Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: loefflerchuck on August 10, 2011, 04:00:50 am
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I made this Miwok style hook nocked bow heavier than ones I made in the past and with a shorter draw. The bow is 45.5" ntn and draws 70# at 23" This is one of the best flight bows I have made to date. I would like to try it with a flight arrow. It cast the mock orange and oak foreshafted 30" arrow in the full draw picture 211 yards. I tested it with 8 other bows and this one and a juniper sinew bow were the strongest shooters.
The bow is made of a stout branch of incense cedar with 4 layers of elk sinew. Working recurves. 3 ply sinew string with otter fur silencer. I included a picture of the branch I used. It takes a bit of searching and tree climbing skills to find the right branch. The branches grow with a sunward bend. I always use the top of the branch so it starts with a reflex.
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Cool little bow.awsome background on the money shot 8)
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Cool bow,nice tiller. :)
Pappy
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Sweet lil shorty.
How heavy an arrow were you shooting? And how wide is your limbs?
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Very nice bow Chuck, it looks powerful.
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Awesome! excellent work Chuck.
Tattoo Dave
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Absolutely love this bow and this style of bow Chuck! Very nice work on the tiller.
Is Incense Cedar related to Eastern Red Cedar or Juniper? I love the looks of the heart wood on this wood.
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Thank you, and Blackhawk, the limbs are 1 5/8 above tha handle. 1 5/8 mid limb 6/8+ below the nock. Lemon shape cross section. The arrow weighs 28.2 grams.
Lee, Incense cedar is a cedar, not a juniper. But it is not related to Alaskan or western cedar. It is of the genus calocedrus. The only calocedrus that grows wild in the Americas. The other 2 are Asian. It is very light .37 wsg. Have never tried it unbacked, but is one of the best compression wood I have used.
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Great looking little bow. Thing looks powerful in your hand. So thick!
Thanks Chuck for the info on Calocedrus. As soon as I read it I looked it up and BINGO! I have been trying to identify a huge tree in the courtyard of an apartment building (in Seattle) that was cut down and ran through a chipper :'( I managed to rescue from the woodsmen 6 or 7 large (4"+ dia) reflexed branches. I thought I was gettin juniper cause the tree looks like a juniper but the Mahogany colored heartwood (when green, after moisture leaves it becomes more pinkish brown) and the beautiful smell told me it wasn't juniper. It smells more like cedar incense (not cedar chest - ERC- smell). The wet sap was more like an oil or resin, not really sticky at all. When I dry heated a still green piece to reflex a tip, the moisture in the wood turned to liquid oil and mass amounts flowed down the wood with an almost blood or plasma colored. The bark is different from juniper also. More like western red cedar bark, it peels off in great wide long pieces and you can strip out the innermost bark (like WRC) for basket strips and I have a lot of it. Hope to moisten it (to make it a little more flexible), cut it into strips and use it for handle wraps on the bows I get from the wood. I have a couple of 6' highly reflexed staves with not a single knot or pin in the sapwood. Several shorter ones with no knots either. The heartwood is probably as dense as yew. And that heavenly smell ::)
Do you think It should try using it without a backing with all that flawless back surface. I kind of thought of sinewing the shorter ones but the long ones may be ok. If you think about it, the 6'-7' pieces I have were the backstraps supporting 20' long-800lb horizontal (almost) branches so that sapwood should pretty strong, eh. The amount of natural reflex worries me more than anything. May be a bear to tiller.
And that poor beautiful tree ran through the chipper. Oh the Humanity! Such a waste of beautiful lumber (this was a 60' tree). I sure wish I could have saved more of it.
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Hey Randman, need any Osage ;D >:D?
That wood sounds heavenly guys. It is amazing how many gorgeous heat wood type trees you have on the West coast. Yew, WRC, this stuff, etc. Very cool.
Thanks for sharing all the info, love this kind of stuff.
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very nice bow :D any chance of me getting a pc for a bow like that? james
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Randman, lucky you, 7 branches. Do they split with no twist? I have made lots of bows like this. I started with small trunks then moved to branches and can say the branches are like a different (way better) wood. I got into these little bows while living in the bay area and seeing them in museums. Some of the most well made bows native American bows I have ever seen. There is lots of info about these bows. The Miwok gets the credit but they were said to be made also by the Western Mono (Paiute). I stayed true to the info I got and made these while still green ( this worked great in Cali but the ones I brought back to Utah to make warped bad till I got a humidifier in a room of our house and kept it over 50%).
I always just figured they would not hold up without a sinew back but would like to try one to see what it takes to break. Do not worry about the reflex. The picture I posted here had a huge reflex, then 6 layers of sinew, all sapwood 43.5" 46# @ 23.5#. Another all sap with 5 layers is 39" and drawn 25" and it's 5 years old and still in one piece. Good luck Randman and look up Miwok bows for help.
Robustus, what do you mean by pc? If you are asking for a branch I think I can get one for the man who makes the most beautiful bows I have seen on this site( I like composites).
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That's a beauty! Any interesting bow woods in the salt lake area to look for? I might be there all weekend.
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Gundoc, my favorites in order. Tons of Utah and Rocky mt juniper, tall strait serviceberry and chokecherry abound in the mt canyons, as well as lots of gamble oak. There is also mountain mahogany, but its really hard to fing a strait twist free piece.
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Thanks! If I end up spending the weekend here, I'll know what to look for. Once again, beauty of a bow!
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What are you doing in Utah Josh? and what part?
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I drive a truck and delivered to wellington this AM and I am now in Provo waiting until morning to wash out my trailer. If my dispatcher doesn't come up with anything tomorrow, I could find myself strolling through the canyons all weekend, seeing the sights and continuing my never ending quest for the ultimate bow wood!
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I see alot of black locust around SLC. I have all I could ever want at home, just surprised to see so much of it this far west.
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All the locust's I have seen are in peoples yards or parks so I don't cut them. One more tree/weed I didnt mention it Russian olive. It is invasive and grows everywhere.
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On the Russian Olive...we are covered in the stuff (very invasive as you mentioned) but ours are all very short/shrubby. Have you made a bow from this wood before? What is the minimum diameter you'd consider usable? Many thanks~
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Lee, If you are in Utah you must just be seeing young trees. They get quite large and the challenge is getting through the thorns to cut a branch. Have not formed one into a bow yet, but have heard it makes a good one.
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Thanks Chuck, I am in MI but I am sure there are more mature trees of the Olive...I probably just have to look around a little closer. May have to try cut one, let it dry over the winter and try one.
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hey chuck,that is a great bow and fine work...what books did you read to find info on the bows and how they where made...when i lived in southern oregon that cedar was every where...thanks john
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The Reflexed Sinew-Backed Bow Of The Sierra Miwok by Craig Bates. and Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region by SA Barrett and EW Gifford. These two have the best descriptions.
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Chuck: I love the bow, recently am researching a bit on the Miwok style. It's on my "bucket list." Especially, I like the background scenery in your pic. It would be great to do a shoot out there.
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How the heck did i miss thisn.
This is great stuff.
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Wonderful bow.
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Wonderful bow -i'd like to see what a rock head could do to a deer with that!
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Excellent bow, I like that one ALLOT! Great little ambush bow! Well done.
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wow 70 lbs! all i got to say is skills....major skills. and i shoot bare finger myself but that just looks down right painfull.....but seriously that is probably the most immpressive bow ive ever seen
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Love it!
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Great looking bow. How wide did ya make it at the handle?
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very nice,.. I like. good job
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Turtle, The handle is simply brain tanned deer cut into a strip and wrapped about the bow