ABOUT ELM

[Badger]

  I love elm, here is a bow that is the throw away part of a stave after it was roughed out on a bandsaw, 5 years later still shooting, massive violations everywhere, this bow was actually sawed into this shape,

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[FlintWalker]

I'd say somebody's pretty darn talented with a saw then!!!   Really, that's beautiful Badger. Saw Filer

[Staver]

I'll say elm makes a great bow!!  http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,7522.0.html

I couldn't resist since I just saw these 2 postings back to back!!  Joe H

[JackCrafty]

I started using elm a few months back after I read that elm responds well to heat tempering and heat bending.

Elm is MUCH easier to work (split, bend, shape) when it is green rather than dry. If you have a dry piece of elm...you're going to find yourself wrestling with it.  But it's worth the effort.  Elm is like hickory except it is less stiff, lighter and easier to dry (will not check or warp as bad).

Around here we have "cedar elm"...and it will take an enormous amount of set before it breaks.  I backed a cedar elm bow with some strong thread (instead of sinew) just to see what it could handle.  I could not break it.  Also, heat tempering the belly made a big difference in the stiffness.

[El Destructo]

Hey...then Maybe these Elms around Me here in the Panhandle aren't Piss Elm ...I always thought that they were just Siberian or Chinese Elm....they may be Bow Wood afterall!!!

[mullet]

   Steve, How long is that bow? I have a piece of elm that RyanO gave me that I haven't decided what to do with. I like that shape.I've never used Elm and I'd like to try a different style.

[JackCrafty]

Destructo....by all means use the Texas elm or "cedar elm".  It is less stiff than other elms but more flexible (in my experience).  Careful with the bugs, though.  Use only green wood and remove the bark right away to avoid them.  The dead wood usually has worms.

[D. Tiller]

Use this trick when working with elm! Lay out your bow and then use a jig saw to make cuts near to the dimension of the bow less than 1/2" between them. Then come back with a chisel and nock out the mass. Viola! You have gotten right down to your bow dimensions! This is, of course, if you dont have a band saw like me!    But this also allows you to get around a lot of the problems with elm too!

[Badger]

Eddie, that bow is 58" long about 40#. It was the throwaway piece left over from a stave I roughed out on the bandsaw. I looked at it on the ground and just thought I would try tillering it just for the heck of it. My daughter in law shoots it now. Steve

[radius]

D TIller, I use that technique all the time, but mainly on the arrow shelf, and always with a pullsaw. 

I have seen a buildalong where some super bowyer used a handsaw and chisel to cut out the BELLY portion of a holmegaard...it was awesome!

[D. Tiller]

Yep! Thats about what I'm doing too. Sure speeds things up. But the Oh! *&it factor goes up when using power tools. I find when working on the belly on staves I like to use the push pull saws since I can lay if the stave flat and come down from the top. Its because there are so many more undulations in the wood. But when making a laminate I will use the jig saw and law the stave on its side while cutting into the belly since things are very even with no undulations in the wood to contend with.

David

[radius]

makes sense...

today my boss gave me a 2x8 of "grey elm"...i work in a custom woodworking shop ...so i cut my lunch break in half, cut the thing into 4 sections 1.75" thick...bandsawed those in half...chucked 'em through the planer to clean 'em up (now they're just under 3/4" thick...wrecked one of the eight billets in the planer...that'll be laminations some day in the future...

now three pairs are cut to 36" with the z-splice laid out...tomorrow i'll cut lunch in half again, and cut out the splices...next day, glue them up...j

beauty is, the board had a wicked bow in it near one end...this translates as natural reflex in the billets....should be good...the wood is a beautiful yellow colour with long feathery grain...i think i should get some hickory, though, to back it with, cover the splice...