Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: sourdough on January 15, 2009, 10:02:17 pm

Title: what wood should i use
Post by: sourdough on January 15, 2009, 10:02:17 pm

hi i'm new to this sight and live in a suburb of anchorage in alaska and am wondering what wood is good for bows.we have black spruce, white spruce, birch, douglas maple, aspen, black cottonwood, tamarack larch, red cedar, western hemloch, mountain hemlock, and willow. i know, alot of different trees around here. anyway, which is the best and how long should i season it?whats the best for arrows?well thanks you guys if i sucseed i'll post pics.

sourdough  ;D

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: Gordon on January 15, 2009, 10:22:23 pm

Out of all of those I'd say the maple is probably your best bet.

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: sourdough on January 16, 2009, 02:03:08 am

thanks and im in luck :o.there is lots of maple in my area.

sourdough

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: M-P on January 16, 2009, 02:19:15 am

None of those are trees I have access to, but I remember seeing a recent thread on using Douglas maple.  You should check that out.   I believe larch has been used successfully as have birch and aspen, though the latter two are pretty low weight woods.  A warning, the red cedar you have is not the same as eastern red cedar.   Western red cedar can make very nice arrows, but bows are not easy to make from western red cedar.    Ron

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: sourdough on January 16, 2009, 02:24:52 pm

thank you very much that was the reply i was looking for.  it answerd my 2 most important questions! ;D. 

sourdough 

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: Hillbilly on January 16, 2009, 07:32:23 pm

I would try the birch and maple for bows, the spruce and cedar for arrows. Sitka spruce makes some killer arrows, so other varieties would probably work well.

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: DanaM on January 16, 2009, 09:15:57 pm

Yup the birch and maple, but if I can ever come across a nice piece of tamarack I think it will work :)

Title: Re: what wood should i use
Post by: shamus on January 18, 2009, 03:36:09 pm

there is a very extensive list of bow woods in the Traditional Bowyer's Bible Vol. 4, but here are Tim Baker's thoughts on it:

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/6213