Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Jacob Parnell on June 15, 2013, 10:54:56 pm
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Hey, I'm sure you guys on the forum have gotten tonnes of these types of topics before, but my friend and I can literally find NO bow woods near out houses. Hemlock, Aspen and Butternut are all very plentiful, but none of these seem to be good for the build. I can find some Maples and Oaks around my house, but all are too large, and I'm not about to cut down a 2 foot thick tree to make 2 bows. There are some birch that would be acceptable to use though, however they are on private property.
So what do you think I should do?
Thanks so much,
BG
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Where do you live?
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If you live where hickory grows approach a land owner and ask if you can have a tree you will make him or her a bow in trade. Or google bow staves and pick from there. ;)
Greg
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I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. Around the Kawartha Lakes region.
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I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. Around the Kawartha Lakes region.
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If black locust grows up there that makes a good bow as well.
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If you live where hickory grows approach a land owner and ask if you can have a tree you will make him or her a bow in trade. Or google bow staves and pick from there. ;)
Greg
I'm pretty sure I don't, unfortunately, But the trade idea is great! The only problem with it is that this will be my first bow, so I'm not ready to make 2. Thank you!
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Another option that I have considered is to to to a logging yard and ask if you could buy a log. For a while I was looking for some black locust but found a bunch.
Look for one that is not all skinned up and the bark doesn't have any twist on it and as clear as you can get.
Greg
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I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. Around the Kawartha Lakes region.
[/quot
If black locust grows up there that makes a good bow as well.
Nope. It sucks. I have a "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees" with me and it says that black locust does not even grow in Canada.
Thank You!
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What specifically does grow up there in the way of hardwood?
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Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps :)
Greg
http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N
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What specifically does grow up there in the way of hardwood?
I'm not a hundred percent sure. Like I said before, Maple and oak are around here. I also have seen aspen, birch and elm. Ash, willow and poplar may be around here, but I don't remember seeing a lot of it.
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Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps :)
Greg
http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N
Wow! Thanks so much! This will definitely help me. I think I have seen some Bitternut Hickory around my area. I made sure to favourite that website! :)
Thanks so much.
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Look for some Eastern Hophornbeam (aka ironwood). I'm pretty sure that grows in southern Ontario and it is a great bow wood. Ask Marc St. Louis, I'm pretty sure he's in Ontario. Good luck.
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Hey, I'm sure you guys on the forum have gotten tonnes of these types of topics before, but my friend and I can literally find NO bow woods near out houses. Hemlock, Aspen and Butternut are all very plentiful, but none of these seem to be good for the build. I can find some Maples and Oaks around my house, but all are too large, and I'm not about to cut down a 2 foot thick tree to make 2 bows. There are some birch that would be acceptable to use though, however they are on private property.
So what do you think I should do?
Thanks so much,
BG
Your both only planning on building one bow????? Hahahahahahahaha if you build one you build a thousand more lol I promise
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Look for some Eastern Hophornbeam (aka ironwood). I'm pretty sure that grows in southern Ontario and it is a great bow wood. Ask Marc St. Louis, I'm pretty sure he's in Ontario. Good luck.
Hey. Thanks a lot! would "Ironwood" happen to be a very VERY strong wood? I chopped down a tree last winter, and it is so strong that I am unable to split it with a Fiskars x11 axe.
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Hey, I'm sure you guys on the forum have gotten tonnes of these types of topics before, but my friend and I can literally find NO bow woods near out houses. Hemlock, Aspen and Butternut are all very plentiful, but none of these seem to be good for the build. I can find some Maples and Oaks around my house, but all are too large, and I'm not about to cut down a 2 foot thick tree to make 2 bows. There are some birch that would be acceptable to use though, however they are on private property.
So what do you think I should do?
Thanks so much,
BG
Your both only planning on building one bow????? Hahahahahahahaha if you build one you build a thousand more lol I promise
:D Ya, it sounds fun. I may not have time to make more though, considering it takes a very long time to make one. I will be too busy with scool :P
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I live in London. You aren't that far away (geographically speaking) If you know what you are looking for ,you should find Hop hornbeam (ironwood) ,Elm, maybe Ash (if the bugs haven't got it all) , Oak ,Maple ,Yellow Birch, Lilac, Mountain Ash, Alders,...... the list goes on. You've a lot more to choose from than most. You likely have black and honey locust as well. Once you know your trees, you'll never be able to walk in the bush without looking for bow wood again. ;)
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what about yew?
chuck
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No yew around here unless planted. usually small and bushy. The other yew we have is a sprawling ground shrub. Good for medicine ,.............not for bows. Might find ERC but pretty rare as well. I just found a bunch by the R.R. track but they are getting real pissy about people going on their land.(Fines)
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Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps :)
Greg
http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N
Wow! Thanks so much! This will definitely help me. I think I have seen some Bitternut Hickory around my area. I made sure to favourite that website! :)
Thanks so much.
Bitter nut should work good. I have a couple of staves of that myself. I have used shagbark to make 5 out o fthe seven bows I have made so far and it works great. Hickory is a very tough wood that will tolerate mistakes in the tillering process and still shoot good. Plus you can heat treat the dickens out of it and it will shoot good. It does like to soak up humidity so give it 4 or 5 coats of a good quality poly.
Here is a pict of what it looks like finished ;) It is my current favoriate.
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Look for some Eastern Hophornbeam (aka ironwood). I'm pretty sure that grows in southern Ontario and it is a great bow wood. Ask Marc St. Louis, I'm pretty sure he's in Ontario. Good luck.
Thanks SO much everyone. After some research, I think Hophornbeam is my golden bow wood. I believe there is one in the forest behind my house.
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What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.
What does that mean?
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I live in London. You aren't that far away (geographically speaking) If you know what you are looking for ,you should find Hop hornbeam (ironwood) ,Elm, maybe Ash (if the bugs haven't got it all) , Oak ,Maple ,Yellow Birch, Lilac, Mountain Ash, Alders,...... the list goes on. You've a lot more to choose from than most. You likely have black and honey locust as well. Once you know your trees, you'll never be able to walk in the bush without looking for bow wood again. ;)
Alright. Thanks a lot, but I thought ash was a crappy bow wood.
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Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps :)
Greg
http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N
Wow! Thanks so much! This will definitely help me. I think I have seen some Bitternut Hickory around my area. I made sure to favourite that website! :)
Thanks so much.
Bitter nut should work good. I have a couple of staves of that myself. I have used shagbark to make 5 out o fthe seven bows I have made so far and it works great. Hickory is a very tough wood that will tolerate mistakes in the tillering process and still shoot good. Plus you can heat treat the dickens out of it and it will shoot good. It does like to soak up humidity so give it 4 or 5 coats of a good quality poly.
Here is a pict of what it looks like finished ;) It is my current favoriate.
Thanks! I love that snake skin backed bow! On second thought, I don't think I have any Hickory here. The distribution map in my tree book says that it is not in my area.
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why dont you go ahead and make a bow or two out of some of the lesser woods and gain some experience learning to use your tools and tillering skills. when you aquire some better wood you wll have a better chance of building a shooter.
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I read somewhere that osage orange grows in southern ontario ,but not 100 percent on that!
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Alright. Thanks a lot, but I thought ash was a crappy bow wood.
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Lies!!!!!!
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I read somewhere that osage orange grows in southern ontario ,but not 100 percent on that!
Rare, well kept secret trees!
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What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.
What does that mean?
That is specific gravity of the wood the higher the number the more dense/hard the wood is. That is why osage is prized for bows it has a high specific gravity making it a good bow wood. shag bark hickory is high as well.
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What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.
What does that mean?
That is specific gravity of the wood the higher the number the more dense/hard the wood is. That is why osage is prized for bows it has a high specific gravity making it a good bow wood. shag bark hickory is high as well.
Alright, cool
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I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. Around the Kawartha Lakes region.
[/quot
If black locust grows up there that makes a good bow as well.
Nope. It sucks. I have a "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees" with me and it says that black locust does not even grow in Canada.
Thank You!
Your book is right, to a point. I live in London, Ontario and in the parks and surrounding areas have a ton of black locust trees growing here. They were introduced a very long time ago and have became pretty well established. It was planted here for railway ties and fence posts because of the rot resistant characteristics of the wood and its tenacity. I don't think it grows as far North as Kawartha lakes region.
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Look for some Eastern Hophornbeam (aka ironwood). I'm pretty sure that grows in southern Ontario and it is a great bow wood. Ask Marc St. Louis, I'm pretty sure he's in Ontario. Good luck.
I live in this region and that tree is pretty abundant.
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Where are you , Munkenstein?