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Black locusts bow
Selfbowman:
Makes sense pappy on the trapping.
Pat B:
I cut my bow building teeth on locust. I started buying locust fence posts for $5 each. Made lots of bows but they all fretted. My only success was with an Eastern Woodland style bendy handle bow I made for a bow trade.
The locust that grows around on our property has something that causes the early growth rings to deteriorate and separate so all of the bows I tried with them have failed. I think there are a lot of variables when it comes to locust, at least around here.
Jim Davis:
When I lived in Maine, BL was the best wood I could easily get.
My first use of it was from a small tree that only allowed a 1-1/2" wide stave. I made a pyramid design bow that was nearly perfect tiller at #35. It had about 3 inches of reflex. I shot it a lot and it performed well. Then I discovered that the belly had a parade of frets from one tip to the other--the whole belly.
With nothing much to lose, I just kept on shooting it. Eventually, I over drew it and it broke.
For the next few years, I made all my bows with backs narrower than the belly. But my subsequent research found studies that indicated that wood only stretches about 1% before breaking. SO, narrowing the back does not make the tension wood stretch more to accommodate the compression of the belly.
We all know that if we bend any piece of wood far enough, it WILL break. The balance for bowyers is in making the limbs thin enough to not yield (take set) at the amount of bend (draw length) we want. At the right thickness for the bend, the weight will be determined by the limb width.
My best locust bows were pyramid design, a little under 1/2" thick, 2-1/2" wide at the fades, 68" NTN and about #40 at 28".
sleek:
--- Quote from: Jim Davis on November 19, 2025, 01:15:08 pm ---When I lived in Maine, BL was the best wood I could easily get.
My first use of it was from a small tree that only allowed a 1-1/2" wide stave. I made a pyramid design bow that was nearly perfect tiller at #35. It had about 3 inches of reflex. I shot it a lot and it performed well. Then I discovered that the belly had a parade of frets from one tip to the other--the whole belly.
With nothing much to lose, I just kept on shooting it. Eventually, I over drew it and it broke.
For the next few years, I made all my bows with backs narrower than the belly. But my subsequent research found studies that indicated that wood only stretches about 1% before breaking. SO, narrowing the back does not make the tension wood stretch more to accommodate the compression of the belly.
We all know that if we bend any piece of wood far enough, it WILL break. The balance for bowyers is in making the limbs thin enough to not yield (take set) at the amount of bend (draw length) we want. At the right thickness for the bend, the weight will be determined by the limb width.
My best locust bows were pyramid design, a little under 1/2" thick, 2-1/2" wide at the fades, 68" NTN and about #40 at 28".
--- End quote ---
How long do you make your handles and are your tips stiff? Im trying to calculate how long the actual bending section of the limbs are for your bow.
Jim Davis:
Four inch handle, two inch fades. Six inches at the tips not bending much.
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