Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Packgoat on November 13, 2020, 11:33:14 am
-
Hi All,
I hope everyone is safe and healthy! I have wanted to build a bow for years and 2020 has seemed to slow life down a bit. My name is Marcus and I reside in Washington State with my large family. I’ve archery hunted for years and now I’m looking to try something new. I lived in Alaska for a couple years and was fortunate to harvest moose, caribou and a Kodiak brown bear. I’m looking forward to bow building and was hoping for a little advice to get started.
On my property, I have Mulberry, Russian Olive, Apricot and Peach. I would like to start the seasoning process on some staves but I’m not sure of the correct method. I figure I can cut some logs while I research bow building during the next year or so. Some say to cut and leave lay for a day, some remove the bark and seal the ends. I just want to do it correctly so I have workable wood in the future.
I appreciate your insight,
Marcus
-
Welcome to PA, Packgoat! There is a wealth of experience and knowledge here! The other folks, not me so much (lol)! Not sure about the Russian Olive, but the fruit woods are good.
Hhawkdancer
-
Thanks Hawkdancer!
I have my eye set on the apricot :)
-
Welcome Marcus! Looking forward to seeing your work. The only trees you mentioned that I can say from experience makes a good bow is mulberry, but as was said earlier, most fruit trees will make a bow. If you have mulberry big enough to treat like Osage or black locust it will be a better bow, but you can use the sapwood for the back. If you can use the heartwood, my opinion is to split the staves, get the bark and sapwood off, seal the back with shellac and ends with titebond. I would reduce one or two staves to close to bow dimensions and seal the handle fade area where it is cross grain exposed to limit checking there, you can work with those staves in a couple months while the rest season naturally.
-
Welcome Packgoat. Are you the head billy? ;D
What kind of mulberry? Mulberry is a very good bow wood. You can cut it now, split it in half, seal the ends and get it under cover and off the ground. After a month or so you can split it down to staves and remove the bark and seal the back well. You could also remove the sapwood. You can build bows using heartwood and sapwood but the heartwood is best.
For the peach and apricot I'd wait until next growing season so you can just peel the bark off reviling a pristine back. If you cut it now, during the dormant season the bark will be a bear to get off.
Not sure about Russian olive but I believe some folks have built acceptable bows with it.
Don't forget to post pics, we love pics and don't forget to ask any questions you may have. :OK
I agree with what Morgan said too.
-
Pat hit nail on the head about cutting in winter... do it early summer or late spring...mulberry white or red... red is better than white... you need to build mulberry like osage but go wider or it will fret... you could cut mulberry now since you will be probably removing to heartwood..but sapwood is good on mulberry.. welcome ... you will find knowledge needed .. gut
-
Thanks All!
Great info! I will have to research the Mulberry I have.
I appreciate the help!
-
Welcome.
If you can get on the west side of WA you get some yew and vine maple. Lots there to cut.
Shawn~
-
Welcome! Jawge
-
All good advice packgoat. Good Luck and don’t hesitate to ask questions along the way.
Welcome to Paa
Bjrogg
-
Welcome...and get ready to get hooked, obsessed, etc.
-
never made a bow out of apricot or peach but handled tons of both and never had the impression they can be good
I' stay with mulberry
-
Welcome, mate. I envy you for living country. 😍 You have top species for bows. Hard to dry but great about mechanical properties.
-
Yes i'll add that the different advice regarding cutting/drying etc is because a different woods need treating differently due to their differing properties.
I'd cut some staves of your apricot and peach. Seal the ends and leave to dry slowly. Cut some mulberry and reduce those staves down to floor tiller. Research how to quick dry if you want a bow quickly. Just get to making shavings and bending something :)
Of course you could buy some maple boards or similar to practise tillering on. These are much better/easier to learn on because you are starting with no character! Even staves that look perfect in the tree can be entirely different once split and bark removed.
Good luck.
Also get yourself the Traditional Bowyers Bible books. They will give you a great start.
-
Are you in the interior of Wash or the coast? If you are in the interior you are going to have to be way more anal about drying woods. Consider wrapping the staves with something to slow down the moisture loss. If you use plastic you have to monitor it every day for the first month or so to stop mildew. Gets to be pain but it works. I'm thinking that maybe a layer or two of cloth, just to slow the airflow, may help. You still have to coat the ends and back with glue or shellac or something.
-
I figure I can cut some logs while I research bow building during the next year or so. Some say to cut and leave lay for a day, some remove the bark and seal the ends. I just want to do it correctly so I have workable wood in the future.
different species need to be handled differently. most wood is ok drying until the free water is gone, (a couple of days), then the bound water starts leaving the cells and the wood will shrink as it dries. thickness matters, and which side of the cascades you are on. As DC notes, being near the desert requires you to be more attentive to the drying process. a digital gram scale of the kitchen variety helps here especially with a stave that has been reduced to near bow dimensions. Good humidity conditions and monitoring can get you from wood standing in the tree to tillering in a month.
-
Russian olive is on my to do list, all my readings say it's mediocre. If you're in central washington just hit me up and ill drop you a bit of vine maple to work on while you wait for staves to dry. Get to making sir!
-
Thanks Everyone!
I’m in central Washington (Tri-Cities) so it can be hot in the summers. Another option I have is some white ash rough sawn boards. Maybe I can laminate some boards? They have seasoned for many years so I know they are dry.
Thanks for all the advice!
-
I'm in Yakima and will tell you from experience, our humidity is ridiculously low. My first few years i blew up 5 yew bows. A fellow bowyer told me to back everything and go wider than the books recommend. My success rate improved dramatically. Seal your ends well and I usually dry with bark on to slow the drying down.
I dont know much about ash. There is some yew in the blues out to the east. Tons of serviceberry around. Douglas maple everywhere and it is a good low weight practice wood. Good luck.