Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: upstatenybowyer on January 03, 2017, 05:34:49 pm
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This 70" long log was cut from the base of a hedgerow tree, thrown on the ground, and left for dead :o. I found it today and brought it home in loving arms. All of the sapwood has rotted away. It must have been laying for decades. As you can see from the pics there are longitudinal weathering checks along the surface, but I don't think the run that deep. The diameter of the log/heartwood was about 5-6" before I split it. Do you think this wood has the chance to become a bow/bows?
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one more
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All kinds of examples of Osage lying on the ground forever and still making great bows.
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If you can get below the cracks that should make some great bows. You can even work around some checks as long as they don't run off the side of the limbs. Check out this log I found a while back. Pearly made me a sweet bow out of it a few months after I cut it.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,54827.0.html
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Nice find hope you get a couple nice bows
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If you can get below the cracks that should make some great bows. You can even work around some checks as long as they don't run off the side of the limbs. Check out this log I found a while back. Pearly made me a sweet bow out of it a few months after I cut it.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,54827.0.html
Nice! Now that's encouraging! This log was very heavy as well. I knew as soon as I picked it up that it was osage.
I chased one of the thicker rings on the most severely checked stave (I got 4 from the log) and those checks are still there. From what I understand this may not be a problem. It sure is shiny and golden under there!
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I see some bows in there :)
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There are bows in those staves. Be sure to seal the back and ends well and soon. That wood has moisture in it it picked up from the ground and will check more if not sealed.
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great find!
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Did you find that in New York? I wasn't aware it grew here.
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There are bows in those staves. Be sure to seal the back and ends well and soon. That wood has moisture in it it picked up from the ground and will check more if not sealed.
Wow. Thank you sir. ;) I would never have thought about that.
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Did you find that in New York? I wasn't aware it grew here.
It does indeed. I have found it where...
a hedgerow still exists (these are quite few and far between)
a hedgerow used to exist and someone left a tree or two
it is planted as an urban/suburban tree due to it's pollution/drought tolerance (there is a hybrid that bears no fruit or thorns)
Familiarize yourself with what the tree looks like (in all 4 seasons) and when you're out driving around in the country keep your eyes open! I have asked many landowners if I could take dead stuff away and have yet to be denied.
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Dead osage usually makes a great bow. Paul Semp really likes to use that stuff.
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That's the good stuff there! Definitely seal it and put it up for a year or so to dry. It'll be worth the wait. Josh
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That's encouraging, if it is in your neck of the woods there should be some in mine, I'm about an hour/hour and a half away from you depending on which side of Rochester you live. One would think if someone planted it there someone might have planted it around here too..next thing you will be telling me you have a score of yew growing acrossed the street!! Is there yew in New York?
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Taxus baccata (English Yew) is everywhere. ;)
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Upstate, are you sure it's not Taxus canadensis?
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Never seen a single Osage in upstate NY. Granted I've never lived West of Rome. But never seen it on LI, or in the capital region either.
Nice find.
I'm sure you're joking about English yew ... also never seen English yew, I think it might be Canadian Yew if it's wild or Irish yew if it's in landscaping.
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I've got to learn my trees. Id love to work some. For me this is a "free" hobby so I can spend as much time as I like looking for stuff like bow staves and arrow shoot shafts etc. but with all the wood around me I won't buy a stave, I figure if I'm ever on vacation I might pick up a sapling stave if it's not available around here. But if there is Osage and yew in NY, I'll have to spend some time looking around for it. Thanks for the info upsatenybowyer
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Upstate, are you sure it's not Taxus canadensis?
Quite sure. T. baccata is planted everywhere around Rochester as an ornamental tree. There's lots of Asian and Irish as well. You can tell the English variety because it grows straight up with a singular trunk. There's a park here with a 15 acre area called Yew Hill. It's all T. baccata, enough to arm a medieval army!