Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Lee Lobbestael on May 31, 2014, 04:01:30 pm
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Hey guys can anyone tell me what kind of maple this is? I'm hoping it will make a good bow because its already cut, split and drying.
(http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx203/Lee1_photos/maple3.jpg) (http://s756.photobucket.com/user/Lee1_photos/media/maple3.jpg.html)(http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx203/Lee1_photos/maple2.jpg) (http://s756.photobucket.com/user/Lee1_photos/media/maple2.jpg.html)(http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx203/Lee1_photos/maple1.jpg) (http://s756.photobucket.com/user/Lee1_photos/media/maple1.jpg.html)
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that is a "big leaf maple"should make a good bow.
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I don't know where you are located, but If I saw that in KY I'd say it was a red maple, a type of soft maple..
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i'm up in Michigan. southern Michigan
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I looked online and could not id it myself. It has very large leaves.
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that's red maple
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Acer_rubrum_drawing.png)
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I looked online and could not id it myself. It has very large leaves.
Could you specify "very large"? It's a bit subjective... Could you measure a leaf?
Big leaf maple should not be growing naturally in Michigan, but could be planted. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) should. Your leaves appear too broad for red maple, which also has only three points in the leaves. Sugar maple has five points like the ones you pictured. So it looks closest to sugar maple to me...
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The leaves are approximately 4" across. all the sugar maple leaves I looked at online did not have sawtooth edges. And yeah It seems to broad for a red maple
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Looks like red maple. The other choice would be silver maple and that would be poor bow wood. Check on it in a month or so since you got time invested in it and go from there. Red maple will make a bow that shoots good.
Tracy
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The bark looks like Sugar Maple to me. If it has a lot of heartwood then it's most likely Red.
It's easy to identify Red versus Sugar in the Winter. Many of the leaves of the Sugar Maple stay on the tree nearly all Winter and are a pale tan color and the leaf bud is pointy rather than rounded.
It's really the wrong time of year to be cutting bow wood though.
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That is red maple. Look at the bottom of the indentations between the leaf lobes to tell the difference between red maple and sugar maple. Sugar maple has a rounded bottom like a u-shape while the soft maples will have a v-shaped indentation. Yours definitely has the v-shaped bottom. Heres a pic of a red maple tree from my yard for reference. Most of the leaves on it are from 4-5" wide.
Marc, I think for most people the right time of year to cut bow wood is determined by when they have time to get out there and do it ;D
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Sorry forgot to post the pic, here ya go.
(http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee503/Jamey_Burkhart/null_zps05e66fea.jpg)
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Thanks for your input guys! Well i'm pretty sure its not a silver maple Tracy because my parents have silver maples and they have more of a shag bark and in between the lobes on the leaves it indents very deeply. Marc, Why is it the wrong time of year to cut wood? Sap is up and the bark just falls off. Thats why I waited till now
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Marc, Why is it the wrong time of year to cut wood? Sap is up and the bark just falls off. Thats why I waited till now
The wood swells from all the sap and when it dries you can get some vicious check marks
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The wood swells from all the sap and when it dries you can get some vicious check marks
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Oh I did not know that! Can I spray the back with something to prevent this?
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That is red maple. Look at the bottom of the indentations between the leaf lobes to tell the difference between red maple and sugar maple. Sugar maple has a rounded bottom like a u-shape while the soft maples will have a v-shaped indentation. Yours definitely has the v-shaped bottom. Heres a pic of a red maple tree from my yard for reference. Most of the leaves on it are from 4-5" wide.
Bingo...okie nailed it how to distinguish the two...
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I thought red maple has three lobes and red stems tho?
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Red maple can have both three lobes or five lobes. What gives it away is the V-shaped leaf base as said, and the serrations on the edges
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Red maple can have both three lobes or five lobes. What gives it away is the V-shaped leaf base as said, and the serrations on the edges
This.
It's red maple. I live in northern Michigan and I have these all over the property around my house. The ones around me mostly have five lobes, but in other areas almost every tree will have three. Some will have leaves with five and leaves with three. It varies.
I have a few saplings that I considered making kids bows with, but in general red is considered to be a "soft" maple.
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Will it still make a good bow with maybe 2" wide limbs and 67" long for a 28" draw?
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The bark looks like Sugar Maple to me. If it has a lot of heartwood then it's most likely Red.
It's easy to identify Red versus Sugar in the Winter. Many of the leaves of the Sugar Maple stay on the tree nearly all Winter and are a pale tan color and the leaf bud is pointy rather than rounded.
It's really the wrong time of year to be cutting bow wood though.
I'll have to disagree with you on cutting bow wood Marc. Anytime is a good time and when the sap is up on whitewoods is the best time if you plan on using the outermost growth under the cambium layer as your bow's back.
Tracy