ERC Warbow

[Marc St Louis]

Made this one for Marlon. The stave I got from Matt Edwards last year. It was still green so I let it dry for awhile. It developed some sideways bend as it dried so I had to use some dry heat on it. I also set the wood at the tips by bending them sideways and holding them that way for a few days. The string still lies to one side but this makes for a fully center shot bow. The ERC is pretty low in density for making heavy bows, the bow fills the hand. The bow is about 78" N to N, just under 1 3/4" wide by 1 1/4" thick. A good handfull. It pulls about 120# @ 31". Here's a few pics





This is about as far as I can pull the bow.



Here is a full draw picture as I was tillering the bow using a 2 hand pull.

[Badger]

You got an awful lot out of that erc Mark, great job on that. Really impressed with your elbs, even more so after handling them in person. Steve

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks Steve. This one was quite a challenge with the way it went sideways as it dried.

The unbraced pic was taken after the bow was pulled back several times. It still holds a bit of reflex but I'm sure it won't after Marlon pulls it back to its real full draw several times

[Pat B]

She's a beauty, Marc.    I'm sure Marlon will love her.     Pat

[sonny]

you gotta be kiddin me !!!!
I never would have thought you could get that weight out of (unbacked ??) ERC...

NICE !!

[Pappy]

Beatiful bow Marc,Is it rawhide backed or is that some of the sap wood left on ? 
   Pappy

[wanabehunter]

sweet bow

from what i can tell its an awesome tiller 

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks guys.
The bow is backed with air. The sapwood was quite thick so I took it down 2 or 3 growth rings then followed one.

[axel]

incredible!



How about juniperus communis? ever tried it as a warbow?

[cowboy]

Another beauty Marc!!!! I've got a hic in the corner roughed out as an ELB kinda . Was wondering how you go about attaching those horn tips - prolly on your sight, I'll take a look.

[SimonUK]

Beautiful bow with a faultless tiller...

ERC is eastern red cedar? It looks just like yew - does the sapwood have the same properties as yew sapwood i.e. high tensile strength?  You guys in the US are so lucky having so may types of bow wood.

[Kviljo]

That's HUGE!

And very pretty too

[Justin Snyder]

Impressive Marc, I have not tried ERC yet.  I keep reading about how brittle it is and how you need to back it to get 60#.  I guess the same rules don't apply if you double the weight.     I love the color.  Justin

[Loki]

Beautiful colour's and a stunning Bow!

[Marc St Louis]

Thanks guys.

The only species I have tried for a warbow is HHB, Yew and now ERC.

No I don't have anything on my site cowboy. Not that hard though. Drill a conical hole in the horn and shape the limb tip to match. You must make sure the taper of the cone is shallow enough that the string groove is cut about half way down the matching cone on the bow.

The sapwood is more elastic than the heartwood on ERC Simon. Elasticity is what you need here.

It's the heartwood that is brittle in tension Justin