Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: aznboi3644 on November 17, 2009, 09:24:21 pm
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Hey this is my first post here...i've been doing some major reading on the forum about everything I can think of lol.
Well to get started...I cut down a couple oak trees at work the other week. One is 8 inches in diameter and the other is about 9 inches in diameter. I told my dad (boss) that I wanted a 5-6' long. Heavy as hell I know lol but he likes that I am getting into archery and bow making.
My question is that has anyone made an oak bow out of a split log?? I tried searching and found nothing on bows made from oak staves but only on oak bows.
I'm not sure what type of oak it is but I made a little 25-30lb bow out of one of the branches in about an hour and a half.
What are the differences in oaks strength between the heartwood and the sapwood? Heart wood better for a belly?
Heart wood is about 4" diameter on both logs
THanks
Nam,
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Nam, it's all good. Take off the bark and make a bow. Oak ios a good wood. I've used red and white oak. Jawge
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would it be ok to have a heartwood belly and a sapwood back??
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Yes, it would. Not a problem. What weight do you want and what is your draw length? Jawge
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my draw length is 26" and as far as weight wise I am looking to make a 40-50lb bow.
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Then make it 1 3/8 - 1.5 in wide and about 66 in long. You can remove the bark and begin to make the bow. Begin to bend the limbs just a bit and it will dry faster. That's called floor tillering. Let it dry. You can monitor the weight on a baby scale and when it stops changing for about 3 weeks go for it. If you place it near heat it will dry faster. i have a couple of staves near my forced hot water baseboards. There's more on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/