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Author Topic: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods  (Read 2923 times)

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Offline stuckinthemud

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Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« on: January 28, 2015, 04:36:23 pm »
Hi all,

Anyone know if laurel and rhododendron make decent bow woods? Anyone got any experience with these?
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2015, 05:06:04 pm »
There was a rhodo bow posted just a few weeks ago.
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Offline steve b.

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Re: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2015, 06:27:51 pm »
Yea, that was mine.  I concaved the belly and sinew backed it.  Not knowing the properties of rhody, and thinking I'd probably never use/see it again, I decided to just screw around with it.  It was highly reflexed and short so I decided to see how much bend I could get out of it.  If it broke, "oh well".  It had a crown so I matched the belly to the crown, every sq. inch, and then sinewed it.  But first I tillered it to about 20 inches and at that point I was impressed with the wood. 
I ended up with 8" of reflex even after working and shooting it some.  Heat treated and flipped the tips and shot it some. 
Super smooth drawing.  At one point I drew it probably 30".  Its only about 30 lbs. or so at 28". 
I abused it and it still has a good 5" of reflex, I think.  Now I'm on the hunt for more rhody wood  so I can make a selfbow and see how it behaves.......
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blackhawk

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Re: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2015, 07:06:40 pm »
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Offline alwayslookin

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Re: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2015, 12:21:35 pm »
I have a bunch of cherry laurel in my yard that I plan on making a bow with but haven't yet.
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Offline stuckinthemud

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Re: Rhododendron and laurel as bow woods
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2015, 03:15:22 pm »
Anyone ever tried spotted laurel? There is a badly neglected copse near me of Common Laurel, Spotted Laurel, Rhododendron and (very gnarly) Yew - doesn't seem like anyone has been managing it for a seriously long time, and I think it might benefit from a little thinning out.....
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