Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: mastin03 on February 17, 2010, 12:01:49 pm

Title: Help with wood choice
Post by: mastin03 on February 17, 2010, 12:01:49 pm

I have a hickory board stave that was slated to be a recurve...after a couple failed attempts at bending in the recurves (hence the "problems bending wood" thread), I now have a 55" piece of hickory. Being that it's just a little to short for my liking at the moment, but not wanting to completely throw up my hands and walk away,and looking for a challenge, I did some research.
I found a thread on PaleoPlanet where a guy had made a static by splicing the recurves in to the bending limbs of the bow. I've been in contact with him to prod him about his methods (very helpful tips i might add), but the bending portion of the limbs were massaranduba, and the "siyahs", if you will, were ash (spliced into the main lam) overlayed with lams of cherry and jatoba on the belly side, bamboo backed.

Here's a general picture of what I'm talking about...he also deflexed the riser

Splice pieces (not showing the cherry and jatoba overlays)

 (http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo182/mastin03/splices.jpg)

and full glued up profile

 (http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo182/mastin03/glued_profile.jpg)

MY QUESTION....

If I use hickory for the main "lam" and then use pecan and cherry for the overlays, would red oak be a sufficient "core wood" for the siyahs? I'm just trying to use what I have on hand, but am open to suggestions. i.e. cherry better for the core wood, overlays of pecan and hickory? osage?

Just would like to hear some opinions before I start putting this thing together. It's going to be a challenge for sure, and may well end up in failure, but it'll be a fun road to travel nonetheless.

Here's the whole thread if anyone is interested.

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/26165/t/Bamboo-backed-massaranduba-deflex-recurve-New-F-D-pics.html?page=1

Title: Re: Help with wood choice
Post by: half eye on February 17, 2010, 01:06:34 pm

Mastin03
      I usually make self bows...but as I understand your question, it seems to me that if you use red oak for the glue-in's I don't believe that the hickory core wood would over-power it....mostly because they are both tough woods and even if the hickory was to be tougher...the red oak arms are a lot shorter.
       Never built recurves but my experience with the "types" of wood you mentioned....does not seem to be any stretch to me, but thats just my opinion....and good on you for "using what ya got" ;D
half eye

Title: Re: Help with wood choice
Post by: mastin03 on February 17, 2010, 05:11:09 pm

thanks for the reply half-eye...I'll see what I can get put together and pray she doesn't let go :o

Title: Re: Help with wood choice
Post by: KenH on February 17, 2010, 05:30:02 pm

According to the collective wisdom (the great "They say..."), since you're laminating the siyahs, the core wood is not that important in those short pieces.  Sure you don't want to use Balsa or Aspen :o  and probably not Poplar, but any reasonably hard wood (oak, ash, hickory, maple, birch cherry, elm) should work just fine.  A lamination is a synergy - more than the sum of its parts.