Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Loganic on March 11, 2023, 12:45:07 pm

Title: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Loganic on March 11, 2023, 12:45:07 pm: Hey yall,

This marks the beginning of my fourth attempt to make an ERC bow. This time, I'm going with mostly sapwood and am trying my best to avoid the impatient tillering of my youth. I have a board here that has remarkably straight grain all the way down with the exception of a knot about 6" away from one end. Big knot that goes all the way through.

See the pictures below to see how that looks. Asking for advice... should I cut the bow down to the 59" of clean wood or work around the knot? I know there are vulnerabilities either way but am leaning towards working with a 59" board. I'm only shooting for #40-45 in draw weight so hopefully with so much sapwood it won't be too bad.

:BB
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Loganic on March 11, 2023, 12:48:33 pm: That third one there is weirdly distorted... the board is most certainly not that thin! ::) Let me try again with that one....
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Pat B on March 11, 2023, 01:51:58 pm: I've seen good ERC sapwood bows but they were made from staves, not boards. I don't think I'd trust an ERC board for a bow unless it had a hard backing.
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: superdav95 on March 11, 2023, 03:15:34 pm: Quote from: Pat B on March 11, 2023, 01:51:58 pm
I've seen good ERC sapwood bows but they were made from staves, not boards. I don't think I'd trust an ERC board for a bow unless it had a hard backing.

Plus one on this advise. Hard backing at minimum. Boo backed perhaps.
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Hamish on March 11, 2023, 06:58:28 pm: The board looks to be around 4-5" wide. That should allow you to easily build almost any design of bow for the full length of the stave, and totally avoid the large knot.
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Loganic on March 14, 2023, 03:39:18 pm: Quote
I don't think I'd trust an ERC board for a bow unless it had a hard backing.

Sounds good. I believe you. However, I do have quite a few good boards here so I'll try this smaller bow without a backing and when that explodes I'll do a backing like I should ;D

The unbeaten path oughta be proven wrong sometime! Probably will post an update next week.

Thanks yall!
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: bradsmith2010 on March 14, 2023, 05:29:44 pm: its not an unbeaten path,,, :) the advice here is usually based on a few explosions,, ;D
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Loganic on March 14, 2023, 05:58:17 pm: Oh yes, fair enough! But it's unbeaten for me at least ;) I need another big explosion in my system it seems. I hear it's a good cleansing ritual
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: George Tsoukalas on March 14, 2023, 10:21:49 pm: Yes, it is cleansing, Loganic. I think I had about 5 while shooting and a few more on the rope and pulley.
Explosions made me learn about the importance of straight grained boards.
The grain on the ERC board is all over the place...a recipe for disaster.
Oh and ants are board killers no matter how small.
The Thompson brothers, if memory serves, used Tenn. red cedar backed with hickory.
Jawge
Title: Re: ERC 90% Sapwood Board - 59" clean or 66" with a knot?
Post by: Aksel on March 15, 2023, 04:30:34 am: you probably are getting very good advice BUT there´s value in breaking your own bows. You always learn something along the way!