Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jamesh76 on April 15, 2020, 05:47:23 pm
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Talked to my buddy today, this weekend if it don't rain too much I'm gonna head out to his place and harvest some hedge and maybe a locust. I am.not sure the type of locust he has. It has long thorns on it, may be honey locust. If so I need to read up and see if it would work. I will cut logs to about 72-80", split into saves and seal ends with water based paint I have an excess of. I want to leave the bark on, however have read a lot of stuff about checks and cracks if sapwood is left on.
My question is, I have an outdoor shed I intend to store them in to season. Shed is not heated. I will buy some 2x4 studs and make a rack to store them on. I figure 4 1/2-5' between cross supports to sit them on. Being in a not so controlled climate, are their any other precautions I should take or am missing? Any concern for termites, bugs, humidity? anything else? Thanks
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If you leave the bark on, definitely spray all the bark down with an insecticide of some kind to prevent borer larvae from hatching and tunneling under the bark. It will save you a lot of staves.
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If you can get away with it store it in the house under the sofa , that's what I did wifey wasn't to happy that's why she's an ex lol.
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If you leave the bark on you are risking bug damage. I've sprayed them with insecticide multiple times and still had borer damage. Removing the bark and sapwood is the safest route. It's more work up front but it's worth it in my opinion. Plus, sapwood is easier to remove when its fresh. If you do that, make sure to seal the backs.
I would skip the honey locust and look for hickory, elm, hackberry, black locust, hop horn beam, oak, etc. Please post some pictures of your harvest. Good luck.
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thanks for the replies. i believe i will have more than i could "stick under the sofa" however, there may be a few pieces find their way inside :)
It will take me a few days to split and get backs off. But weather supposed to not be so good anyway. I will seal them with something. May take down too just under the sapwood and paint the backs since i got 2 gallons of paint we wont be using.
I have a few hickory staves now, probably enough for 10 bows or so. I will see what else he has out there. Would really like some mulberry if he has some.
Hackberry, I need to read up on some to identify.
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Hackberry has grey bark with warts or bumps all over it. It makes a good bow. Even if it takes a month to remove all the sapwood you will be fine.
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ah, I just searched an image. There is a bunch of Hackberry around this area. Not sure if he has any on his farm, likely does.
The bark on it sticks out quite a bit and is really rough.
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That's the way to do er James.Collect a bunch.You've got a good selection of good bow wood accumulating there.
Follow OO's advice
White woods I like doing in the early spring.Not much work.Bark pops off.Pristene back revealed.Osage and black locust I remove bark & sapwood as soon as possible.Even chase a ring.Slellack backs & ends and then store all in a shed up on a rack.I reduce all my staves to 1.5" deep and 2" wide and then date them too.Never have problem of bugs then.
10 years later their good as gold yet to be made into a bow.
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I’d definitely recommend following Osage Outlaws advice. Like he said. More work up front, but it all needs to be done eventually and it is the best way the prevent bugs. You don’t want to go through all the work of splitting storing and later removing several extra rings to try to get below bug damage.
I would recommend not cutting to much at once. Cut some, prep it and then cut some more. It can be a overwhelming experience if you tackle more than you can handle.
Bjrogg
PS guys that do this properly like Clint. Earn every penny and more. It’s hard work.
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Go for it James.I did.It'll be worth it.I've done hundreds.
We have crews around here that cut fence posts for a living.Thousands of them over a summer.
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Go for it James.I did.It'll be worth it.I've done hundreds.
We have crews around here that cut fence posts for a living.Thousands of them over a summer.
I say go for it to. I’m not trying to discourage you. Just getting you prepared.
Bjrogg
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He'll learn preparing along the way.
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Your right Ed. The first step is getting the wood. No since scaring anyone off before they start and certainly wasn’t my intent
Bjrogg
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Here is the haul. 2 or 3 honey locust, several osage and the rough bark stuff I think is Hackberry? Only one needing taken to a ring is the osage? The others are white woods I think. A variety of sizes. Most are 75" long. A few 60-62. As for the picture with numbers on the end. I.dont have a band saw, so what's the best way to split off #3 prior to.dividing #1 and #2? Those aren't my actual stave lines. I just scribbled it for the picture.
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I would'nt be so quick to be greedy splitting that without a band saw.2 staves will be a win for you.There's a fair amount of twist in that belly split option #3.
I'd get the bark off that hackberry too.Those staves should fill your day and then some.Store that hackberry off the ground.
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Thanks, about half of the osage has a little twist I'll have to take out on caul.
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Go for it James.I did.It'll be worth it.I've done hundreds.
We have crews around here that cut fence posts for a living.Thousands of them over a summer.
I say go for it to. I’m not trying to discourage you. Just getting you prepared.
Bjrogg
no worries. I just wanted it on hand for now. Knowing it will be quite a while before I can use it. I will prep and store it the best I can. If I lose a few, that's ok. The hardest part for someone getting into this is lack of available wood. I bough all 4 TBB books, so I got some learning to do. That and all the great posts here will be very beneficial when the time comes for using what I cut. Besides, I got a 17 year old that needs to learn with me :)
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Good sound plan James.Many times a little twist does'nt bother at all.
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To get a belly split just use a hatchet or sharp wedge and line it up with a growth ring. Sometimes the solit will follow ot and other times it runs off. Start on the small end of the stave. Make sure you have enough wood before you start taking belly or side splits. Seal those ends as soon as possible. I seal them as soon as the chainsaw is shut off. I seal them again when I get home and again when I seal the backs. A gallon of TB wood glue thinned down with a little water makes a good and cheap sealer.
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Nice looking haul. I am jealous of all of you that live in osage country. It doesn't grow in Minnesota.
That looks like a lot of fun and work. Sometimes those two things are the same though. I would say that is the case with harvesting staves.
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Quite a bit of twist in some of the osage. Got some split down smaller. 2 1/2 down to rough stave size. 3 1/2 -4" wide. Sealed ends and back with glue. Got bark and sapwood off. Down to a ring for most of the length but not the ring I will eventually chase. Hard work, but I'm enjoying it and look forward to the rewards. I imagine I will make my first few from hickory or mulberry. Likely the smaller pieces because they are straighter. Then move onto a osage piece due to the challenge of the curves.
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Got 4 done.
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You lost a shoe and a sock in the process? You must have been working really hard. I know it's a lot of work but removing dried sapwood is even worse. Seal those backs.
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You lost a shoe and a sock in the process? You must have been working really hard. I know it's a lot of work but removing dried sapwood is even worse. Seal those backs.
that's my son's sock and shoe lol. I sealed back and ends with Elmer's. Will chase final ring when I make them. The one inwentbtoo may be good. Just need to clean up around knots some of I use where it's at. I got 4 done and about 30 to go. I cut 1 really small sapling.... maybe 2" but it didnt look like it had any knots or limbs for about 7' of length. I'm sure there are. Will be interesting if I can get it too work. I plan to get a piece of hackberry close to dimensions and put in one of our extra vehicles to hopefully speed up drying. Its not hot here yet but will be before long.
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Nice hail! If you have too many, let me know! First dibs!
Hawkdancer
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You sure learn alot about your staves as you watch how they split and learn their characteristics while debarking and removing sapwood. Alot of times it seems to me it changes what you though you had before. Some split well, others split thick on one end and end up 1/2 as wide on the other as it follows the grain.
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Holy twist batman! Idk if I will ever have the skill for this one. Almost tossed it. It was split from the triangle on one I got 3 staves. Chased a ring best I could for now. Was really good practice. Odd enough, the other 2 pieces from this one didnt show alot of twist on outside ring. This one almost 90 degree.
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Stick it under the good ones, and by the time you get to it, you will have developed your skill set? :BB or (--) >:D (lol). Good luck with all of them!
Hawkdancer
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Mulberry I assume back of bow? Should my hickory of been the same? I more less just took bark off it.
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do you have a better pic of the bark on that one? it doesn't look like mulberry to me.
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Should be one on the first page. Really rough bark. I may have misspoken or got auto corrected on phone. I believe its hackberry.
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ok yeah i think you got auto corrected :D i would agree with it being hackberry.
iv'e only harvested on hackberry and it was small diameter like yours, i stripped the bark sealed the ends and split it in half and it worked out well.
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Very nice. This has a few knots and pinholes. I think I will try to get this piece to dry quicker. I marked the middle and fades, started narrowing the belly. Down to about 1 1/2" at both tips.i sealed ends and back again with glue. Currently sitting across the vise. I'm worn out today. Only got 2 or 3 more with bark taken off and down to a ring. One piece of osage had a ring with a big dip. Took a long time and I started getting frustrated with it. I sealed it back up and sat aside for now.
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If you can cut splices, cut the twisty one in the middle and splice it together straight.
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If you can cut splices, cut the twisty one in the middle and splice it together straight.
I would imagine a band saw is needed for that. I dont have one yet. A splice my be beyond my current ability. However once its dry it may be a different story.
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skill level is one thing but you can cut splices with a hand saw too :D don't limit yourself.
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skill level is one thing but you can cut splices with a hand saw too :D don't limit yourself.
I tried it twice. Failed so bad I'm actually scared to try again. Id love to learn how to do it by hand, but my confidence is shattered.
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It doesn't have to be all that great, you can heat a poorly cut splice, clamp it together hot without glue and the parts conform to each other. If you still have gaps you can cut thin shims and fill the gaps as you glue every thing up. I have done bit of all of the above in the past.
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my best advice is to watch some video's on cutting dovetails and ripping with a hand saw, than go and practice those operations a little bit.
its not the same as cutting a splice on the uneven surface of a bow stave but it gets you some practice and confidence with a handsaw and the techniques used with it.
too i would recommend starting the cut with a backsaw if you have one even if it cant go the full depth of cut, once it bottoms out switch to a handsaw.
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(lol)that’s a great haul, congratulations!
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I will look into it. Does any of the TBB books have a section on this? I have the whole set incoming.
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Getting there. More to go. I need to pull that older osage from the bottom and take sapwood off. I just removed bark and sealed it back a month ago. Osage, mulberry, hickory and 2 honey locust. Some of the white wood with large knots may be interesting.
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Does that area get real hot during the summer? If so, that can cause some checking issues.
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External shed. It will get hot. But I keep the window and door open for the dogs and it's got pretty good ventilation. I will keep an eye on them and see.
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Looking good James.Your not bow wood poor any more!!!!
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Looking good James.Your not bow wood poor any more!!!!
Yeah!!! nice haul!!!
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Darn..... started peeling a small sapling I wanted to try and dry quick. Measured it, 72" good. Got about 2/3 the way down to uncover a big crack under the bark. Probably 10" long and 1/8 wide all the way thru the limb. Wasn't sure about this one anyways. It felt too dry and had alot of wood borers when I got past the bark. Took a bit to get past them. On to the next one.
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That's all