Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: PNewton on September 23, 2014, 04:31:40 pm
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I have a variety of trees I'm going to be cutting down for staves. I was hoping to get some opinions of the following trees by listing in order of preference for making bows: Hop Hornbeam, Black Locust, Elm, Mulberry , Sugar Maple and Ash.
Thanks.
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I don't see osage on your list ??? :P :laugh:
I'd cut any healthy,clean,and straight grained of any of the species you listed with HHB elm and locust being tops and ash the last... But don't focus so much on species,and rather on good quality wood like I memtioned
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+1 on ChickenHawk's comment.
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+2, good advise
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I do have a place I cut some osage a few years ago that I'm going to try to get some more. I was just assuming that would be first.
Thanks, Paul
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I am heavily biased in favor of locust. Not only have I taken more punches from locust than any other wood, it's made all my best shooters-- whether that's from my experience with the species or the woods stiff, snappy nature is hard to tell.
Sure, in a test where I had to take one stave of either Osage or locust I'd take the Osage 'cause I'm no dummy. If I could take five of either wood, on the other hand, I would take the locust to make the fastest bow I can.
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I would have to say elm!very user friendly!no rings to chase,no pin knots to worry about,bends like butter and very easy to straighten, has a low sg. 56 I think? And reacts to heat correction superbly!the only down side is the time to temper it properly!
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Straight and clean!
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Yep straight and clean,from that list it would have to be HHB for me,even tho so Far I am really liking this Mullberry I am finishing up. :) Only Elm I have use is Winged Elm and it is very good bow wood also,I assume most Elm is from what I hear. ;) :)
Pappy
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Paul, i'd throw in hackberry...it's real nice to work with, and pretty easy to find decent stuff in MI.
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That's quite a list of very good bow woods.
Black locust and mulberry do better with heartwood backs. which involves ring chasing.
The others are "take off the bark and there is the back" woods but taking off the bark when the growing season has passed can be done but difficult.
Jawge
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Thanks everyone for the good advise.
Drew - I havn't come across hackberry before, but I'm going to look around my area. I see it's part of the elm family.
Paul
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Straight and clean!
+2 and also make sure its well seasoned, to many try working it before hand. I have found that at least 8 months in a dry environment sealed ends and bark left on.
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Thanks everyone for the good advise.
Drew - I havn't come across hackberry before, but I'm going to look around my area. I see it's part of the elm family.
Paul
Not that it really matters but Hackberry has recently been removed from the Elm family due to genetic studies.
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Black locust and mulberry do better with heartwood backs. which involves ring chasing.
Can I ask why you say that about mulberry? I had one break tonight with a heartwood back, while I was tillering it out. Looking at the fracture, I kinda wish I'd left a ring of sapwood on it for the elasticity.
I'm still new to this, and not at all constant, but...*gestures helplessly at broken bow