Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: Patches on April 02, 2014, 02:51:03 pm
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A couple of my coworkers were talking about some people they know and were referring to them as "wood hoarders". I asked what that was, and they said it was someone that collects and stores pieces of wood compulsively. One guy laughed, looked straight at me and said "You know...like you do!" So I have been officially labelled a wood hoarder by my coworkers.
My reasoning for gathering bow wood is simple...I hate to see a potentially useful piece of wood go to waste! The guy calling me a wood hoarder had cleared several acres of timber on the family farm, and I got permission to go get anything I wanted. I got some nice pieces of hackberry, walnut, hedge, and oak. Problem is that my drying racks have been full for over a year now, and I doubt I will ever use all the wood that I have, but I still have this little "tik" in my brain that makes me pick up anything that I think would be useful for bows, arrows, atlatls, darts...get the picture? I drove past a farm last weekend and seen where the new owners have pushed over several acres of hedge. I am trying to find out who owns it to see if I can get in there before they burn it all. I have no idea where I would put the staves that I would get, but I must try to save them. And yesterday while working, I found a grove of straight grained hawthorn trees, many of which will be removed when we start our new project. The first thought in my brain is "I do not have any hawthorn. Must cut some." After looking up hawthorn bows in the bow section last night, I found out that it is a beautiful wood that makes good bows. I see cutting hawthorn in my future...
I know we refer to bowmaking as an "addiction", so I was just wondering if there are any other "wood hoarders" out there or is it just me?
Neal
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we all are!!
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Guilty :-[ ;D
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Bring them to the wood hoarder convention....Tnn Classic. I'm certain someone (me) would take some of that hedge (Osage) since I have a place to put it... >:D
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Acquiring bow wood is very addictive.
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Lol, of course you hoard materials. In this day and age you never know when you're going to have to arm an army with bows and arrows. lol >:D
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Get into flintknapping and you'll be a stick and stone hoarder like me :D
Tracy
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Guilty of being a wood hoarder. To the point that i made 4dog help me carry a decent sized log out of the woods cause pipeloing clearing company hacked it off and just left it there. Ya now winged elm is winged elm and deserves to make things fly. ;D
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Nclonghunter - I wish I was coming to the classic! I have never been, but hopefully next year, I will get to go. And that way, any Osage I get will have been drying for a year and be that much closer to being ready to work. :)
Primitivetim, yep I agree.
Tracy - I am wanting to learn to knap and already have been collecting chert to start practicing with. So I have a good pile of stone going too!
Ink - We think a lot alike :laugh:
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Want my address I have space to dry your staves especially the hawthorn always wanted to try that, drying of course. ::) >:D After you get a twinkle for stone get a forge then you can horde steel to. Oh my we are a sick lot. :o Hugh
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Is the compulsion that YOU have to have the wood? or just the wood doesn't need to go to waste? You could go thru your stash and keep the better staves and weed out the less desirable ones. Staves make great firewood and they are already split. You could also sell/trade/give a few to these poor beggars. Then again maybe its just time to build a new shed/barn/workshop with more storage >:D.
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Gonna have to admit I'm a wood hoarder...I even save small scraps from my work...never know what you could make out of them and someone will just burn them if I don't take them O:)
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I don't think I would believe anybody on this site if they said they were NOT wood hoarders! Now me personally, I don't have a problem ....
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I would say my Materials Gathering Abilities are currently Out Pacing my Building Abilities...
But I hope one day to Catch Up.
:-)
-gus
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Yep same here , I even check around the bandsaw during OJAM to pick through the scraps , you never know one might find both halves of a takedown in the pile just have to beat the ones feeding the bi fire ring every evening , even picked up some bamboo fore tip overlays along with a few peaces left by the folks doing glue ups .
I even save some of the logs that won't make full length bows and some that may only have one stave in them ( covered up by a big truck tarp in the yard to stay dry ).
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As we are in the process of relocating...
I have gathered my Dry Staves in one room.
Loaded my Strave Rack up with my Drying Staves on the Patio.
And all my Green/Wet Bodark on the Driveway.
Ran Three Years of Cut Off's through my Bandsaw and boxed em up...
Also gathered up all my Walking Stick and Carving Wood by the same Category...
I've been Gathering Wood for Carving a Lot longer than I have Bow Wood...
I'll have to get a photo or two of it once I get it all in one spot.
:)
-gus
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I thought I was getting better
I gave away 4 truck loads
but am out of space again
Somebody help !!!
Guy
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I cannot drive by a tree without thinking "Will that make a bow ?" ' Frank
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I have more osage stockpiled than I can use in three lifetimes, hope I don't come across another tree that can be salvaged in front of a bull dozer, I can't turn away because I have the "disease".
Just the other day I was loading cut off scrap to go to the burn pile (always a very sad time) and before I could stop I had put three pieces of osage stave cut offs on my lathe and turned them into file handle blanks. I just couldn't throw them on the burn pile.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/handleblanks_zps675b205e.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/handleblanks_zps675b205e.jpg.html)
Nothing equals a fine osage file handle for beauty.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/ekrewson/bow%20making/newhalfroundcoursehandle_zps3b4a5589.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ekrewson/media/bow%20making/newhalfroundcoursehandle_zps3b4a5589.jpg.html)
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Gus...you and i buddy..walking stick wood ...bow wood...maybe its a Texas thing...i got more wood than ability...but...im keeping my wood...CAUSE ITS MINE YA HEAR HEAR ALLLL MINE!!! MWAAAHAAA HAAA HAAAA!!!! .....my precious.... :o
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Shew!!! Glad it is not just me! :laugh: Even if I am not saving osage from a dozer, there is a guy just down the road from me that sells osage for fencing material, and everytime I see a nice hedge post in the pile, I have to force myself to keep going. He even calls sometimes telling me he has found a really nice tree if I want it...AAAAUUUGGHH!!! That guy is the reason I have no room on the drying racks. I bought 4 hickory logs and one osage log and that took up all the room I had left.
Marks: My wife and I are looking for a place to buy and my main requirement is that it either already has an outbuilding or shed or it has a place to build one so I can start storing wood there (and have all my primitive stuff in one place).
Poggins: I do the same thing at MOJAM at the bandsaw. that is where I found a piece of Pacific yew that became my first yew atlatl (piece was too short to do anything else with it). Gotten alot of osage perfect for atlatls.
Eric: Those are nice handles. I have a friend that makes ink pens out of osage that is turned on a lathe, and I supply him with small peices to use.
4dog: thats funny right there!! Start calling you Smeegil!
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Yes Sir!
Eric that's one of Many Perfect uses for Off Cuts of Bodark...
And Lends a Touch of Beauty to Any Tool... :)
4Dog, You Got It Brotha...
Patches, your Comment Hits Sooo Close to Home with me.
We are Moving into a Smaller Rent home now... its killing me.
BUT, once we get my old place sold, we'll be looking for a place with a little land.
Hoping for at least Five Acres, either With a large Shop, or I'll be building one.
And I'll need a separate Drying Shed...
If I can assemble a decent Work Flow in a Good Size Shop...
I'd be Truly Dangerous...
With the Blessing of the Maker and a little Effort on our part, it Will Come to Pass!
:)
-gus
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I am sure every wood hoarder who looked at my handle blanks thought " great rings, perfect early wood, late wood ratio".
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I am sure every wood hoarder who looked at my handle blanks thought " great rings, perfect early wood, late wood ratio".
Now thats funny! Thats exactly what I was thinking! Oh well, I guess Im a wood hoarder too.