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Author Topic: Mulberry warbow build along  (Read 9561 times)

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Offline Marz5

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  • Better bend than break.
Mulberry warbow build along
« on: July 30, 2011, 09:23:59 pm »
Ok so I've got another stave, and as the title says it is mulberry, I've already layed it out

it's got a few knots and some twist... but I think it'll be fine once I get the twist
I'm looking to get 90-100# at 32

--Mark R.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2011, 09:59:38 pm by Marz5 »
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2011, 11:20:41 pm »
AWESOME. Even at 100# it will be light as air in your hands. It il make a real fast warbow.
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline cracker

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2011, 11:32:00 pm »
I'm ready to see more I have a piece of osage that is screaming warbow right now.Ron
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Offline Ian.

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2011, 08:19:06 am »
Looking forward to this.
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Offline Marz5

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2011, 10:36:07 pm »
ok I've got the sides trimmed close to size for the most part

this piece of wood wore me out...
mulberry is some tough wood to use a drawknife on
tomorrow I'll be figuring out how I'll be steaming it straight

btw I'm using this post for info:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,863.60.html

how similar to osage is mulberry?

--Mark R.
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline Marz5

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  • Better bend than break.
Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2011, 12:37:32 am »
ok I'm a little confused ???

today I set about to untwist the stave
I'm not sure about the results
after steaming this is the setup I used:

I did it like this because I could only find one of the wooden clamps

this is my result

it still looks twisted :( something else I noticed one side has a concave shape to it ??? if I remember correctly the the concave side was up in the rig
I'm not sure if I should just keep going or if I should try to get it straighter?  :-\

--Mark R.
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline gstoneberg

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2011, 02:23:29 am »
Mark,

Mulberry acts a lot like osage, but I don't remember ever bending a mulberry bow.  I had access to so much mulberry  that I only used staves that didn't need straightening or untwisting.  Everything else we burned in our fireplace insert.  I was a new bowyer back then too.

I heat bend using that setup all the time (but not with steam).  I have 2 suggestions.  If you have a long area to untwist, do it in 2 or 3 heatings with shorter sections so you don't have to work with so much bow in the air.  I think a form or caul might be a better choice when you have a long bend/untwist to do and want to do it in one shot.  And second, if you can, go a little closer to your final dimensions before bending it.  It'll be a lot easier for you.  I know with dry heat it takes a lot of heating to bend a bow as thick as yours is in the center.

Good luck,
George
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Offline Marz5

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2011, 12:35:13 pm »
the past couple days have been spent thinning the sapwood, later today I'll be working the belly down to get it to closer to "final" dimensions, as per George's advise.
one thing I noticed about the sapwood on mulberry is that the growth rings are made up of a light color wood which bends nicely, but the dark part of the ring is very porous with large pores also it is very brittle. I was going to leave the dark ring as the back but when I found out it was brittle I didn't. I'm not sure which is the early or late woods ???

I'll have pics up later today :)

--Mark R.
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline Marz5

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  • Better bend than break.
Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2011, 12:32:19 am »
Here is what I've done during the past 3 days, sorry the pics are low quality my camera died so I used my phone


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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline gstoneberg

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2011, 02:13:43 am »
I'm following your progress closely.  I've never made a mulberry bow using the sapwood on the bow's back.  I know it's done, but I've not done it.  So far it looks good.

George
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St Paul, TX

Offline Marz5

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Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2011, 02:48:52 pm »
Quote from: gstoneberg on August 05, 2011, 02:13:43 am
I'm following your progress closely.  I've never made a mulberry bow using the sapwood on the bow's back.  I know it's done, but I've not done it.  So far it looks good.
I've seen it once...here:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,26430.0.html
Toomanyknots did it, in the later pics you can tell that he used the sapwood as the back

here are some better pics of the knots and lower limb:






I left "caps" of the previous growth ring on top of the knots. I had to break out the chisel set to get the back to one growth ring. hopefully I'll have more pics later

--Mark R.
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb

Offline Marz5

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  • Better bend than break.
Re: Mulberry warbow build along
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2011, 09:03:23 pm »
Ok after a brief hiatus I'm back to working on my bow.
Today has been slow as I have been trying to straighten it out with dry heat.
here are the pics:




If this goes well I'll be tillering in about a week or so after it rehydrates     ;D

--Mark R.
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Am fear nach glèidh na h-airm san t-sìth, cha bhi iad aige 'n àm a' chogaidh.
(He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.)
--Scottish Proverb
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