Sassafras

[PEARL DRUMS]

Pat I believe Mr. Thompson is the fella PatM quoted above. Mr. Thompson wasn't wrapped tight

[PatM]

Maurice was the writer, Will was his brother.  Whatever you think of his bowmaking knowledge, the book is a must read.
  You can find it online.

[Hawkdancer]

Got to agree with George, that is what root beer started from!  I vaguely remember getting sassafras roots, and trying to make it.  Probably tried stick bows, too - about 65 years ago !
Hawkdancer

[Pat B]

They, Will and Maurice killed lots of birds plus a few other critters with their bows. They also shot thousands of arrows.
Pat, I got my copy many years ago and go back and read it every once and a while. I agree, it is a must read.

[George Tsoukalas]

The Witchery of Archery is a great read.

I remember taking out a copy as a 12 year old kid from the Adams Library in Chelmsford, MA.  It was a thrilling read for a young kid who'd been absolutely nowhere and loved archery. Got my own copy now.

Don't judge them for their bird killing. It was a different time.
I think they were Confederate soldiers and were not allowed to have firearms after the war so bows were their weapons.

They made a living selling bird feathers. There was quite a market for them back then for ladies' hats.
Jawge

[Pat B]

Oh, I don't blame them for bird hunting. Actually they wouldn't shoot pileated woodpeckers because they were few and far between at the time but they did love shooting the more plentiful Ivorybill woodpeckers.  Like you said, George, that was another time and they as surrendered confederate soldiers were not allow to own or use firearms. I give them a lot of credit for doing what they needed to do to survive. The archery world would sure be at a great loss without the Thompson brothers.

[mullet]

I agree, it's a must read. I read it a long time ago and loaned my book to someone that never gave it back. I bought another one about 5 years ago because I wanted to read it again. The book is great if you're a native Floridian and want to read what this state was like back then along the St. Johns River around Astor and Starke. tick Island is part of a Management hunting Are and still has the mounds and is wild country.

There's a section in there that will make you think about why tuned arrows are important. Might be a reason they shot thousands of arrows.

[PatM]

You can read it in its original format in the ArcheryLibraryonline.
 

[Springbuck]

  To be fair, the Thompsons were kind of locked into the idea that longbows, similar to the English, were the only "proper" bows.  I assume their ranking of bow woods reflected that fundamental opinion, and that the list may have been different if they had tried more styles, like NA types and flatbows.

  I have seen only a few bows on here and PP.net made of sassafras, but some. I'm curious.

[upstatenybowyer]

Sounds like there's not enough real-life examples of Sassafras bows to judge it's quality as a bow wood. I'd be absolutely stunned if it compares to osage, mulberry or yew though.

240, I say make an average weight bow with a conservative design using Badger's tillering method and let's see what Sassafras can do!

P.S. I'm pretty sure a tonic made from it's extract was the only known remedy for syphilis at one point (just a little history for fun) so it was highly valued for that. 

[Hrothgar]

"Mr. Thompson wasn't wrapped tight" ??

[Hawkdancer]

He may well have been influenced by the "Georgia/Florida moon shine". We ain't paid no whiskey tax since 1792. !  Haven't read those books!
Hawkdancer

[Chief RID]

I read WOA about once a year. Started a Sassafras bow several years back and have not finished it yet. I think there is a thread on here. The wood is pretty light but not as light as juniper. Both are scary bow woods and probably the longer and wider and flatter the better. I am looking at mine leaning in the corner with a red cedar about the same degree of finished and thinking, I will get to that soon. Maybe I will after the garden chores and then of coarse turkey opens in March. Oh well! Maybe this summer. You know the Dukes of Hazard was based on the thompsons. Your Mama would not understand. "They keep showing my hands and not my face on TV" Waylon J.

[Eric Krewson]

I started a sassafras bow once, I found a patch of the trees that were all stove pipe straight and picked  what looked like the best 10" one to cut.

I split it into staves and debarked it only to find the wood was full of dark inclusions similar to bark inclusions. The area around these inclusions was like chalk. The wood went on a burn pile and ended my interest in making a sassafras bow. 

[JonW]

This one is still alive and shooting.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,41491.msg555139.html#msg555139

Dave (DVS) made a bow for the auction at MOJAM last year from a stave I gave him. Ask him about it.

I guess I have some of that magic dust in my shop