Main Discussion Area > Bows
Plant fiber backing questions
joachimM:
Willie, washing will soften the fibers, but before application I soak them of course in hide glue, which softens them again. It's pretty easy, but the hide glue needs to be tacky like hot maple syrup.
bjrogg:
Aaron you might try trading some dogbane for sinew. Always interesting seeing how much knowledge is being shared on this site
Bjrogg
richgibula:
Here in AZ we don't see that much dogbane but we have a lot of waste from Sotol and agave plants in landscaping. Their fibers are extremely strong. The leaves have easily separated fibers that were used by Native American in years gone by for sewing.
I have separated these fibers to make cord but I don't think they are strong enough for bowstring. The longest fibers I got out were almost 2 feet long. It should be as strong as sisal fibers, which is a kind of agave, I think. I also tried Blue Agave (Century Plants) but their fibers are really stretchy.
Your bow looks great. Please keep us informed as to how this backing holds up under use of the bow over time.
Aaron1726:
--- Quote from: bjrogg on February 05, 2023, 08:26:28 am ---Aaron you might try trading some dogbane for sinew. Always interesting seeing how much knowledge is being shared on this site
Bjrogg
--- End quote ---
Thanks, that's a good idea. I may try to harvest extra this fall and see if anyone is interested.
Aaron1726:
--- Quote from: richgibula on February 05, 2023, 01:53:36 pm ---Here in AZ we don't see that much dogbane but we have a lot of waste from Sotol and agave plants in landscaping. Their fibers are extremely strong. The leaves have easily separated fibers that were used by Native American in years gone by for sewing.
I have separated these fibers to make cord but I don't think they are strong enough for bowstring. The longest fibers I got out were almost 2 feet long. It should be as strong as sisal fibers, which is a kind of agave, I think. I also tried Blue Agave (Century Plants) but their fibers are really stretchy.
Your bow looks great. Please keep us informed as to how this backing holds up under use of the bow over time.
--- End quote ---
I've not tried agave, but have used yucca quite a bit. It makes strong cordage, but as a bow string it was really hard on the fingers, it's very abrasive. I may have to see how stretchy it is, might be similar to the sisal.
Never messed with sotol or agave, but if the agave is that stretchy I'm now curious if it would do like the sisal.
I gotta make some more bows and give some of these a try :)
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