Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: recurve shooter on June 15, 2008, 09:08:48 pm

Title: southern red ceder
Post by: recurve shooter on June 15, 2008, 09:08:48 pm
for some reason ceder is my favorite wood. i guess its cuz its all over down here and it looks great, and well, its the only wood i have had any real success with. :-\

do any of yall use this wood with any succcess? id like to see some pics of yalls bows if ya can. ;)
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: knightd on June 15, 2008, 11:45:34 pm
Do you have any pics?
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: recurve shooter on June 19, 2008, 02:19:26 pm
naw. wish i did. i, cuz im an idiot, broke it rideing on f fourweeler. i had it strapped down on the back rack and somehow the string got caught under the tire, and i think yall know the rest. SNAP.
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 20, 2008, 12:26:40 am
I have made several bows from eastern red cedar and from rocky mountain juniper ( which is almost identical.)  I like the wood.  It sure is pleasant to work with and can make a wonderful bow.  If your cedar is similar I can see why you would like it.
Ron
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 20, 2008, 12:28:53 am
Dang,  What happened to the photos?  Well , try again.   Ron
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 20, 2008, 12:30:27 am
and again
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 20, 2008, 02:32:43 am
and again!  A little persistence is a good thing for a bowyer to have.(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/Plainsbowunstrungprofileafterrain.jpg)<a href="http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/?action=view&current=Plainsbowunstrungprofileafterrain.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/Plainsbowunstrungprofileafterrain.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/cedarELBleftside.jpg)
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 20, 2008, 03:19:29 am
(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc270/May-Pumphrey/CedarDbowandoldpost-1.jpg)
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: recurve shooter on June 20, 2008, 08:16:32 pm
wow. thats awsome. mine was just a stick bow. but i liked it all the same. the wood is easy to work, thats why i like it.
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: cracker on June 21, 2008, 09:45:02 am
MP
 Now thats some good looking work.
R.C.
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: medicinewheel on June 22, 2008, 03:00:05 pm

beautiful bows...more detrails pleeease!!!
frank
Title: Re: southern red ceder
Post by: M-P on June 22, 2008, 09:21:35 pm
Hi,  The three bows I showed above are all made from cedar off my inlaw's ranch in Cherry county Nebraska.   The first bow is made from the  upper side of two different limbs.  I glued the handle splice with some recflex to give that gull wing profile.  It's 2 inches wide for most of the limb, about  68" tip to tip and 42# at 28".   The handle is narrowed to ~ 1.25".    I backed it with two thin layers of elk back sinew and then covered it with prairie rattler skins.   The upper limb broke during a 3D meet after ~ 2 years of use :-X : >:( :- :'(, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  About two years later I went back to the same tree and selected another tree limb.  A new splice, reworked sinew and new snake skins and Ta Da!  As pictured the hendle is wrapped with rawhide.  I found the rawhide to be noisy and uncomfortably rough, so I replaced it with a leather grip made of braintanned moosehide.  Much quieter and very comfy!
The  second bow is an English longbow, complete with  horn nocks and an inlaid horn strike plate.   It's 1.5 inches wide. ~ 68" long, but came in under weight at 38# draw weight, so I gave it to a friend.
The third one is pictured with a stave I had just collected.  I had an eastern woodland bow in mind when I laid it out for cutting, but I left a very high crowned belly just to keep a strip of heartwood.  It has a thin deer sinew backing and western diamondback skins.  It's ~ 1.5 inches wide, with a narrowed handle, 68" long and 40# at 28".