Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: archerforlife2 on June 26, 2011, 07:28:19 pm
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what kinds of bow woods are their in western Washington only one i know of is vine maples is there any others? if so what are they thanks for any replies
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I'm in Western Oregon so I assume it's pretty much the same. The ones that I know of are vine maple, hazlenut, service berry, ocean spray, and pacific yew. If I missed any I'm sure some knowledgeable NW'er will chime in shortly.
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thanks weylin have yet to see a yew in my 14 odd years of meandering around the woods >:D
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weylin named some good ones I would also add Cascara, most fruit trees, Ash, cherry, Elm, oak, scotch broom, and walnut. I reallylike Vine Maple as its easy to come by and makes great bows! All of these woods listed will make a good bow if design is right for the specific wood.
Josh
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thanks weylin have yet to see a yew in my 14 odd years of meandering around the woods >:D
Im sure you have seen it I harvest most of my Yew in Western Washington. and I live just out of Tillamook Oregon, it grows everywhere in your area.
Josh
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cascara dosent it give you the squirts? i no the park does but the wood itself dosent? and i will have to go to Google and look up yew trees maybe i have seen one and just don't know it
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Ya dont bite your nails while debarking cascara ;D Im sure you have but until you look for it you really dont notice it ;)
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okay i think im gonna try cascara i have some that i already peeled for bark now just to go back and find one suitable for a bow
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Ya I would get a couple straight staves of as many dif woods as you can and let them start drying and see what you like.
Josh
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Don't you folks have some nice crap apple too? Ron
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Dang, I need to quit relying on spell check. Ron
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haha yeah i dont like spell check and all the crab apple i have found is anything BUT straight i am going to go out collecting staves tommorow what would you recomend for arrows? around western washington of course?
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Archer, look for red osier dogwood in ditch lines, it is everywhere also hazel shoots are really straight. as far as bow wood look for all mentioned above are good but also look for black locust and purple plum. The plum can grow pipe straight off of branch that have been trimmed back...good luck.. as far as yew goes-see it once in the forest and there is a silhouette to yew that becomes easy to pick out from the fir it usually grows under.
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okay defiantly going to be keeping my eyes open for a crab apple from now >:D on and went out and got a piece of vine maple today its 5'2 and 2" around at the skinny end is this to small around? i think i can get a bow out of it. i want to get my second shooter now my first one turned out to light 38# and i was going for about fifty o well first one any advice appreciated
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2" is plenty big around One thing to keep in mind with vine maple is take note of wich side is the tension wood, this will be the back of the bow and will yeald a better bow than the compresions wood. The tension wood you want will be the side that was faceing to the sky when you cut it or if it is growing more straight up and down the side that its leaning away from if thatr makes sense.
Josh
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i plan on leaving the front alone so which side do i carve wood off of the side facing the sky or facing down?
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You take wood off the belly so that will be the side facing the ground before you cut it, the back is the side you just peel the bark and it faces away from you when you shoot the bow the belly of the bow faces you when you shoot it. Hope this helps if you have any more questions on anything just ask I will try to help you allong. This thread is awsome and it is spot on IMO its a build allong by Gordon http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,4815.0.html you should be able to reduce the stave down like he does in this build allong but because its 2 inches through just take wood off the belly you wont need to cut the sides out like he does, and let it dry a month or so and get going on it.
Josh
Josh
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its in my room so drying time should be pretty short so dont mess with the tension side or the right and left sides just take wood off odf the belly? am i understanding this correctly?
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i mean off
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Thats what I would do for now its gonna take allot longer to dry with the bark on and if its not reduced.
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i would carefully peel the bark off now to speed drying and because later it will be harder.
i would also"restrain" it while it dries- lash it to a 2x4 or something.
two inches is a little small for a 50 lb bow. how long is your draw?
post a picture...
elktracker and i both work with VM a bit.
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if you want that thing to dry faster, reduce it in thickness- working the belly only until the tips are one inch thick and the handle is one and a half inches. seeing as you have only 62 inches length, you should probably go for a bendy handle bow. VM likes to warp as it dries- don't forget to lash that sucker down. If you debark and reduce it, you'll want to store it in a cool place for the first week or two so it doesn't dry TOO fast, then move it to a warm place to speed the final stages of drying. Done this way, it should be ready in about 6 weeks.
one thing elktracker and i do differently is the whole business with the tension side vs the compression side. I do think his theorey is sound (that is, make the back from tension wood, the part facing up). however i choose what will be the back of the bow based on knots and branches. find the most knot free side of the stave, then eyeball the length of the stave to check string alignment and reflex/deflex. I look for trees that have one side with no branches and only a few knots, also making sure that the string will line up and there isn't too much reflex or deflex. when i find the 1 in 100 tree that meets these criteria, i cut it down.
if you debark it- avoid metal tools- they can gouge the back. you want a perfectly undamaged back. i use a bone knife or piece of hard wood. at this time of year the bark comes off like a dream!
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i would carefully peel the bark off now to speed drying and because later it will be harder.
i would also"restrain" it while it dries- lash it to a 2x4 or something.
two inches is a little small for a 50 lb bow. how long is your draw?
post a picture...
elktracker and i both work with VM a bit.
I have to disagree aaron I recently built a 70 lb @26 VM bow for a close friend it was 60" long and was about two inches through when I started and ended up being around 1 1/2 wide limbs by the time it was all tillered out and only took about 1" of set, so yes it was a bit overstrained but is shooting nice after several hundred arrows. I also just got a VM bow from john strunk just recently that was taken from the woods at about 1 1/2" through and now is just shy of that and pulling 55 @ 26" it has a very high crown as you would imagine and shoots like a dream!. I would agree that if he has a real long draw it might be pushing it but he can definatly pull it off IMO
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I agree you can use the tension or compression side of it if you want but the tension side has grown to be under tension so why not use it and it can make a higher pound bow than the compression side. One thing you dont want to do and I heard this from the master of Vine Maple him self is dont use the side wood for the back or your limbs will tend to want to twist as they are drawn. Another thing I have found is that knots humps bumps havent affected any of my vine maples yet other than being tricky when tillering. IMO
Josh
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This is the Vine Maple I got from John Strunk and as you will see it has knots and is about 1 3/8 at the widest part http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,26471.0.html
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my draw length is 29 inches i know sounds ridiculously long but its not. so i will peel the bark off and let it dry then take wood ONLY off of the belly correct?
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IMO yes correct and I think you can get your draw length and weight you want if you take it slow. Do you ever get out to Tillamook area?
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Here is a thread I started. It shows what the prepared stave looks like when it is ready for drying. I hope it helps.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,26421.0.html
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thanks for the pics helped alot will finish peeling bark off and start carving on it with the hand axe then set it in the shop for 1 week and then place it in room for another 3-5 weeks then start making it in to a 50-55# bow ;D thanks everybody for your advice/help and no i don't travel a hole lot so that's a no on the tillamook area
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You're welcome, good luck with your bow. We'll be hacking away at our vine maple bows at about the same time.
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almost done taking the bark off then gonna let it sit till Friday then going to take wood off of the belly then going to strap it to a 2x4