Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: bow101 on May 11, 2013, 11:52:31 pm
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Anyone ever try making a bow out of chestnut.? THere is some horse chestnut trees around here.
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Horse chestnut is closely related to buckeye, doubt it would make good bow wood. Chinese chestnut or american chestnut are dense like oak and likely similar for bow wood.. I could be wrong, I'm sure someone has tried these...
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Only way to know if it is good bow wood is to try it yourself
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Wapiti nailed it on the ID.
I have made a bow of American chestnut but backed it with hickory. American chestnut is not super strong in tension. I used lumber recovered from an old barn and the wood was wormy. It made AWESOME sounding dulcimers but I found it caused compression frets. I drove tooth picks in to shore up the holes. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,35509.msg467974.html#msg467974
I plan on making a similar bow out of a cousin to the American Chestnut known as the Ozark Chinquapin. The tree is also declining due to the Chinese chestnut blight but a few exist. One blew down in SW MO and a few of us are making objects to use in programs to raise awareness of its decline and restoration efforts.