essentially designed as a wood bow, and the rawhide, while it works some, is not considered a major working element of the design. It could be regarded as "insurance"., and the design length needs to be appropriate for the desired draw length.

A sinew back bow typically has substantially more sinew, such that the sinew provides all that is needed to let the back bend, and then some. these designs can be shorter for their drawlength.

you could use sinew for backing or insurance in place of rawhide, but it might be better saved for a bow that was designed to utilize it  better.

Branches have a different kind of wood than trunks, orientation matters, as the topside of the branch is different from the bottomside.

Hope someone who has built a bow from juniper branchwood can comment more about your design.

 Will it bend through the handle?

[Azmdted]

My first attempt to post photos so bear with me.  My one-seed Juniper bow, rawhide backed.  I turned them horizontal to save space.

[Azmdted]

The belly

[Chuck.e.b]

I know they used sinew on the short bows historically. I was thinking a pyramid style flat bow design unbacked upwards of 64”. I’ve seen a couple posted here in image search results on google but its from almost 10 years ago. Not sure if there still on the forums but I know it can be done. Maybe I just make both styles. 

[Chuck.e.b]

Nice looking bow. Thanks for sharing.

[bassman]

Nice bow. A guy on Leather Wall  has posted Texas Juniper self bows. They looked to be very nice bows.If it acts like ERC it would be a challenge to make it as a self bow. I have read that the ratio of sinew  to Juniper on Cal. style bows was one third sinew ,and two thirds wood. Interesting post. Cutting staves from tree trunks with out killing the tree speaks volumes about our Natives.

[Chuck.e.b]

Here’s some of my finds. Sapsucker damaged, otherwise would’ve been pretty good.

[Chuck.e.b]

This one I really liked. Side with red line would be back. Natural reflex to it. Not sure if this would help or hurt with junipers tension problems.

[Chuck.e.b]

This one would have a deflex on back.

[Chuck.e.b]

This one wasn’t too bad. Had a little bit if sapsucker damage.

[Chuck.e.b]

Biggest juniper I found. Too big to cut down. But maybe could try to use live stave technique or use a branch. Probably 35ft tree.

[Chuck.e.b]

Last one. Nothing special about this one. Looks like it would work though.

These pics are best out of about the 25 trees I found and looked at.