Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jthompson1995 on December 28, 2009, 10:33:31 pm
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Has anyone used granadillo for a bow? I was in woodcraft for a couple things today and saw a dead straight grained quarterswan board of granadillo about 7/8"x6"x10'+ and throught it would make a gorgeous bamboo backed bow. I searched the web and found the SG to be .79 to .9. I searched this site and the web and could not find another bow made with granadillo other than as a riser wood.
So all the numbers look good except the price, the board is over $70 but I could probably get 5-6 bows from it. I just wanted to see if any one has had good, bad or otherwise experience with it as a bow wood before I decide whether to lay out that kind of moolah. Thanks in advance for any info.
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Wow, I guess this may be a new wood to just about everyone. Here's some othe info I found:
Granadillo: Also known as Coyote and Macawood – (Platymiscium yucatanum).
Its heartwood is bright brick red with purplish brown tones. Faint stripes of slight reddish brown give it a bit of character; darker samples look almost waxy with a clearly white boundary that identifies the sapwood. The texture is mostly uniform and fine. This species is a woodworker’s dream. The wood carves very easily, is easy to saw, has good planning properties, sands easily giving clean smooth surfaces and has excellent polishing characteristics. The species has exceptionally high bending strength properties in the air-dry condition at about 12 percent moisture content and is stronger than, for example Hard Maple, White Oak or Teak. It’s even superior to Teak or even Mahogany. Bending strength: Green 18,338 Dry 21,670 psi. Density is 63 lbs/ft3. Hardness: 2,406 lbs. Max. crushing strength: Green 8,674, Dry 12,093 psi. Specific gravity green 0.79. Janka side hardness at 12 percent content ranges from 1,710 lb. to 3,200 lb. Some uses for Granadillo is for billiard-cue butts, cabinetmaking, decorative veneer, fine furniture, joinery, musical instruments such as violins and bows, drum sticks, organ pipes and xylophones, pianos and piano keys. The heartwood is highly resistant to attack by decay fungi, insects and dry-wood termites. With its natural rot resistance it could last from 15 to 25 years in contact with the ground without chemical protection.
This info looks pretty good, especially good strength at 12% MC since I live where summers are humid. I might save up a little extra cash and head back to see if I can get the board.
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Wow that IS a beautiful wood-
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They always have coyote at my local Woodworker's Source and it IS VERY PRETTY but never found a straight grained piece. If you decide to try your hand with it please please please post pics.
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Jthompson, I made a beautiful recurve from grenadillo several years ago, I coppied the Mark St louis style and it worked very well. I don't remember now how I bent the curves, it seems to me that I used staem but I am not positive. I know I did like the wood very much, if felt a lot like osage to work with. As far as being coyote wood, I don't think so, the coyote wood I have seen is a different color and tends to chysal, not any worse than Black locust but very similar. Steve