Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: JonW on August 10, 2013, 03:29:22 pm
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Here is a Sassafras bow I've made recently. Been waiting for a while shooting it before I posted it. I may still eat some crow but so far so good. This is the lightest physical weight wood I have ever laid my hands on. I cut it in May and roughed it out and chased a ring as soon as I got it home. Let it dry inside the house and tillered it out a couple weeks ago. It is 66" long and 2 1/8" at the fades tapering to under 1/2" nocks. 45" @ 28". The grouping pic is from 20 yards. If you have ever watched me shoot you will know this bow is a shooter! I'm not totally happy with the tiller but it draws and shoots so good I don't think I will mess with it.
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Looks really nice. Is there a reason you chased a ring on this one? I haven't seen too many sassafras bows but I thought you treated it like a typical whitewood and use the outer ring as the back. This gets me excited to start on the 5" diameter sassafras tree I just cut on my uncle's place last weekend. Peeled the bark and sealed the ends. I'm waiting for it to dry some before splitting.
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You're going to love that bow for the time it holds up. They make for a very fast and springy bow...............Art B
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Nice bow! Sassafras ??? Don't see many bows made from that. Great job on it Jon. Hope it holds up for you.
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I chased a ring because of the bad things I've heard about Sassafras as a self bow. I figured most of the bows made from this wood were treated like other white woods and just had the bark taken off. I didn't trust the sapwood so I took it off. Time will tell if this one will hold together. I think 2 1/2" wide with a good heat treat would get you a 55# bow. The only heating I did to this one was to bend the tips a little. The smell of the wood is wonderful. Heating it made me think of warm apple pie.
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Well I sure learned somethin here... The only root beer bows ive seen before had more sinew than wood, lol... I dint know it would hold up for a unbacked selfbow... Nice work!... Brian
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Jon,
aint nothing wrong with that tiller, nice bend there.
rich
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+1 to what Rich said, looks real smooth.
Jon
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+2 what rich said! and +1 what OO said
DBar
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I sure love you bows. Looks great to me
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Looks good Jon and if shooting that well why mess with it. First sassafras bow I've seen also, whatever you did to it seems to have work very well.
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I guess it's Ok:)
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That's the first one I have seen from sassafrass too. Tiller looks good and the proof is in the pudding - good shooting. What diameter do you reckon the tree was that your stave came from? I have lots of it on my place but haven't tried it yet. Great work as usual!
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Thanks guys. Howard the tree I made this one from was about 10" diameter. First time ever I could throw a ten inch across eight foot long log over my shoulder and head to the truck with it! If you tried that with Osage you would probably leave your gonads laying right where you picked it up :o
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Nice bow and good shooting!
Isnt it nice with surprises now and again :)
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It's a beauty! I like it.
I made one years ago. Yours is better. I couldn't chase a ring on the stave I had becasue they literally were paper thin.
Actually, the Thompsons give it a good mention in the Witchery of Archery.
Jawge
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Yeah George I read somewhere that the writer thought that trees with thicker rings were better suited for bows. This one had real nice rings.
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very nice
chuck
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Sweet. Tiller looks good to me. Very nice.
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Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Looks cool. Nice to try a differant and especially questionable wood with success! Hope it shoots for years and years!
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awesome bow.
I recall Christian Soldier made a sassafrass self bow not too long ago(it was a tad before i joined PA)
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Sweet bow, Jon!! 8)
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Nice one Jon! I haven't tried that wood yet as we don't have any where I live, but it's on the list. Josh
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Nice! I've made a sass bow very similar to that one and I think I'm going to try my hand at some sassy ELBs soon. :)
Here's mine. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=38158.0
I think the biggest reason most people have a bad experience is sass is most often found in sapling form with a high crown, and being a tension weak wood, its not going to turn out well. So try to find a bigger tree and make it wide, or as I've heard, round the belly and ELB it.
I really enjoy seeing other sass bows and I look forward to seeing more in the future.
I really do like it as a wood. Very light weight, easy to work, and some of the most prominent grain contrast I've seen. You should really try staining that with min-wax or something to bring out the grain. :D
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I'll be happy if mine is even close to those bends!
Ya did, however, forget one detail . . . where's the arrow shelf! ::)
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Huh? How the heck did I miss this one???
Nice!
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Very nice one John! That's the first sassafras bow I've seen as well. I remember the huge stave that Knoll had at mojam. That thing was as light as a feather. Looks like that one could be a good hunter as well as you are shooting it. Congrats, Patrick
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Mike I cut a shelf in a bow ONCE. I know some like it but I couldn't stand the look of it. Pat maybe next MOJAM I will bring a load of staves and we can make Sass the "king" ::)
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<snip>...we can make Sass the "king" ::)
That sounds like a good plan to me. I mean, what fun is it to live in the middle of the Osage Kingdom if we don't have an occasional pretender to the throne sallie forthe and promote the superiority of his claims to the crown!!!
Awesome bow by-the-by...
OneBow
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<snip>...we can make Sass the "king" ::)
That sounds like a good plan to me. I mean, what fun is it to live in the middle of the Osage Kingdom if we don't have an occasional pretender to the throne sallie forthe and promote the superiority of his claims to the crown!!!
Awesome bow by-the-by...
OneBow
Good idea John! I would for sure try a sass bow! Patrick
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maybe next MOJAM I will bring a load of staves and we can make Sass the "king" ::)
Dvs may disavow us . . . . . . . . . :o
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maybe next MOJAM I will bring a load of staves and we can make Sass the "king" ::)
Dvs may disavow us . . . . . . . . . :o
He might threaten to, ...but then he'll jump in and build one himself.
OneBow
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You're right buddy, he only done just a little complaining about all the hickory this year. That is until he ate this rabbits I smoked! >:D Patrick
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A very well designed bow, held it profile perfectly. Love the tiller shape with the stiff out limbs. I bet that bow is a shooter.
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That was a sweet little bow jon. Bring all the sass you wamt to mojam. Ill bring my own brand. 8)
I ll only work on the stuff if no one has a camera out. Cant prove it then it didnt happen
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That was a sweet little bow jon. Bring all the sass you wamt to mojam. Ill bring my own brand. 8)
I ll only work on the stuff if no one has a camera out. Cant prove it then it didnt happen
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Patrick
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Huh? How the heck did I miss this one???
Nice!
Same way I did :-[
+1
Del