Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Utmostcone on January 05, 2013, 04:36:49 pm
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Hello all. I want your opinion on my board bow plan. I want to make a Pyramid style bow (out of Cedar). I have a board already with very straight grain no knots. its 72'' long 3'' wide. I plan on making a 4'' grip. the limbs beginning at 3'' wide near the grip and tapering to 1/2'' or 3/4'' at the tips. I don't know when to start tapering the limbs down though, should i start at mid limb or sooner? Also i'm going to glue on a handle using LePage Pro Carpenters Glue, i hope it holds up :-\ .
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what type of ceder is it?!
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Im not 100% sure but i think its Eastern Red Cedar. its got a sort of very light pink/brown color
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What does it smell like? ;D
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ive always wondered if you could make a bow using hickory and western red ceder
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^^ it smells like cedar :D idk the difference in smell between western and eastern
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If it doesn't smell very strong and very very good, it is likely not ERC. ERC is also kinda purple.
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oh well :-\. im going to go along with it anyway to see how it turns out. would heat treating the belly make it better any? also i'll back it with linen or silk
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i highly suggest backing it with something like hickory or rawhide to avoid any breaks at all.
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Its hard to see the color in the pic but it looks like western cedar. Western cedar is weak and brittle and wont make a decent bow even if it is backed with something else. Save yourself the time and effort and dont mess with it. If its erc it can be backed with sinew, rawhide or hickory an make a good bow. Erc will have a purplish color to it.
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I haven't reduced the board any and it is already floor tillered. its bending just slightly.since I'm in the eastern part of the continent I guessed that ERC would be more common but perhaps not.
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thanks for the advice:) ,and if it does break (or rather when it does break) i may just glue it back together if its not too bad and hang it on the wall.... or burn it >:D
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Honestly I don't think you should waste your precious time on that. Even if all you have is a Home Depot you can spend $6 for an oak board and have a fair chance at making a decent shooter. There are some things that are worth the gamble and some that aren't. Western red cedar is not, in my opinion. It's just not cut out to be a bow.
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Tried it once a long time ago and I would of had a better chance of making a bow out of a 2x4
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this will be an experiment for me to test paper bag backing and to work on my handle shaping abilitys
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Western red cedar makes Great guitar tops , but awful bows (tried it ... AARGH !!! ) ... We’ve made many long bows of Eastern Red Cedar (backed with thin Hickory ) and those were WONDERFUL bows .. Light in hand , great cast , no hand shock , and glued up with some Perry reflex, ended up perfectly straight (No string follow) , plus were nice and easy to make in the traditional D shape ELB cross section , thick of limb , like Yew, and smelled great while working on them ... The shavings went into a cloth bag and then into the closet to keep the bugs away ...
ERC is the way to go .... unless you’re making a guitar ... (gotta’ remember , the bow is the predecessor (ancestor) of the guitar )