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Sinewed cedar bow

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M-P:
Ben ( and everybody else), Here's my two cents worth in reply to all of your replies.
This bow is 1.25 " wide at the handle and 2.25" wide just past the fade outs. 
One layer of sinew is working well on this bow, but I'm sure many other backings have been used.  I've used hickory on two bows.  They both shoot well, but one took greater set than I would like.  I've never heard of using silk on juniper, but why not?  One of the recent posts had bamboo backed juniper (collected in Utah, species not noted) bow that really smokes.
My original post makes me sound very sure of the type of junipers I'm using, but I getting my information from identification guides and they make it plain that the trees in this part of the world are a mix of two hard to tell apart species.  The trees vary from shrubby multi trunked bushes to over grown christmas trees with branches all the way to the ground to taller more tree like specimans with a bare trunk lower down.  All have the same type of foliage small blue "berries"  and shaggy bark.
Enough from me,  I started this thread in the hopes of getting other peoples experiences with various junipers. (Well it was nice to show off my bow , too.)
I had never heard anyone suggest that the sapwood is weaker.  Does any one want to add further comments about that?  If you do remove the sapwood, how careful are you to follow one ring.  Or do you count on applying a backing to keep the bow safe?  What about other species of juniper.  Does any body have experience with something other than ERC or rocky mountain juniper?     Ron

sonny:
It was mentioned to me several years ago that ERC bows should be made of the heartwood or at least 2/3 the limbs thickness of heartwood. I'm beginning to believe that the sapwood will make a fine bow, based on a kid's bow that a buddy of mine has which has been shot literally thousands of times as well as sapwood bows posted on Paleoplanet by a fellow named Johnny.
Now I simply need to follow through by trying a couple different types of sapwood bows on my own...one of which will likely have two or three courses of sinew on it if for no other reason than to pull it into a few inches of reflex as it dries, possibly a rawhide backed bow and another self-backed. I'd like to think that a good hunting weight self-backed ERC sapwood bow could be made as it seems the amount of sapwood varies significantly from tree to tree,,,and I really don't care for the process of removing that wood to get to the heartwood. As well it seems I'm growing [mentally] weary of the process of sinew backing.  :-\
   

 

   

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