Sinewed cedar bow

[M-P]

This is my first time posting a bow.  The bow pictured is a couple of years old and has shot thousands of arrows and won multiple local shoots.  The only wood I have easy access to is the junipers on my family's ranch.  The result has been a series of cedar/ juniper bows.  I find it easy to work (if straight grained) and capable of making a fast bow though the bow should be wider than a similar style bow from yew or osage.  Does anybody else have experience working with this type of wood.  Ron

[M-P]

Further photos.

[M-P]

and at full draw

[Pat B]

Ron, That is a real beauty. I really like the sapwood and heartwood showing on the limbs. I have built a couple of ERC long bows but not a flat bow yet. I have a stave of ERC that Mullet gave me.  What are the dinentions and weight of that bow?    Do you have any pics of the 2 Juniper species and the hybrid trees?   Pat

[Agbowyer]

Ron That's a fantastic looking bow. The colors really make it stand out. Grat job... Chris

[juniper junkie]

WOW! great job! did you induce the curve, or was it natrural in the stave? looks like it is snake backed. I use juniper some, seems to do well with sinew backing, I have found that the more heartwood, the snappier the bow, I live in central oregon and we have lots of it. more info on the bow would be great.

[M-P]

Thanks for your kind comments.  This bow is 67" tip to tip and draws 42# at my 29" draw length.  It was spliced from billets collected from the top half of two horizontal tree limbs.  The reflex at the handle was created during the splicing.  The rest of the profile existed in the billets.  There is one layer of elk sinew on the back covered with prairie rattler skins.  It's been a while since I chronographed this bow, but my memory says it shot a 525 grain arrow at ~ 155 fps.

The junipers on the ranch all look very roughly the same and the field guides I have say the best way to differentiate between J.virginianum and J. scopulorum is that the berries mature in one year for virginianum and two years for scopulorum.  I'm only on the ranch for one week a year so I am to some extent guessing on the species of the trees.  Any body have a strong enough forestry back ground to tell more certainly?  The tree the bow is leaning against in one of the above pictures is the source of the raw material for the bow.
Below is a picture of an exceptionally tall tree.

[DanaM]

Welcome to our playground Ron , sweet looking bow.

DanaM

[jamie]

beautiful. very good job

[a finnish native]

that's some mighty fine work. I just love those "B profile" bows. I just feel that they are snappier right away compared to D bows. Have you noticed any difference in the performance compared to D bows? Just lovely! if this one goes to the BOM competition you sure have my vote.
also love the fact that you did a sinew job on her.

[Pappy]

Very nice,thats a beauty. :)I love the looks of cedar just ant had much luck with it,Might need to give it another try.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

Very nice bow. I also have worked with ERC a bit

[MattE]

I am fond of ERC . It may not be the very best bow wood but it surely makes a good bow.I understand why you used only one layer of sinew on the back. It sure don't take much to crush the belly, especially a d-section bow.I try to make d-section bows of erc a little wider and with more of a flattened d-section . This seems to save the belly. Your bow is a very good example for others to follow.Just sitting there it looks fast. I do like mine a bit longer for a 29" draw..... The picture of the large juniper tree doesn't resemble the erc trees we have here in N.C.. Ours would have limbs from the ground up and you could hardly see the trunk.

[snedeker]

thats beautiful  I like the coloration on the belly. I have some of my first such wood drying.  Has anyone tried using silk on it?

Dave

[Hillbilly]

Great looking bow. How wide are the limbs?