Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: redwasp on February 03, 2008, 12:10:01 pm

Title: sweet gum anyone?
Post by: redwasp on February 03, 2008, 12:10:01 pm
anybody tried this wood. Seems to me it would work well, does'nt check or crack and is hard as hell.
Title: Re: sweet gum anyone?
Post by: Hillbilly on February 03, 2008, 12:17:15 pm
There's a guy who used to post on here made some sweetgum bows, he said it was decent bow wood.
Title: Re: sweet gum anyone?
Post by: Pat B on February 03, 2008, 12:33:26 pm
You'll play heck trying to split out a stave! ;D Talk about interlocking grain. :o  I remember as a kid spending one whole winter trying to split a piece of gum firewood. Never did get it split.    Pat 
Title: Re: sweet gum anyone?
Post by: wvfknapper on February 03, 2008, 01:33:22 pm
LOL ,, Pat I know what ya mean,, I stuck two wedges and a maul in a block one time as a young man, learned real fast what gum was  ;D White elm is about as bad,, I beat on a 6 inch log for about half an hour a few weeks ago,, thought it was red elm when I cut it and didn't want to waste it so I knocked it apart,, took the other section home and kerfed it with a chainsaw.

Gum if cut from a live tree and stored well should make a good bow, wide and long.

wvflintknapper