Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: greenstick on March 17, 2009, 12:20:06 pm
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At this time I have access to lots of Mountain Laurel trees for potential staves. Has any of the seasoned bow makers out there ever tried this type of wood,can it be done?
Thanks
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I'm glad you asked this question...I've been looking at some and wondering the same thing.
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I have not tried Mt Laural even though I have 25ac of the stuff. If you can find a piece that is straight enough and not twisted give it a try and report back. ;)
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If its the same as mescalbean the roots have some awesome colors, makes great knife handles :)
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The SG. of mountain laurel is good and it should make a good bow. However I have not tried one so far, but have a very good looking mounatian laurel stave that has seasoned for a few years now. Maybe I can pull it down out of the rafters and give it a try. ;)
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Sounds good Keenan, I think I'll cut one and give it a try.
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Dana, the mountain laurel he is referring to is Kalmia latifolia, aka in the mountains here as ivy!
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I'm not sure which type greenstick is referring to, but here in my part of VA, we have both ivy and mountain laurel, which is rhododendron, and is different from what we call "ivy".
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cowbot gave me some slabs of mountain laurel roots, beautiful wood. Think he got it in Texas ???
Also if I remember right he said it was really toxic and the locals kill it at every opportunity.
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Dana, mountain laurel is toxic to cattle and other livestock and the root was considered second only to Mercheim(sp) for making pipe bowls. Brownhill, We have mt laurel and rhodo here too. The locals call mt laurel ivy.
When they were surveying the border between NC and Tenn, way back when, there were places the ivy was so thick the surveyors would lay large wooden planks over the top of the ivy 'hells"(as they called them) to walk on instead of trying to go through them. :o
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That's Mexican mountain laurel Dana, only grows in the West that I know of. It put's out pods with about a half dozen red seeds in them that are toxic. their highly prized out there as ornamentals and are highly priced ::).
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So whos yard did ya uproot Paul :o :D
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Here is a bad picture with my palm camera,I think its mt.laurel(http://[img width=450 height=600]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/Photo_031609_001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/Photo_031609_001.jpg)[/img]
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Yes as others have said the Laurel that I have is from a tree that gets about 30' tall with smooth redish brown bark that sheds leaving a greenish underbark. The leaves are a shiny dark green and smooth almost waxy texture and the wood is white!
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I think we are talking about different mountain laurels.
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Yeah, I think that's different from both kinds I was thinking of. Pat, I've seen lots of it too thick to walk through, but never 30' high like he's talking about!
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The Mt. Laurel here in Indiana only gets 10'-20' high, mostly wider than tall. But it seams to be a little dry.
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I think mountain laurel or rhododendron either one would make a bow, if you could find a piece straight enough. The wood is hard and heavy. The mountain laurel we have in the East is unrelated to the stuff that Cowboy has. That's some downright pretty wood it's got, though.
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And this is why Binomial Nomenclature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_nomenclature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_nomenclature) is so important. If we all used the proper name Kalmia latifolia we wouldn't have this confusion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmia_latifolia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmia_latifolia)
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Thanks, John. I've been preaching that for years. Common names are just that. Go around the corner and they call it something else. ie. muscle wood! ???
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Thanks John. Do you think their may be any concern in working this poisonous wood?
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We have a bunch of Mt. Laurel on LI. It is all pretty shrubby, I can't recall seeing any big enough to make a bow out of. Even if I could find some good enough, it is protected from cutting. However it doesn't seem to be protected from the bulldozers clearing for new subdivisions. ???
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Picked out a decent specimen to cut.(http://[img width=450 height=600]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurel001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurel001.jpg)[/img]
The longest piece that I could cut, 65" w/ a dia.5"(http://[img width=800 height=600]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurel002.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurel002.jpg)[/img]
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That's definitely not the same as our mountain laurel.
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Nope, sure aint no East Tennessee Smokies Mtn Laurel. Boy it'd be cool to make a bow out of laurel or rhododenron. Both woods have special meaning to me. But I've never seen any that would make a bow.
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(http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww293/JohnBow/Biglaurel.jpg)
Over here on the North Carolina side we do things a little bit bigger. 8)
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I think that is the mother of all mountain laurels! Definitely Boone and Crocket! ;)
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The Mt Laurel split nice and the bark came off easy,but under the bark are deep grooves. The wood works great with a draw knife,and has a dark core. I got a good start on a half of the stave,the flexed half for a trial bow,but it looks like it may make a good flat bow,but only GOD knows.(http://[img width=450 height=600]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry008.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry009.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry010.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurelandCherry011.jpg)[/img]As time allows, I'll keep posting.
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Don't know what that is, but it ain't mountain laurel. Maybe bush honeysuckle or Eleagnus?
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The Indiana tree guide calls it Mountain Laurel / Kalmia Latifolia , and it matches the picture and description perfectly. What I understand there are different types of this tree. As long as it works for a self bow, it doesn't matter what they call it.
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If it works for a bow, the name isn't important. But the species Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel) is pretty much the same everywhere it grows, with the only differences being in size and slight variations in bloom color. For one thing, it's always a broad-leafed evergreen-there are big shiny green leaves on it all year long. It has big clusters of pink flowers in late spring. The bark is a lot darker with a different texture. It does grow in a couple counties in extreme southern Indiana that border Kentucky, but is absent through the rest of the state. Not trying to be a smart***, but I deal with native plants for a living, and see mountain laurel every day-it's one of the most common shrubs here in western NC. Here's mountain laurel:
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Hillbilly's picture looks like the mountain laurel we have in Pa. We have thickets of it that you just about can't walk through in the mountains here. We put on deer drives through it in muzzleloader season.
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Ryan, that's what all the deer bed in here, too. A lot of our thickets are too thick to crawl through, it's easier to walk on top of them. Until you fall through and get skint all over. :)
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There is no leaves to look at , I was told that it was Mt Laurel, and it looked like the Tree ID pictures. If its not then I don't know what it is ?(http://[IMG]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/Kalmia_latifoliaBarkI_SB18375.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/Kalmia_latifoliaBarkI_SB18375.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLaurel002.jpg)[/img]If you have any other ideas what it could be please , I'm open for suggestions.
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(http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/maps/kalmia_latifolia.jpg)
You're in Indiana, Kalmia latifolia ain't.
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well i am cutitng some this weekend. haha this post is getting me all pumped up to try new stuff. :)
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If the leaves fall off in the winter, it's definitely not mountain laurel. Mountain laurel is an evergreen. I would guess that it might be a bush honeysuckle of some sort. Keep us posted with how it's coming along-I like the contrast of the sapwood and heartwood.
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PLUS, that is too straight to be Mt laurel!!! ;D
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The only other wood that I can find close in description is American Bladdernut, but I don't have a good picture of the bark.
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I would guess that it's not a native-looks more like an invasive exotic. Look up Lonicera maackii and kin. Keep an eye on it, when leaves and blooms come out on it, we can probably ID it.
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Thanks Hillbilly, Good job. By the way , Nice job on the latest laminate bow.
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Hillbilly, looks like you are right about it being (Lonicera Maackii) Amur Honeysuckle. Now the next question,can it be made into a bow,and what type?
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I dunno, you're the perfect one to find out. :) Don't think I've seen anyone try a bow from it, so you can break new ground. A good start would probably be a long d-bow, or long, wide flatbow if it's beig enough diameter. I have made arrows from it a few times, and it worked great for that.
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The debarked and worked with a draw knife reflexed piece of the amur honeysuckle. Lots of reflex at one end, probably will have to steam the other end.(http://[img width=450 height=600]http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLAURELINQUESTION001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLAURELINQUESTION001.jpg)(http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv9/dunstan88/MTLAURELINQUESTION003.jpg)[/img]