Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: NTProf on December 29, 2010, 11:51:26 pm
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I know a similar question has been asked before, but when it comes right down to it, what is your number one choice of wood for building a bow? Stave or board. Self or backed. And why? This might also be affected by the tools you have available (e.g. power tools).
Right now mine is a toss up between maple (board or stave) for a self bow and IPE for a backed bow. Both are easily availalble and make very durable, hard shooting bows.
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call me crazy but I have always had a love for oak...I know it takes some set but design it right and I love it. I use straight grained boards. I like the underdogs
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MINE IS HICKORY BOARD BOW, BACKED WITH THE LIGHTER WEIGHT BURLAP GROUND BLIND MATERIAL ;). IT HIDES MY TILLERING FLAWS. ;D I MIGHT NOT BE A VERY GOOD BOWYER, BUT I LIKE BUILDING AND SHOOTING THEM. 8)
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yew osage maulberry juniper in that order cuz the best bows i make are from those woods and i pretty much have used those for 28 years now brock
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Osage, hickory, black locust and the oaks. :) Jawge
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O.S.A.G.E! :D I love osage. I like yew, mulberry, hickory, ipe, HHB, white oak, red oak and I'm sure there are others but I LOVE osage! ;D Osage takes up where my tillering lets off! ::)
In that order, George? :o
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Mine is HHB because i have access to loads of it. If i had access to Osage then that would be my favorite for sure. Some other woods I have access to but haven't tried are the oaks, (sugar) hard maple, crab apple, Hickory, mulberry, and dogwood. I have to check on the dogwood because its the state tree and I'm not sure if I am allowed to harvest it even on my own property??? I haven't made any bows from a board.
Jon
Well just looked it up on the net....The dogwood isn't even the state tree....hmmmm i was always told that it was. Oh well the eastern hemlock is... learn something new everyday.
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Who is setting up the circus tent? Ill pop the popcorn.
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Who is setting up the circus tent? Ill pop the popcorn.
;D ;D ;D ;D
i like mine with movie theater butter on it,but not too much that it gets soggy
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Osage. It's yellow, shoots hard, you can really screw something up and it still makes a solid bow, and I am surrounded by it. HHB is nice too. Ask me this again next year. I have hickory, hackberry, and elm drying and can't wait to try them.
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Osge is still the best.
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When considering availability, workability, drying time, check risk....hell, when considering everything, nothing beats Wych Elm to me..NOTHING:-)
Cheers
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Osage - Yew - HHB - Mulberry - Hickory. Osage is tough and will allow you to make a few mistakes and still have a nice shooting bow.
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Osage!
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For self bows osage is still better..... but for laminated bows I have come to love ipe.
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The question comes up often enough. My answer is whatever piece of wood I have that is dry enough to make a bow out of at that moment is my favorite.
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The question comes up often enough. My answer is whatever piece of wood I have that is dry enough to make a bow out of at that moment is my favorite.
ditto!
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Good rugged osage.
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Have to be vine maple, because its tough as nails and everywhere for free. next would be yew for its looks(nothing beats the heartwood/sapwood contrast IMHO). for laminates I found a good wood called Garapa, thats a nice yellow color and is sold as a cheap version of ipe for decking.
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Current favorites would be Ipe , hickory, elm, and hackberry. Really like maple when its available. Use all in board and stave form except ipe. I don't prefer one type over the other just what's on hand.
Jeff
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Well, I sure did like the one piece of osage I've tried, but...
Boards, hickory works me like a rented mule, but the results are worth it. Elm, when I want to work faster. Oak, especially fully quartersawn. And maple.
But I'm just a pup at this game :D.
Frode
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Ok I'll throw my hat in the ring....Osage. It is forgiving of tillering mistakes, as previously noted and God knows I need it. I have only worked with red oak, mulberry, hickory, osage and some unknown lightweight board that was'nt pine. The hickory I have used was in board form as well. I liked the mulberry alot, it suprised me but hands down the osage is my first choice. I would like to try yew eventually if I could ever get ny hands on some. Danny
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Juniper. Also anything that heat/steam bends well and holds its shape. :)
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Osage for me, the older the better. Mulberry is also nice, but the bow has to be larger than I like. Hope to make a laminated osage backed ipe bow soon. I'd also like to try yew sometime.
George
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I don't know enough to have a favorite yet. But after my last failure with the osage billets, I started roughing out a bow of walnut that I cut in Sept. Tim Baker was right, " A bow made from walnut that is half sapwood and half heartwood is not only beautiful, but strikingly beautiful. I hope I don't screw this one up :-[
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Have to say purpleheart lumber is my favorite 'go to' wood. Backed with a hickory strip. Also I can get it in Colorado for a fraction of what a osage or even hickory or elm stave would cost.
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I build mostly osage bows. But my favoret is Hickory,I only build stave bows with no backing.
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I use what grows where I am. Wherever that may be. Of those my favorite are the ones that handle tons of compression. Juniper and incense cedar backed with lots of sinew
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It seems that all the studying done on bow design, while useful in many areas, has not changed the majority of folks' opinions with regards to osage.
I love good ol' hedge. Haven't had much to work lately, but I love the way it works.
Hickory is good, but I think it's a bit harder to work than osage.
Sean
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I like pine. Knotty white pine with lots of insect damage. Yup. Osage step aside...
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I like pine. Knotty white pine with lots of insect damage. Yup. Osage step aside...
Would that be sapwood or just heartwood? >:D
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FREE :D
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ok ive eaten my popcorn ;D
now ive given it some thought and.......
i like hhb best,but i also like osage and hickory equaly between the two but not as much as hhb
very close but hhb gets the nod for my favorite
it makes a great bow,but seems a little lighter in the hand than and osage or hick bow of same demensions and draw weight
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Most the wood I get comes where someone is clear cutting so I get a bit of Dogwood Hickory and Oak in my area. But I get whatever they dont sell. My buddy calls it collecting junk yard staves LOL
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Have tried most of the main bow woods except yew, guess I would have to go with osage to shoot; ash to stain; hickory for its forgivingness; and locust for its smell; and any cured wood wood that's available. :-\
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Would that be sapwood or just heartwood? >:D
Sapwood all the way, sir. 2 inch wide handle, 6 inches at the fades, 30 pounds and 28 inch draw, 123 inches, nock-to-nock...
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osage! back yard is full of it
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Sapwood all the way, sir. 2 inch wide handle, 6 inches at the fades, 30 pounds and 28 inch draw, 123 inches, nock-to-nock...
Sounds like a real sweet shooter!
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Yew, osage and vine maple in that order.
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Thanks everyone. I like to try different kinds of wood, but just wanted to know what everybody's "go to wood" was. It seems that osage is a top contender. I don't have access to osage (don't have money to purchase buy it and have it shipped) and I do not have power tools, so that also restricts my options.
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oh my " go to wood "
thats differant than my favorite woods
my go to is hickory
cause its easiest for me to aquire
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You don't need power tools to build a bow with osage just time. I built my first two bows with an ax and a steak knife as a scraper. I read in TBB that a bandsaw was the must have tool so I bought one and made 4 more bows from osage. If you get a band saw don't go small get a larger one. It was fun making a bow from a hand ax but it was a workout.
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No need for power tools if you have a good and sharp hatchet.
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Good sharp hatchet is fun too. Makes me feel like I could build a bow anywhere,anytime.Of course, mistakes can really make you want to cry. ' Frank
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I don't get out much so I have never used Osage,yew,vine maple,HHB,etc. I have built about 70 bows mostly white and red oak,sugar maple, hickory, backed board bows, BBI re/de laminated bows and black locust, cherry, and hickory self bows. I guess I got to get out more and snag some osage logs or staves. The wood I like the most is the one I am working on at the moment.
Right now it is black locust saplings,BB hickory in a Perry reflex, and a wild cherry stave.
.
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I'm catching up on here after the holidays and just saw this one. I'm going to play this game like I have to go outside and make a bow for survival. I'm working a lot with Casuarina (Australian Pine). This far south in Florida wood doesn't have growth rings. Casuarina is plenty available being invasive and I'm finding very good with tension and compression with a specific gravity around 1.0. Plus, if taken after some cold weather the bark comes off in one solid sheath. I'm currently seperating sinew to try a short, perhaps 50" sinew backed D. It seasons in a matter of months for 5-6" trees and a 45# 64" sapling bow can be cut and made within a week or two, taking minimal set without being heat treated or smoked. I would love to see what others on PA would come up with if they had it down the street. I'm seasoning some other things that I've got high hopes for...Sea Grape and Swamp Oak. All that being said...Osage.
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Osage. Mulberry. Hickory ,Elm ,Dogwood, Honeysuckle.
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The Dogwood and honeysuckle are sapling bows only
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For English Longbow Yew and european hornbeam.
For Flatbows Osage, Ipe, Robinie and all european withe woods.
Bernhard