Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: yazoo on January 22, 2009, 11:08:21 pm
-
osage
hickory
locust
elm
iron wood
-
yew ,osage,blk locust ,ironwood<ipe>anything i can get my hands on ha brock
-
i really need to learn my wood...
i think osage is soo blah... just becuase that is all i know how to hunt for that and of coarse oak that i have plenty of around here... but i have some differant typw of oak around here... i dont think the oak i have is red oak it dont look red a like the lowes boards... is there such thing as black oak..?
and of coarse there is pecan.... i need to learn what hicory looks like and elm.. i'm sure i can find maple becuase of the leaf but i dont know what hard or soft maple is and the differance....
terhe is soo many differant trees here in our wood but mainly all i can identify is oak and osage... and pecan... becuase of the pecans... i nee to harvest alot of osage and drie it out soo i can see what all the hooplah is about... i only made one bow fro the osage it was for a survival bow challange a few months back... but he thing shot kinda slow and sluggish i would suggest that being because of the green wood and the tips were left fat and round... i then tried to let it drie out and then a couple of months later i tried to thin the tips and re tiller and it borke on me... :(
soo i have not had a good start with the osage... and its hell getting it cut and harvested i cut two potential staves of it yesterday and today and it has beeting me up with thorns and has scratched me to shreds trying ot get to the branches i wanted to cut for the satves... i hope it is worth the hassle...lol... i will be harvesting osage fromnow on just becuase now that i now how it looks i have been running into the tresse every where to day i pulled ove in an open field close to a job site and i was driving home and saw the tree call out to me out of the cornner of my eye soo i pull over and with a hand saw i got formthe dollar store..lol.. be $1.50 i have spent for bow wood...hehehe...
anyhow i got another stave from it but man did i get scratched up...
soo.... sorry didnt mean to go on oand on... but for my top five i would have to say:
1 . osage (although i hate it)
2. pecan ( because it the only one i have used succesfully so far)
3. oak (of some sort becuase i can identify it... but yet to use it)
and thats it for me right now becuae that is allthe experaince that i have soo far... other than the mystory woods that i used as a kid.... i tell you what i had better luck making bows when i was a kid than now that im all growed up...lol...
-
1. real good osage (you know the stuff ;D)
2. free osage
3.ipe
4.hickory
5.any wood i can get
there are probably others that would make the list and some that might disappear,but i havent used that many differant types yet
peace,
tim
-
1. Elm
2. Hickory
3. Black Locust
4. Maple
5. Hazel
Greetz
Cord
-
1. Hickory
2. Dogwood
3. Ash
4. Maple
5. Cherry
-
Osage,Ironwood,Hickory, I have made several for a lot of other wood but not enough to
make a fair judgment on them,Dogwood,persimmon,white Ash,BlackLocust,yellow locust
and some I don't even know what they were. By the way Mike I tried to post your Osage logs but for some reason I couldn't get the picture downsized small enough so it would except it here,don't know what is going on with that.Nice load of logs. :)
Pappy
-
osage, hhb, hickory, dogwood, hackberry
I'm sure there's probably some better then the last two, but I haven't experienced them yet...
-
I don't really have a favorite bow wood but osage and black locust do well in our dry cold winters and humid summers. Hickory is practically bullet proof and comes together quickly. Making a red oak board bow is just fantastic fun and they shoot fast. Hop hornbeam is a fun wood to work. It's the only wood I've been able to use a spokeshave on. Jawge
-
Osage, locust, mulberry, elm, hophornbeam at the moment. I'm working on a dogwood right now, and I'm liking it a lot so far.
-
I have not made that many bows, so I have little experience with a wide range of woods, but based on what I have made so far...
1. Maple
2. Maple
3. Maple
4. Red Oak
5. Elm
-
walnut heartwood
elm
osage
ash
hornbeam
i dont care too much for hickory, but that maybe be b\c i live in a humid climate, but i also like cherry, hazel, and i really like oak staves, it should be my number#6. and mulberry...oh the list goes on and on.
-
yew
osage
ipe
maple
ash
-
My list:
1. White oak
2. Osage orange
3. Hickory (any)
4. Black locust
5. White ash
But if you asked me tomorrow, the list might look different. There are a lot of really nice woods to make bows from. I don't think anyone does themselves a service by insisting on only making bows from a few different woods. 'Tis good to be adaptable!
-Eric
-
1. Osage
2. Hickory
3. White/Red Oak (each has characteristics that I really like)
4. Bamboo (not really a selfbow wood, and I only have a couple bows made with it, but I really like the stuff)
5. Elm/Hornbeam (I've only a little expereince with hornbeam- not hop- but it proved superior to elm, however we have alot more elm around ehre that will yield a stave than we do hornbeam)
Of course, I haven't used alot of different woods. This is probably my prefered half of the list ;D
-
1. Yew
2. Osage
3. Vine Maple
4. Plum
5. Serviceberry
-
1. Clear, snaky osage
2. Clear, straight osage
3. Straight osage with pins
4. Character osage with lots of projecting back pins
5. Hickory for a change of pace
Least favorite, roller coaster osage with short propellers up and down the limb.
-
1. Yew (the prettiest and easiest to work)
2. Osage (2nd to yew)
3. Vine Maple (tough to work, but makes the fastest bow in my opinion)
4. Hazelnut (easiest to find, by FAR the easiest to work, but has poor memory compared to other top 3 woods)
5. TBD - I have yet to start working on elm, serviceberry, Hawthorne, black locust, etc
-
I think I want to change my pics
1 O
2 S
3 A
4 G
5 E
-
I'm with you George. I do notice that a lot of my bows as of late are Ipe though.
-
I choose woods that fit best with my climate (Illinois) , then match the right design for that wood.
I prefer flatbows with gradual width taper: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2008/05/osage-flat-bow-dimensions.html
With that in mind I like (in no special order):
Osage
Red Mulberry
Pacific Yew (not native to here but I like it)
White Oak
Hop Hornbeam* (I haven’t tried this one, but I think it would be good: hickory without the moisture retention problem)
If the list is not limited to five, I'd add:
Hickory
Walnut
Elm
And a host of other white woods that I would make as 1.5" D bows.
There are tons of good bow woods out there. Just match the right design to them.
-
Osage, Rock Maple, White Ash, Red Elm and Hickory. I have made bows from these woods and liked them. I think the White Ash is my favorite at the moment. I have many other woods drying to try in the future, they include Black Locust, Honey Locust, White Oak and HHB.
JohnK
-
I'd have to say...
1, osage
2, hickory
3, mulberry
4, HHB
5, yew I haven't made many bows with these last 2 but I liked the way they worked and the end results. Pat
-
1. Lemonwood (degame) I only have a little left, so I am hording it.
2. Elm!
3. Maple
4. Osage
5. Hickory
-
John, I wouldn't waste my time on honey locust. My experience suggests that it would be all too brittle.
-
Thanks stringman, i'll let you know how it goes, to pretty to pass up ! :D
-
Snakewood
Carrotwood
Degame
Florida Red Mulberry
Elm
-
1-osage
2-hickory
3-black locust
i'v made alot but only these woods.
i have a yew stave to do.. and ironwood bow to finish , a hickory bow to finish and two vine maple staves to do.. man i'm ganna be bussy!!
-
The king of course is Osage. After that its kind of a toss up for me. I like black locust, elm , maple, hawthorne, hophornbeam. Apple is pretty high on my list as well. I've only made one bow of yew so I don't have much experiance with it but I don't like how soft it is and how easy it dents. Same with erc. I hate hickory!
-
1) Yew
2) Osage
3)Elm
4)Hickory
5)Ash
Elm ash and hickory rank about the same for me.
-
1. Perfect pipe straight Osage
2. Osage with a few pin knots.
3. Osage with some Character
4. Osage with Character and holes in the limb
5.Osage that is so bad it needs to be cut into Billets or made into a take-down bow.
-
In no particular order:
Hickory, Red Oak, White Oak, Maple.
I know, I know only four. But that's all I've used so far.
-
Bow wood in order
1. Osage
2.Hickory
3.Ash
Three bow woods is enough to keep me busy
Dennis
-
1Hickory, 2 Elm 3 Walnut 4 Whatever5 I can get my hands on...Hammertime