Author Topic: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)  (Read 6262 times)

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Offline simson

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Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« on: May 15, 2015, 05:14:45 pm »
This is barberry, lat. berberis.
A little shrub or bush where seldom a stave can found from. If anyone is here with experience with that wood - I would like to here more.
I have known of the beauty color of that wood.
So you could imagine my smile when this stave was generously donated to me by my good friend Erwin from Austria. Thanks for that really rare wood. It was a stick of 1¼” diameter in the middle. It had some imperfections: One limb with reflex o. k., the other with extreme bend; one limb twisted; one limb with sideway bend of about 5”; really deep drying cracks; one limb began to rot (fungus).














The color of this wood inside is incredible  - it is a bright green, hard to get pics that shows the beauty. On the back is a deep green you can see some reddish stripes in one limb in the other the fungus have left the grey or black flecks.

This is what I did with that stave:

I did several steaming  and heating seasons with that wood, but it seems it always wanted to return in its original shape. Don't got it 100% where I wanted, so the lines doesn't look that perfect on that bow.

Front


side with a good amount of reflex


braced with the kink at arrow pass







The stave was cut in an angle, I let it be like it was and did a single kerfe nock on the upper and a 'normal' double kerfe on the lower.














Nothing is added to that bow, except a burned mark for arrow position and the string.


reflex of unbraced bow


knotty back, upper limb in foreground


No color, no dye on that stick.


A crack filled with super glue, not a drying crack but windcheck or torsion


 The diameter was small and I wanted to go for max. width. The high crown would cause a stiff stick, I decided to go for a gentle kinda HLD (hollowed limb) to use the whole width. And it worked great. Holds a reflex of 4”.

The wood is dense, not far away from osage, but more homogenous – not that great difference in early wood and late wood. Very springy, set is less than ½”. I count it high as bow wood, to bad it is that rare.

58” ntn, pulls in mid forty at 26" - pretty tough for that little stick ...
Simon
Bavaria, Germany

Offline le0n

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2015, 05:39:52 pm »
that is a beauty.

excellent work.

Offline Danzn Bar

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2015, 05:45:14 pm »
Your work is amazing....... just amazing.
DBar
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking

Offline half eye

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2015, 05:57:23 pm »
That sir is this old mans "cup of tea" very nice. You managed to preserve the "early bow" look and feel with excellent performance. If ya lived up here I would get you and that bow out amongst the whitetail deer sir !!!!!

exceptional bow Simon
rich

Offline JonW

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2015, 06:18:40 pm »
Incredible work Simon. The simplicity of that bow in no way shows the work I know it took to get it there.

Jon

Offline Will H

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2015, 06:21:03 pm »
Wow! That is a simply beautiful bow right there! I love your work Simson!
Proud Member of Twin Oaks Bowhunters
           Clarksville, Tennessee

   "Middle Tennessee is the place to be"

Offline smoke

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2015, 06:27:42 pm »
You are a magician of woodworking Simon!

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2015, 07:51:48 pm »
Great looking bow.  It reminds me of some of the small diameter ocean spray bows.
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline PeteC

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2015, 07:55:33 pm »
That's a really cool bow.I like it. Great work . God Bless
What you believe determines how you behave., Pete Clayton, Whitehouse ,Texas

Offline Aaron H

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2015, 07:56:34 pm »
Sweet bow Simon.  I love how understated it is, it's very primitive and very well made.  Excellent work

Offline DC

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2015, 08:00:21 pm »
Nice bow! The biggest Barberry I've seen was just big enough to carve a chess piece. It has a nice bright color. Do you know how it ages.

blackhawk

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2015, 08:41:22 pm »
Nice fishtail nock!!! Cool bow :)

Offline RyanR

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2015, 08:54:56 pm »
That's a nice looking bow. Nice work.

Offline wizardgoat

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2015, 09:26:08 pm »
Wow very cool bow. That wood sounds amazing, reminds me of ocean spray as well, except prettier

Offline Badly Bent

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Re: Barberry r/d HLD (No. 64)
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2015, 02:36:08 am »
Nice!  You got a nice bow out of that rugged looking stick of a stave Simon. Great bend on the full draw, you sure know how to tame 'em.
To me the back, belly grain and wild character of that wood looks like the buckthorn growing around here only with different coloring. 
I ain't broke but I'm badly bent.