Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: radius on June 23, 2009, 01:53:09 am

Title: tree branch questions: cool story
Post by: radius on June 23, 2009, 01:53:09 am

Lately i've had the bowmaker's bug like crazy.  However, last year i had to dispose of most of my tools, so i can't just rip up boards like i used to.  I've always admired guys that can take wonky staves and make great bows from them. 

Today i went walking at the oceanside and found a fallen branch of some deciduous tree.  Freshly fallen, maybe today.  Of course, the first short section of it was rotten, but it's got good wood. 

I said aloud, "I need to see somebody right now who can help me."  Then i turned around and saw a man standing in his yard.  I asked him if he had a hatchet, and he said, "Do you need a bucksaw?"  Long story short, i packed the damn log a mile to get it home, and thank you very much kind stranger.


MY QUESTIONS:

tension wood: 

i know the tension wood is at the top of the branch, and i suppose this is the better wood...but since i saw the branch on the ground and not in the air, IS THERE ANY WAY TO TELL WHICH SIDE WAS THE TOP OF THE BRANCH??

compression wood:

is it worth making a bow of?


backwards bows:

anybody tried this?  how'd that go?  what should i look out for?



pin knots:

are pin knots any indication:  seems like the little branches would grow from the top towards the sun...does that mean the tension wood is the wood with all the pin knots?


3.5 " diameter:

is this too small to make 2 bows from?


I have never made a bow from a stave like this before, only board bows...what do i need to watch out for? 

thanks in advance, radius