Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Rcdeer on July 10, 2013, 05:04:25 pm
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hey guys got me 2 trees...one fer sure is ironwood...other is said to be..one has "bark" in 1/4" wide strips... other is smooth...and heavy..anyway one is 3" diameter other over 5"..both over 8' long..just cut monday..so do you split then in half? quarter saw? thirds? any ideas help! thanks! RC
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just take a wedge and a mallet and split them in half. The 5" log you might be able to get a coupla skinny staves off the split halves, if you're careful
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that sounds good..to start..paint ends and let dry?
.the small tree is too small?
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nope, 3" is splittable for hophornbeam, I've split a 2" sapling and it went down the center just fine. Paint is ok, but I prefer Elmer's school glue, I think it does a better job. You can rough out the staves so they dry faster too
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You will find cracks already forming in the ends, chose one and split it there.
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There is one critical step that everyone has forgotten to tell you about, in fact, the most important step: You need to cut down the tree first.
Much easier to split that way.
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Always the jokester aint ya Mr. Halverson. >:D
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Feel free to split a standing tree and report back any laughter you encounter...other than that of people passing by! >:D
Good luck with your staves, Rcdeer. Post pics as you work 'em!
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an JW has found the root of my problem! i'll let ya know how it works out,,,felling was easy, gravity was with me..hopin to do this before i go to rendezvous sunday............havin a small water problem around here gotta be dried up first..thank you!
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good luck with your logs/futre staves. i got 2 maple logs 48" long that i need to split wich are 7" and 8" in diamitre.
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well.. I may have waited longer than planned,,,was at n'eastern for two weeks then catchin up round here but today split the hornbeam and the hophornbean,, the hop was smaller diameter but longer and split easier...I started at the end an let them split natural like,,I'm really not sure what I have lol. the hornbeam, (the smooth barked ironwood) was ,,is, so stringy.. but there's alot there the other ironwood with the lil bark on it (hophorn) sorta split around the middle,leavin half with the center in it (if that makes sense.. I painted the ends an put them hanging up in cellar...truth is they about whipped me afore I got them split..prolly should cut to length first,but not sure what part I might be able to use,, guess I got a lil time before they dry give me time to figure out how to go from here...wish I could see it once.readin up don't much help,,jus can't "get it" yup sad ..but that's how I is,, If I can get some pics I'll try to post, you guys always need a laugh..! any clue how long it'll be before dry enough? and did I wait to long to split them? must be just a month since cut them. thanks!
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the 2 smaller ones are hophornbeam bigger diameter one is hornbeam (smoothbarked ironwood?) not sure these will work for bow,,, small ones are 9' plus, larger one is 7'+
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/rcdeer55/HOPHORNBEAM004_zps3962d3a9.jpg)
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/rcdeer55/HOPHORNBEAM006_zps3d8d4363.jpg)
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/rcdeer55/HOPHORNBEAM007_zpsc81ffa1e.jpg)
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s132/rcdeer55/HOPHORNBEAM005_zps85effe6b.jpg)
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Looks like some good stuff to me !!!
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I like that reply! lol...
am I suppose to take bark off now? or wait?.....................sorry so uninformed but hard to get info from scratch,,when you know nothing to start with,,
my advantage is I can get more an I heat with wood lol
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Goodluck with that twist ! Yes peel the bark and seal the back and ends
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lol..if it was osage the twist be cool ...not sure about that one,,pretty twisted,,,that's the hornbeam.. stringy too...
not at all sure what that'll do ..
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The twist will be fine you'll just have to correct it which I hate correcting twist
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I'm not so good at correctin stuff...but it Screams Start With Me!...
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I actually had a stave worse than that for my second or third try at makin a bow.
I got it straight enough using steam , It failed,but that was because my tillering skill sucked,
But i learned a lot from that one so go for it ;)
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Get the bark off and seal the back and ends with shellac !
Lay out a bow on the back with a pencil and cut just outside of the lines
Then reduce the belly a bit and wait on it to dry !
Twist will come out later when we heat it up
If you don't have some sort of form for straitening make one while your wood is drying !
Have fun !!
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not lookin good,,(from the untrained eye) bark off, ends & back sealed.....but sooooo stringy!...that normal for hop hornbeam? or I cut wrong time of year?
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I think you are fine, stringy wood often makes good bows! And as for twist, pick up an inexpensive heat gun from the paint and stain section from the hardware store and we'll walk you thru straightening out any kinks. Any species of ironwood you can find on this planet responds to heat very well. Or so Marc St Louis has proven time and again.
If you have the patience to feed and care for a flinchrock rifle, you got the necessaries for makin' a bow from a corkscrewed ironwood stave! I speak from Colerain B weight swamped button rifled barrelled experience! Hoowah!
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thank you JW!!,,glad I asked..cause first thought was firewood..! we'll keep it....., dryin now.then we'll scrape away anything that ain't bow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,flintlock? I wasn't this scared when I seen them!