Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: TolkienFan on June 24, 2015, 10:17:54 pm
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Hi all, I'm new here. I started making bows about a month ago, and have made 4 board bows, and now want to try to split some logs and make some from staves. I am in the Raleigh/Durham area and there are tons of the trees below around. I need help making sure they are correctly identified and want to know which ones would be best for a beginner?
Photos 1 & 2. I don't know?
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I think Photos 3 & 4 are some type of Hickory?
I think Photos 5 & 6 are either Sugar Maple or Red Maple?
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Last two... I think this is a White Oak? Is that right?
I really appreciate any help! I am going to go tomorrow morning to harvest some.
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1st one looks like poplar, 2nd tree is hickory, it looks like mockernut hickory, and the third is red maple. Red maple has "V" shaped valleys between the leaf points while sugar has "U" shaped valleys between the leaf points. I think the 4th tree is some type of white oak, not sure which variety.
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Thanks! Which would you say is the best if I can find equally straight trees?
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You have poplar, hickory, red maple and red oak. The poplar would NOT be good bow wood. The hickory would be great. If you cut the hickory now or later in the summer the bark will peel off easily and that will be the back of your bow. That's the one I would cut for sure.
The red maple would be OK and the red oak OK, but I would go with the hickory for sure if it's straight. Find a good straight one and you'll have some good bow wood. Cut the log into 6'-0" to 6-6" lengths, split out your staves, peel the bark off the back and seal the ends and back with shellac. Store the staves outside for a few weeks under cover with good air flow but out of the sun. After that you could move them inside for further drying.
At that point you can reduce one or two to your rough bow dimensions and it will dry faster. You may want to clamp it down to a form to keep it from warping or twisting until it dries another month or so.
Good luck and have fun!
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Thanks Drewster! Really appreciate it. I will post photos as I go.
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Ya I'd start with the hickory. Good luck let us know how it goes
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I do not think the poplar/tulip will work too good. Very soft and rots quickly.
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Quick Update: Went today to a spot I thought would be good, but could not find Hickory at all. :( Found mostly the tree below and couldn't figure out what it was but found one decent lil tree and will try it out. Found a really good Red Cedar and cut that down. The Hickory was right outside my building, so I hope I can find some more.
Does anyone know what this is? It was the most abundant tree.
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That is possibly a beech. Will you post pics of the bark?
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Yes, here is the bark.
It doesn't have sawlike edges on the leaves, which the photos of beech look like they do?
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Thats Sourwood. Oxydendrum arboreum. It grows well in our area (I'm about 2 hours east of you) I've heard it will make a good bow. I've got a couple staves drying right now. We'll see. The shoots make good arrows. Will
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Thanks Will! I'm glad it is said to make good bows, because its absolutely everywhere haha. Has anyone else had any experience with sourwood?
Here is our haul from today… 3x 3-5 inch Bamboo, 2x 5-6 inch Sourwood, and 2x 8-10 inch Red Maple. Can't wait for these things to dry and be ready to make a bow!
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Way to get out there. Gathering materials is a fun part of the experience. Possibilities abound.
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the oak is not white it is a pin oak in the red oak family. a southern red oak will have a turkey foot leaf..many species of oak fall in red oak family ..the slick bark tree looks like beech.. good wood..your best wood shown is the hickory no doubt..sourwood has a cross intertwining grain similar to dogwood... tough to work heavy wood, will make a good bow but will take set..top pic is no doubt poplar...soft wood brittle when dried, not that great for bows IMO but I never built one either..haha... .gut
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being in NC you have to treat that hickory right or it will be a dud.. it needs to be below 12 % and the only way to do that is conditioned air or hot box it with a fan... any time you take it out to work put back inside afterwards..Hickory is extremely hydroscopic and soaks up moisture like a sponge... if you dont get the moisture right she will take set ..get it right and she will stand against osage with authority..gut
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Thanks Chief and Gutpile for the advice and encouragement. That is good to know about hickory. Once you finish a hickory bow and have it at the right moisture content, what would you suggest sealing it with?
Also, what is the best brand/type of humidity reader?
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I seal mine with spar varathene out of the can....once sealed you don't have to worry about it outside any more...gut
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Can any of you guys help me identify this?
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Looks like another hickory tree or pecan. Don't know what type if it's hickory I don't have any hickory around me so don't know the specifics. Any nut or fruit bearing tree is usually good for bows.
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I believe that's a walnut tree in the last image. Might try scratching the nut shell with your fingernail, if its sour and stinky then its walnut.
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black walnut, cut into the heartwood and it should have a strong smell.
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That is most definitely Black Walnut. It grows all over the place where I grew up.
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black walnut, cut into the heartwood and it should have a strong smell.
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No need to do all that. Just crush a leave for the bitter smell if it doesn't have nuts :D Too valuable to cut down just to id..
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Thanks guys. I will take a nut and check it out. Walnut is a type of hickory, right? So it is good for bows?
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TolkienFan I just wanted to give you a more exact identification for the first pic in this thread. People have called it poplar, but that's probably regional. Lots of different trees are called poplar depending on where you're from -- for instance, here in Vermont the Eastern Cottonwood (Populus Deltoides) is called "poplar." It is truly in the poplar family genus (Populus). The wood is light colored relatively weak, split and warp prone when I've tried to use it for making things after sawing in my mill.
The tree in your first photo is actually so-called "yellow poplar" or "tulip tree", Liriodendron tulipfera, It is not a true poplar (Populus) at all. It's outward charactersitics are very different than the true poplars. The leaf is shiny and mitten shaped instead of oval, dull, and sawtoothed. The trees are tall and very straight, and the bark and flowers are very different.
I don't know if it is a good wood for bows, but I do believe it's a better wood than the real poplars for other uses, so there may be some confusion about whether "poplar" is usable, depending on what actual tree wood was tried. Just saying, maybe not rule it out just yet unless someone knows for sure about Liriodendron, and not Populus.
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Wow! I appreciate and am impressed by your thoroughness. I will look more into it. There are lots of them here, so if someone has any experience with them I might try it out.
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Tulip "Poplar" is what you will typically find as Poplar dowels or lumber at Home Depot. Good for arrows but not a bow wood.
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Hickories are in the Juglanaceae family (Black walnut- Juglans nigra) but way stronger wood than the walnuts. Black walnut will make a bow but I'd overbuild a black walnut bow. Use the wood under the bark for the back.
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Hey guys, I need help with another tree. Sorry, the ncforestry guide doesn't seem to help me beyond about 4-5 possibilities. I think I just have to little general knowledge about trees and how they describe them. Anyway here it is...
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Looks like chinese elm to me. Its usually planted as an ornamental in parking lots and such.
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Any idea if it's good for bows?
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Yes, chinese elm is a true elm and elm will make good bows, unlike siberian elm which isn't a true elm. CE is considered the hardest wooded elm by many. Like other elm the grain is interlocking, so it should be tooled as such(extra sharp blades to avoid tear out and maybe bandsaw splitting rather than wedges)
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Just a heads up for the OP and any others lurking and trying to ID their own trees ... There's a great app called leafsnap that has lots of useful hi-def images and info for identifying trees. It will also let you snap a pic on your phone or whatever of a leaf from the tree laid on a sheet of plain white printer paper, and it will attempt to automatically Identify it based on leaf shape, and will give you some likely hits.
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Thanks Dakota Kid! That is very helpful to know.
Thank you Little Ben! I have tried a couple other apps and they weren't very good. That will be huge for me.
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No prob TFan. I think leafsnap is specifically for the northeast, but a lot of species are common to the southeast and the whole eastern seaboard. Good luck on your staves. Keep us posted.
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Two more trees I need help identifying. A colleague and friend of mine let me cut these smaller trees at his place this morning. He had a beautiful hickory that he wouldn't let me cut :o :(, but, he let me cut these two bc they were in the way.
Looked em up but couldn't find what they were...
First two photos... this tree has 3 leaves that look like it might be a hickory, but then had a 4th leaf that was right below them. He had a lot of these.
Second two set of photos... the leaves looked kind of like the sourwood I found earlier but the bark was very different. It smelled REALLY sweet when I was stripping the bark.
Thanks Again!
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First one is a Beech. Second is a Cherry. Look around where the Beech trees are growing. In my area, Hophornbeam likes the same soil as Beech and I find them growing on the same ground. Will
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Thanks Will!
Oooh Cherry is one amazing smelling tree! :D
Both make decent bows right? I will try em out either way bc they were free, but it would be good to know if anyone has any experience with them?
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Anyone know specifically what type of cherry and beech they are?
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The beech is Fagus Grandifolia. The cherry, if wild, is Prunis serotina...aka black cherry, aka wild cherry. Both are prodigious in NC. I say "wild" because it could be a species of ornamental cherry, it is hard to tell from the photo. I don't know about the Beech, but I have heard of bows being made from Cherry. I however, have no experience with either. If you are a wood turner, Cherry turns well. And like you said, it smells nice. I turned a small lidded vessel from cherry with sapwood/heartwood. Turned out nice and my wife kept it for herself. One of the few things I have done that has ever impressed her! Will
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Thanks Will. I am pretty sure it is wild.
That sounds nice, I would love to turn some of the cherry. I almost bought a laithe at a yard sale yesterday, but I don't have any space for it and am going to move soon.
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DREWER roigh on all acounts. That hickorys is shag bark around here.
And pats also right on the last pic. it's beach. Granddady called therm indain unbrala's. Because there such a light wood way lighter that poplur. Lighting won't strike it.
Supper easy to carve and when the tree fills it in the cut's You'll be able see it for along time. I use gobbler hunt farm down there as well as along the potomac for a mile each way.
All along to ridge on WV side covering MCCOYS ferry are gun in place ments. There beach trees along it. With civil war sholiders carved names and dates. The oldest is JOHD H. 1st YK. There's a couple others in alot around 1900's.
One tree has wrighting burned into it. I put mine spring od 1980.
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Yes, chinese elm is a true elm and elm will make good bows, unlike siberian elm which isn't a true elm. CE is considered the hardest wooded elm by many. Like other elm the grain is interlocking, so it should be tooled as such(extra sharp blades to avoid tear out and maybe bandsaw splitting rather than wedges)
Siberian elm certainly is a true Elm.