Lumber Red Cedar and Sinew build along

[Robert Pougnier]

I would have loved to harvest ERC in person, which is what got the idea started for me. I'm in SC right now and only have access to staves I brought with me and the lumberyard. This was from the cedar pile and could well be western red cedar. I am not familiar enough with either to tell. This particular board was more purpleish than red/pink, which drew me to it but it could not be ERC. I'll be tillering it around new years (the plan at least) and will update the thread as soon as I do, whether it shoots well or blows up!

[Bob Barnes]

I have my fingers crossed for you.  It's hard to tell ERC from WRC sometimes, and then there's also white cedar.  LOL  I have a log drying of ERC that's about 20" across.  I plan to do what you are with some of it.  Looking forward to seeing your bow.   

[mmattockx]

Cool project!  I’ve never built one like that with the grain run that way.  Mine have all been typical grain found in stave wood.

Quarter sawn wood works great for limbs. Lots of the FG bowyers will only use quarter sawn wood for their limb cores as it stands up better. My last bow was quarter and rift sawn laminations and it had no issues.

Do you have any idea whether it would be best to keep the belly totally flat or trap it very slightly? I haven't touched the belly dimensions yet besides width and there is not much room for mistakes.

Flat is structurally the best to minimize the chances of chrysals or frets. The bow is looking great, I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

I have lots of ERC on my farm

I am deeply jealous. Up here in Western Canada I can't even buy ERC boards like OP, let alone harvest raw lumber from standing trees.


Mark