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General >> Other Primitive Weapons >> native bow woods https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1164346049 Message started by buger on Nov 24th, 2006 at 12:27am |
Title: native bow woods Post by buger on Nov 24th, 2006 at 12:27am
the only bow woods[hardwoods] that i know of that are native to north west flordia are oaks, and maples,if iam wrong will somebody correct me
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by siguy on Nov 24th, 2006 at 3:24am
you may have osage orange, because you aresouth, but you may not ecause you are far south, i am not really sure.
i guess that you will just have to wait for someone that knows what they are talkingabout :-[ ;D |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by wanderer on Nov 24th, 2006 at 4:21am
I've seen Osage Orange growing in Florida. Depends whether you count that as 'really native', I think it's reckoned to be 'introduced' although what isn't? :D
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by curious_aardvark on Nov 24th, 2006 at 6:36am
Never heard of either oak or maple being used for bows, certainly not oak - it's not got the right flexibility properties - I wouldn't have thought.
I've turned some maple, but never tried to bend it so dunno about that :-) I suppose if you get the right age sapling it would work. |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by CanDo on Nov 24th, 2006 at 10:27am wrote on Nov 24th, 2006 at 6:36am:
*ahem* http://www.slinging.org/forum2/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other;action=display;num=1148187907;start= http://www.slinging.org/forum2/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other;action=display;num=1114654417;start=0 |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by siguy on Nov 24th, 2006 at 6:57pm
i used maple to make a decent short selfbow, but then it broke because it was my first bow and not incredibly well made, and the limbs were not tapered properly.
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by Bikewer on Nov 24th, 2006 at 11:21pm
Red Oak is commonly used for bows, and "hard" maple as well.
Use Google to check your local conservation department. I can just input "Trees of Missouri" and get a complete list with nice illustrations, leaf photos, etc. I just got a very fine Osage stave from one of the guys on the Primitive Archer forum; looks like it will make up into a very nice bow. Also a pile of grey goose and wild turkey feathers, and a pile of river cane shafts ready for arrow making! I expect to be busy through the winter. |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by curious_aardvark on Nov 25th, 2006 at 9:21am
lol - I never said it wasn't done, just that I personally had never heard of it being done - I have now :-)
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by buger on Nov 26th, 2006 at 12:33pm
can any oak be made into a bow not just red oak
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by buger on Nov 26th, 2006 at 12:41pm
so can any angiosperm sapling be used for a bow, not a gymnosperm
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by CanDo on Nov 26th, 2006 at 4:47pm wrote on Nov 26th, 2006 at 12:33pm:
I'd say so, but some probably work better than others. wrote on Nov 26th, 2006 at 12:41pm:
That's a rule of thumb you could go by but there are exceptions. |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by Cliff on Nov 26th, 2006 at 5:39pm
Live oak (the type with very dark bark, and oval leaves, look it up on google images for pictures) would almost definitely be terrible, the grain is usually very crooked, and it's just bad (there's a reason you don't see it at lumber stores). It also grows slowly, so even a small tree that looks almost like a sapling might be 10-20 or so years old. Most other oaks look like they'd be decent, although I have no personal experience with anything but red oak (I'm almost done tillering my 1st real bow, so my experience is very limited). Lots of websites have info on this kind of thing I'm guessing.
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by wanderer on Nov 27th, 2006 at 6:27am
Where did this angiosperm/gymnosperm rule come from?
Is it 'well known' in archery circles? I'm not an archer. Does it apply to the full grown tree or just the saplings? Since Yew is a gymnosperm it sounded way out to me, or is that one of the exceptions? |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by CanDo on Nov 27th, 2006 at 7:07pm wanderer wrote on Nov 27th, 2006 at 6:27am:
No, I think it's just an observation of buger's. Basically, flowering trees will make good bows, whereas most pines will not. I'd say it's pretty sensless to go by it though... just an interesting thought. As you said, yew, one of the finest bow woods is a gymnosperm (as well as cedar etc.) whereas I'm sure there's a huge number of angiosperms which would fail. My personal rule is: Springy hardwood? It'll make a bow. |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by buger on Nov 27th, 2006 at 9:16pm
i dont know how to identifiy alot of trees that well so how could i check to see if there hardwoods
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Title: Re: native bow woods Post by CanDo on Nov 28th, 2006 at 7:20pm
Buger,
If the tree has needles and is not a cedar, don't waste your time with it. Otherwise you can test the hardness of a wood by pressing your thumb into it. Get pieces of pine, oak, maple, and hickory - do this then remember what the results were like. This will give you some guidelines to go on... |
Title: Re: native bow woods Post by cipher20 on Nov 29th, 2006 at 11:22am
You should probably just learn to identify a couple of good, common species and stick with them unless you are into experimenting. Not all hardwoods make good bows. Hardness of the wood isn't a very reliable indicator of the performance of a bow from which it is made. The properties you are more interested in are its strength in compression and tension, among others, but those two are the biggest. Learn to identify oaks, maples, hickories and white ash. Those make great bows and are common enough that you should have no problem finding at least one of them.
Others that you might look into are dogwood, black locust and elm. Eastern redcedar also makes a good bow if it is backed with something like hickory, sinew or bamboo. In fact, most junipers make great backed bows. |
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