will willow work?

[jayman448]

i may have asked this already. will willow work? i found a good shoot that is about 13 inches round. there is a knotted area but they are both on the same side and it can be put smack dab in the handle i think. so... cut it or leave it?

[Del the cat]

It's generally considered not worth using,(too weak in compression) but it can make a bow. Mind it grows so straight and plentiful (well it does round me) I would only consider a perfect piece and then only if you have no other alternative.
You could make a cricket bat with it tho'
Del

[jayman448]

mkay. as far as bow wood goes, i hate where i live. much anger XD

[Pat B]

Find out which bows woods were used by local Natives.

[alwayslookin]

Where do you live?

[Onebowonder]

His Profile says "Interior BC Canada".  There are more than a few well reputed bow woods from that area from what I hear.  Yew would be the first one, ...but they have Apple, Birch, Dogwood, Black Hawthorn, Juniper, Vine Maple, Other maples, and some Oaks.  I've never been there, but several of these sound like woods that we see bows made from betimes on this site.


OneBow

[Tree_Ninja]

I grabbed some willow I had mistaken for Osoberry (no leaves)   

 I couldn't figure out why It wouldn't work too well. I managed to make one or two sub-20# bows before I learned what osoberry looks like.

   Look for serviceberry or saskatoon berry. Scotch broom would work. Or take a road trip to the coastal region.  Good weekend for it.

[jayman448]

I live in high elevation interior. As ive said before. No maple. No juniper. No nothing. Willow, very rare birch, even more rare ash, and then spruce, pine, fir and small shrubby saskatoon. Thats it unless i am not seeing the others. But hats all ive come across in my area. I could get nice ash and apple..... but id have to steal them from the subdivisions in town xD

[jayman448]

As for native biws, i have come to my ameture conclusion that they must have traded them

[wizardgoat]

Your up near 100 mile house right? You may have to drive an hour or 2 or 3, but there's plenty of good bow wood up there. i cut all my juniper near Kamloops.
Lots of fruit trees up there too.
Interior natives used Rocky mountain juniper, Douglas maple, choke cherry, and yew, both backed and unbacked, and both short and long.

[wizardgoat]

Seriously though, you live a day's drive to yew paradise, in a few directions. How many guys here would jump at that chance?

[jayman448]

I have no car. Or money. A three hour drive is out of the question for me at the moment xD where is yew???

[wizardgoat]

Baby steps I guess, first get money, then get a car, THEN go cut some yew 

[wizardgoat]

To answer you first question,  willow will make a bow. An awesome bow? Probably not. I recall seeing some deflexed tip willow bows in the encyclopedia. South west tribes

[WillS]

Just use the willow.  Mikke made an 80#+ bow from willow a while back.  Took some set but looked beautiful. 

If you have enough of it, you can become very experienced in using a wood species that not many bother with.  It clearly works as bow wood, it just requires a different approach to normal.

Get various lengths and experiment with widths and profiles until you find one that works, and you're away.