Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: JoJoDapyro on December 12, 2014, 10:49:16 am
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Has anyone made any bows from Saskatoon Berry? I have the chance to get some from Alberta (Wizard Lake), and didn't know if it would be worth the trouble of having a friend bring it down from Canada. Thanks
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Serviceberry is well known as a bow wood but selecting a decent non-twisted piece can be problematic.
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Serviceberry is well known as a bow wood but selecting a decent non-twisted piece can be problematic.
like Pat said! I have tried a couple , but everytime the twist was excessive.
I remember Zion has made a few very nice with high drawweight out of saskatoon
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No need to import it. It grows tall and strait in all our canyons. It's serviceberry. I've gotten lucky and found strait splits that have made good bows. I put it as a little like but better than chokecherry. With a sinew back makes a great bow with lots of bend and high weights. As has been said most are corkscrew. Most trees you can tell if the trunk is twisted by the bark, but serviceberry has smooth grey bark that shows no signs of grain. You gotta just cut a couple and see if you get lucky. The fruit is pretty tasty in the summer.
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The different regional name may have confused JoJo into thinking it was a different wood.
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The different regional name may have confused JoJo into thinking it was a different wood.
It did indeed. The wood would come from my sisters father in laws property. He is planning a visit in January. He saw the bow I sent to my BIL for Christmas and asked if he could also have a few made. He will be here for a month, and then will be on a Mission for his church for 18 months. Thanks for all of the info. As always, you guys don't disappoint.
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I cut some s'toon berry staves, thought they were perfect, but split 180 degrees. ???
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all i gotta say is don't try to split em ;) you can work with the twist but splitting will just ruin every stave you can get.
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Tough finding Saskatoon big enough around here for a bow. It's usually a bush. The berries make the best pies, hands down!
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joJo, we do have a lot of service berry around here, but it is really hard to find a big enough straight piece. It does twist. However, it is really tough stuff to break, regardless of the grain run-off. It seems hard, polishes up well, etc..
Plum, apple, and hawthorn all twist more, in my experience, and give me more truble.
I have made a couple of shooters from small diameter saplings, where I just chose where I wanted the crown, ignored the grain, and flattened the belly. They were fine, but they were also narrow and low draw-weight (38 and 42 lbs about? +-)
This seems like a good candidate of sinew backing, if the bow is wide and low crown.
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You would be surprised how large some serviceberries get given the commonly seen shrubby or at most lilac bush type growth.
I have seen them at least 6 inches in diameter in clumps and occasional single trees about 8 inches in diameter.
I know of one place where it almost seems like someone planted them like an orchard. Massive clumps of them almost dominating a small pocket in the woods.
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Most in Utah are small and shrubby, but I have my eye on a 4" x 6' stave growing in shaded oak brush. I was packing out an elk when I saw it, so I left it.