Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: richardzane on January 21, 2012, 06:55:48 pm

Title: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: richardzane on January 21, 2012, 06:55:48 pm
I wasn't happy when i realized i had a thick stand of Tree of Heaven in a hollow in the west 40.
But asked conservationists if it was strong enough for a bow. They never heard of such a thing, so i decided to give it a try.
I felled a 10" diameter tree last spring and split it into staves. the wood seemed a little soft.
but this fall when i started working on this one i had a good feeling..in fact it proved to be a very tough wood.
it tillered out evenly through the whole process of rasping and scraping with a cabinet scraper.
Its really a nice bow to shoot. the arrow i'm holding is from wild rose that didn't grow far from where the bow grew up.
these arrows are a tad long but they were my first homegrown arrows with flint tips.
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: JW_Halverson on January 21, 2012, 07:04:30 pm
Your full draw photo is worthy of a centerfold!  Now give us her measurements!  Woohoo, nice bow porn!
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Dazv on January 21, 2012, 07:20:12 pm
nice job very good looking bow loving the arrows to.
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: richardzane on January 21, 2012, 08:21:23 pm
thanks for the encouragements!

measurements of my 55# Tree of Life Bow,
the length is 64 1/2 " and the widest places across the bow is 2" (the hips?)  sorry ,I'm not up on official bow anatomy!
i've only shot it maybe fifty times, but so far hasn't shown much 'following of the string' as my hickories and hackberry's have.
plus its lighter and thinner. no knots at all , and just the slightest twist on one limb.

the back of the bow is the surface right under the thin bark, just lightly scraped and sanded. and couple layers of true oil.

Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Gus on January 21, 2012, 08:33:37 pm
Yes Sir!

Very Nice looking Bow and Profile.

Hmm... Hips sounds good to me!  :)

-gus
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: randman on January 21, 2012, 08:55:02 pm
Beauty! I love it when those invasive species (Tree of heaven, scotchbroom, russian olive) make great bow wood because you can don't have to feel guilty about hacking down as much as you like and some people love to see you do it! Definitely keeping my eyes open for TOH when I'm out and about in eastern Washington where it grows like crazy everywhere.
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: richardzane on January 21, 2012, 09:39:31 pm
 its also called a "Ghetto Palm" since it grows well in cities in vacant lots and between cracks in the sidewalk.
I used to think it was a kind of summac, It often has a little "thumb" on its individual leaflets
that helps to distinguish it from walnut shoots ,hickories or others with multiple leaflets....and it stinks.
scary wood!
I cut a staff of it and left it down on a picnic table by our spring for a couple weeks. It rained for a few days, and some days later the dang thing had sprouted leaves . it was trying to grow laying right on the top of the picnic table!
yeah its an aggressive tree, and sends out horizontal roots from which shoots start coming up everywhere.
might as well put it to work.
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: seabass on January 21, 2012, 10:00:33 pm
very nice.well done buddy.love the arrows too,Steve
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Postman on January 21, 2012, 10:38:41 pm
Nice bow! Would not have thunk that TOH would work... Just goes to show ya. ;D
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: TRACY on January 22, 2012, 12:34:47 am
Nice job man! I would have never considered the species after removing hundreds in the past. Maybe I ought to reconsider silver maple 8)

Tracy
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: bubby on January 22, 2012, 01:05:08 am
tree of heaven, chinese sumac, chinese stink tree, all the same thing, med. density hardwood, makes good bows and pretty furnature, i've had some staves seasoning for about 5 mos, nice lookin' bow, Bub
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: coaster500 on January 22, 2012, 01:12:14 am
Man ya got to love those hips and fulls draw curves  >:D

Great job !!

Thanks for adding a new wood to the mix!!!
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Pat B on January 22, 2012, 01:13:09 am
Heavenly full draw.  8)
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Elktracker on January 22, 2012, 03:05:28 am
Nice bow and arrow! Great work!

Josh
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: gmc on January 22, 2012, 04:42:18 am
Very Sweet.
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: poldo on April 02, 2015, 08:22:26 pm
I just cut and debarked some staves I had seasoning with the bark on for almost a year and it's still wet  lol
I have one pyramid I started to work on last year right after i cut the tree and it's finally seasoned..  I have a good feeling about this wood
the early wood is very porous but when you start scraping, the pores gets much smaller and dense, I think it compares to white ash .. pretty close
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Mark Smeltzer on April 02, 2015, 08:45:37 pm
Very Nice!!
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: bubby on April 02, 2015, 09:17:21 pm
I've built a few tree o' heaven bows, it compares more to good red oak and if you treat it like ro you will get a nice bow
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: bradsmith2010 on April 02, 2015, 09:24:31 pm
arrows are nice too,, many Native arrows were 30 inches plus,, even though the draw was not that long,,
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Stixnstones on April 02, 2015, 09:50:08 pm
Very sweet full draw pic, and from now on i'm callin fades, hips
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: bubbles on April 02, 2015, 10:19:25 pm
I was wondering how it would be. Its pretty invasive right?
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: Arrowind on April 04, 2015, 08:50:19 pm
Nice and clean.  Very straight forward bow.  I like it!  Good job!
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: WarBeer on April 04, 2015, 09:13:52 pm
Beautiful job all-around!
Title: Re: my new 55# tree of heaven bow
Post by: simson on April 05, 2015, 02:38:56 am
Nice one!
I like the f/d and the front profile.
The arrows are special too, I also use very long arrows.