Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: toomanyknots on May 03, 2013, 11:55:53 pm
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I picked up some lumber labled "hard maple" today, so I have no idea what actual maple it is. Anybody use "hard maple" lumber for bows? I was thinking or trying a couple light weight warbows, is this a bad idea? While we are on that subject, anybody every make a warbow with a jatoba belly?
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Its sugar maple.
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I picked up some that said solid maple kinda had that same question
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Good question, not sure if they carry it around here but ive never "seen" the tag "hard maple" id be interested to find out if some of the lumber they carry doesnt have that tag but does come under hard maple.
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Hard maple is my favorite bow wood. I have made a number of good bows with maple boards. Most of mine have been wider flat bows - 66-67" long by 1 3/4 - 2 inches wide. Never tried a war bow.
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I've made some hard maple bows and they turned out good. My question is, what is a light weight warbow? ;)
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I use it all the time, great stuff
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I've made some hard maple bows and they turned out good. My question is, what is a light weight warbow? ;)
I am thinking 100# @ 32". The wood is not super dense, but not super light either, alot denser than soft maple of course. The rings are thinner and semi tight.
EDIT: I wanted to get some hickory, but the freaking woodcraft that sells the hickory I buy got rid of all of it, along with half of all the other wood they carry! >:(
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Maples are divided in two categories, based on the properties of its wood. There's soft maple and hard maple. Both types are not one single species necessarily, but are a group of closely related maple species with very similar physical properties. Hard maple is usually sugar maple, Acer saccharum, but not always. Either way, the hard maples species are all good for bows, while the soft maples are lousy. I'd be a bit hesitant to make a 100#@32" bow out of a single board of maple, but it could probably be done. As always, look for the best grain you can find, which is more difficult to read than many other woods. Swirls are common in maples, so be critical.
Jatoba has been used in warbows. I haven't tried it myself, but it is pretty good for a belly. It tends to vary in density, with some extraordinarily dense pieces mixed in a pile of boards. Jatoba is less elastic than its density suggests, though. That means it tends to chrysal sooner than a wood with similar SG, such as ipé. To accommodate for its lower elasticity, create a flat belly and design the bow maybe 10% wider than you would with an ipé belly.