Any advantages to Hop Hornbeam?

[Papa Matt]

Brothers~

  Are there any advantages to using this wood for bows, any reason to prefer this wood over any other common bowwood?

~~Papa Matt

[Badger]

   I like hornbeam better than most woods simply because it has always been very reliable for me. Iseldom have surprises with it. It likes being dry but seems to tolerate my climate where I live at about 8 or 9% moisture pretty well. Seems strong in both compression and tension and seems well ballanced to itself in both these area allowing for good demensions. Steve

[bigcountry]

I have shot some sweet hophornbeam before.  I didn't make it, but shot nice.

[JackCrafty]

Hophornbeam is excellent wood for bows...especially when using small diameter saplings.  The back can be crowned without much danger of splintering.  It's a lot like osage, but stiffer (less flexible), harder, and with less knots.  Also, if you like the look of bark on the back, HHB is a good choice (just rub off the outer "scales").

If you plan on making a lot of HHB bows, make sure you have an easy way to sharpen your tools....it's REALLY tough wood when dry.


I'd like to make some more bows from HHB but right now I'm concentrating on juniper (which is almost the exact opposite of HHB in terms of characteristics).

[tom sawyer]

I made a couple of bows and didn't care for the performance.  We have high humidity here though.  I certainly wouldn't say it compares to osage.  But a couple of bows out of a single stave is not the most comprehensive test.

[Papa Matt]

Is it a slow-shooter compared to other wood?

~~Papa Matt

[JackCrafty]

Many have observed that whitewood is generally slower than osage or the tropical woods (like ipe).  Moisture is a big factor...osage and ipe perform well in humid weather.  If dry, whitewood performs the same, IMO.

According to TBB, all wood basically performs the same as long as the bow is designed properly for the wood used.

[Papa Matt]

Jackcrafty, what's your preferred cross section design for it, if it was split out of a 4 inch log, and the bow is to be 68" long, roughly 60#?

[tom sawyer]

Try getting wood dry in the Midwest this year.  Tough job and getting tougher by the minute.  Had another 4" of rain last night, total of 15" for July so far.

Matt my one bow took some set and was a fairly slow shooter.  I made a short bendy-handle bow that performed reasonably well.  So I would conclude that this is the "TBB proper design".

[Papa Matt]

Tom, do you mean the HHB proper design?

[tom sawyer]

According to TBB, all wood basically performs the same as long as the bow is designed properly for the wood used.

If its in a Bible it must be true.

[JackCrafty]

I suggest an oval cross section in the handle (about 1 1/8" wide) that slowly becomes rectangular toward the tips (1/2").  The handle should bend very little with a 68" bow....and the tips can be quite narrow with HHB, especially if you use horn nocks.  If you use self nocks, make the tips a little wider.  The shape from the front is basically a pyramid design with most of the bending occurring where the bow limbs have the most mass.

The HHB bows I have were made from 1 1/2" saplings and are semicircular (in cross section) the whole length (except for the handle).

[tom sawyer]

Actually the TBB-approved HHB proper design.

But of course I was being fecitious, I don't think there's necessarily one design that stands out.

Jack your suggesting a sort of ELB style bow, that surprises me as a suggestion for a whitewood.

[JackCrafty]

Tom, if it's in a Bible that I spent good money on.....then it HAS to be true.

Yep, the ELB design works pretty good for wood that is strong in both tension and compression (like HHB).  No?

[Dano]

Looks like the whitewood wars are still on, I love the smell of burnt hickory in the morning