Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: KidNicky on December 20, 2019, 07:24:10 am
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Hey everyone 🙂 It's nice to meet you all. I'm new to the bow and archery game, I have a lot of different ideas that I wanna run with. I've done a lot of reading, almost ready to dive in, but there's some key knowledge that I just don't have, and it's wood related 🙂
What I'm trying to learn right now is which part of what tree is best used for making a bow. Some of them have hit the level of common knowledge; i.e. Osage=heartwood, white oak=sapwood. I've been searching the internet, and I can't find a definitive list anywhere that lets me know what's best for what. I'd really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance ☺
Nick
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Welcome, Nick. I think you should get the award for the best thread title. :OK
Any wood from any part of a tree will make a bow. You just have to design your bow to take advantage of the positive characteristics of that particular wood.
One group of terminology that might confuse beginners is whitewood. I consider whitewood as any wood other than osage, locust, mulberry and possibly others. With these woods generally you use only the heartwood although the sapwood works too. With most other woods in most cases you use the wood right under the bark for bow building. The actual color of the wood used doesn't necessarily reflect this designation.
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Forget reading and just make some shavings. There is no definitive list. As Pat says you can make a bow from just about any wood (sort of!) you just need to understand what the wood is telling you when you start bending it and proceed accordingly. No list can teach you that, is comes with just trying and seeing what happens, pay attention along the way and it all starts making sense.
What wood can you get hold off?
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people have made bows with their back being osage sapwood and they said that theres no negative downfalls. Its all about what the wood wants.
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Pat: Thanks ☺ I hoped it would grab attention. The coloring is a great aspect of the material, but I'm more concerned with the qualities of the wood that'll help me build a bow that'll last a good long while. Like, osage heartwood being generally ranked (by most) as the best, but the sapwood not so much. It's characteristics like that that I've been hoping to come across.
Russel: One of the authors of TBB I wrote about a bow he built exactly like that. One of his favorites until it failed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it, I'll likely even try it at some point 🙂 All I'm saying on that is that I'm pretty good about recognizing the benefit of another's experience.
Bownarra: I currently have an English walnut in the back 40 that I'm looking to take down come spring. There's also a tree farm a few hrs away that I wouldn't mind spending a paycheck at. They have all sorts of trees that I wouldn't mind waiting on, and some black locust that I could likely prep for bow building right now.
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IMHO, the best use for that walnut is a gun stock. Sure it will make bows, but hickory is better and red oak is just as good. But walnut excels as a gun stock.
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Hickory is good,..also to learn on
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If you have locust available cut it now, split it into staves, remove the bark and sapwood and seal the back and ends well. Make sure your staves are long enough(68") and be sure you have plenty enough width and as few limbs and knots as you can get. Also step back from the tree and look at the bark. If it spirals up the tree your staves will have spirals and twists.
Also, check out Jawge's web page. I believe it is on the "How To" page but also under his name on any page he is on. George(Jawge) has built many locust bows so you can get a lot of info from him about locust. George also has good info about building board bows and how to pick out the best boards for building bows.
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We often hear the term let the wood tell you what it wants to be. The secret is learning how to listen to the wood. It has a very small vocabulary and about the only thing it will tell you is that it is either ok or over strained. If it starts taking set the wood is either over strained or not dry enough. As a bowyer it is your job to catch this early on and make adjustments. The adjustments might mean drying the wood out a little more, or lowering your target weight expectation or finding places on the limb you can get some more wood bending. You can monitor the condition of your wood early on by simply weighing the bow at a specific draw length and then checking to see if the weight drops when you draw it a little further but have not removed any more wood.
Experience is the best tool we have knowing how wide and long to make a bow with a given wood and design but when you are working on a draw weight or wood or design you are unfamiliar with I find starting with the proper mass weight is a good starting point. This can be easily calculated.
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I suppose this thread is as good a subject as any to describe something I discovered lately.
I have made many English Elm (Whitewood) longbows over the years and sometimes the stave allowed for some 'Heartwood' to show on the belly if it came from a sapling.
Just for something different I decided to make an all heartwood bow.
The result was a bow with 4 inches of set!
I decided to try again, this time heat treating the belly 3 times during tillering, same result!
My conclusion is Elm is one of the best bow woods out there but not with a heartwood back, Its fine to have some on the belly for a nice looking contrast of colour but not too much.
If its all about performance, all sapwood for Elm.
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First off welcome to PA. It's a great place to run stuff by a lot of really helpful people.
I understand your title of this tread, but really there's no better way to learn then to start making some shavings and find out what works and what doesn't. See what those books are telling you and find what there not. You sound like you've done your homework. Now see how you do on the test.
Good Luck. Hope to see some of your work soon.
Bjrogg
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Nick, I must agree with what's already been said but would like to add a reference. The bowyers bible, volume 4. The bow wood chapter by Tim Baker starting on page 17 may help to answer your question. I also highly recommend the mass principle chapter by Steve Gardner (Badger) on page 91. Page 307 is the chapter, “your 1st wooden bow” by Tim Baker. It's only 3 pages and has helped a couple of my young friends get a shooter there 1st time around.
Have fun
Bill
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It is surprising how much one can learn from a mistake. I've made my share and have had my share of successes.
Thanks, Pat.
http://traditionalarchery101.com
Jawge
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It is surprising how much one can learn from a mistake. I've made my share and have had my share of successes.
Thanks, Pat.
http://traditionalarchery101.com
Jawge
And how well you remember it. ;)
Bjrogg
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Welcome aboard, Nick. As you can see, there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on the site and they will be glad to help! Even an old newbie like me! If you can make it to any of the gatherings, most are in the Midwest, you will get a lot of help. Get the TBB series, at least, Paul Comstock's " The Bent Stick" and others. Remember, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask! Good luck building, take pictures and post them. The other things about PA are we do have a sense of humor, and " no pictures, it didn't happen"; which has saved some of us!
Hawkdancer