Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: dane lund on March 19, 2015, 09:03:13 am
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Gentlemen,
I've see.no maple used as a backer, and vine maple for self bows and was wondering........
I build Penn/Ky longrifles, mostly out of sugar Maple. Acer Saccharim.
My question is.... Will it make a good selfbow/board bow?
If boards, how should it be sawn?
Your help greatly appreciated.
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Marc St Louis just posted a maple backed osage recurve yesterday and there are lots of examples of maple(sugar) and vine maple selfbows here on PA.
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Use any search engine and type "maple board bow". You'll find hundreds of examples, many of which will direct you to Primitive Archer and Paleo Planet. Makes a great bow. Easy to work, light weight and good cast.
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Just don't try to use fancy gunstock material for a bow. The grain has to be straight.
Maple is one of the best woods you can find for a bow.
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I'm a crappy bow builder. But made quite a respectable longbow from a maple board. It's my daily shooter.
Straight grain, imo, is key.
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Yup maple makes a great bow i did a build a long in the how too's with a maple board
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There are many species of maple. Can I assume that sugar maple (the hardest/most dense) is the best?
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That's what i use
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I will sometimes buy flat sawn hard maple and chase a ring on it turning it into a stave. Not real hard to find straight grained maple boards. Maple makes great self bows.
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I'm not pro but the best board bow I've ever made was maple from a big box store. I've been shooting it for a couple of years now and still enjoy it.
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I own "The Gunsmith of Grenville County" and have drooled over it for years... I SO would love to be able to do what you do...
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I've made three maple selfbows from staves my personal one settled in at about 70lb after shooting it in, i have also found it to like heat treating helps with set. if you use a board it may not be as important sense it will be kiln dried, i'm in wet humid ohio so that plays a part i would think.
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Yes, it will. Jawge
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Probably not the right place to post this, but this is the last one I finished. Very dense piece of sugar maple. Was hoping to use some of the cut offs from these planks for bows.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/Smallpatch/RCA%2026/DSC00396_zpsa68e7657.jpg)
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holy cow thats pretty...
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I would recommend hard maple over oak for board bows, except for two things; The grain is harder to see (and thus it's harder to be sure you have the right board), and oak is easier to find. If you are careful, maple makes a very good board bow.
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Maple is turning into my favorite board bow wood. I've never come across overdried brittle maple like I do with hickory or oak.
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I've made several board bows using sugar maple. It's my favorite bow wood right now.