best timber for bow making


It is just prone to set after some time becoming sluggish. A .001" per inch taper will loose 1 thousands of an inch in It needs a bit more work but you can be assured of ending up with a longer lasting bow, just as long as you don’t lose it! design, can cause a bow to stack, however. be used in both longbow and recurve limbs with good success. These two types are Bow-Tuff No subject can get a healthy, sometimes heated, discussion going between First, it is easy to get, I mean easier than Osage orange wood and less expensive. There are Black and Yellow Locust trees and while either can work for a self-bow, the Black is more favorable. Unlike the wood that you would make a hunting bow out of the wood for … Hickory is the ultimate newbie wood. What I'm going Wood Arrow Shaft Material. I am yet to try making a selfbow with it because I’ve heard from several people that it does not break. Black Locust – The Locust tree has long been a favorite wood of Indians for making bows. However, as individual bowyers have their own preferences, some choose to make longbows from white oak, red oak, hickory, red elm, American elm, Osage orange or rock maple instead. When making bamboo archery bows, let the outer surface be the belly to balance the set. the tip. Unfortunetly, Uni can occassionally develop small cracks. The following tree species can provide good material of the correct density: 1. BOW MAKING. The bow . He tried with several different sub-species of Jarrah and only the hardest has worked well. I am sure is the constant trade off between hardness and draw weight, with softness and flexibility. of tapers and parallels, some prefer all tapers and others all parallels. Its Latin name Juniperous Virginiana will make you understand that is actually a species of juniper. Maple: This wood is looked down upon by some bowyer for a lot of reasons, however has been used quite successfully in a lot of bows. If you live in the land of hardwoods, you can see from the list that there is a bounty of woods from which to choose. It has a strong tension and compression making it suitable for handling the high crown of saplings. inch. Its cons, however, are that it is so hard to find and has quite a price tag. MY ACCOUNT ASK AN EXPERT CART (0) A bow made using sapwood as the backing and heartwood as the belly is a better bow, but ash does not produce a lot of heartwood so this is not always a readily available option, certainly not historically. Bow Tuff is made with woven glass strands and Canarywood, Bubinga and Purpleheart. On the other hand, Paul Rodgers, a nearby bowmaking friend, made a lumberyard board bow, about 64 by about 1 , about 55lb at 28. Uni Glass is made with lineal glass strands. in a recurve and from all that I have read and gleaned from alot of other Use bow building glue that can handle the stresses of a bow's limbs. Dead, dry wood of medium-soft density is needed for a bow and drill kit. Comes with 2 buffalo horns fo r the nocks. be noticeable, whereas a 36" taper that is .125, or 1/8", at Here are the woods I would consider the best wood to make a bow and arrow: Everyone that uses a bow made from this wood will list it as their top favorite wood for bows in archery. Let's see how to make a simple traditional bow with osage orange below: If you can get bamboo then go for it. There are several different degrees of taper available, .001" Gluing your bow laminations or bow backing is a critical part of the bow building process. Can I make a selfbow from hickory, ash, maple, etc? It was a good choice for consistent, straight arrows and, of course, the best part of the arrow was the aroma. Uni was developed to help My Fire Making Experiences With These Two Woods. For wilderness survival situations the bow can now be used as is. You want a … The bow building tools you select to build a selfbow or other primitive bow will depend on your own preference and the type of wood you’re working with. that several of you have noticed the absence of Pacific Yew and It has good tensile and a super compression strength that balances well. Mulberry. Hickory – Likely the most common bow wood due to the wide range of growth, Hickory wood can make an excellent bow. Excuse my lack of experience with some woods that are not found in my locality and just feel free to share it in the comment box below. Archery bows present a somewhat unique challenge in finding the right requirements for the best wood. Veneers of approximately He gave me a Mathew bow as a gift when I got 12 years old. Our luthier, Ben McLachlan, has been experimenting with Australian wood for bow-making for a few years now, and he’s had good results with Jarrah and Cooktown Ironwood. Australian Lacewood, Bocate, Cheechum and Cocobolo. I’ve had trouble with getting its back off but I discovered putting it in a hot shower for half an hour makes it easy to get it off using a chisel. .025 thickness, of other exotics that I have used or have seen used, are Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Dogwood has a high compression. Brazilwood can produce great quality bows as well, and if taken care of can last a long time, but the best bow makers in the world almost exclusively use Pernambuco wood instead. Most bow makers who have worked with it say that it is weaker than most whitewoods. Wait, I’m not contradicting myself here. This will make a bow up to 80lb at 32". Where can I buy an Osage bow stave? per inch, .0015" per inch, .002" per inch and .003" per Ash, hickory, cedar, juniper, oak, walnut and birch are all fairly common woods that will create a solid yet flexible bow. The bow is made from Hickory, Hardwood Core and Lemonwood. To split the wood in half I used a large thick knife and hammered the back of the knife blade with another piece of wood. stay the same thickness from one end to the other, whereas tapered laminations Its strong compression and weak tension make it perfect for making English longbow designs with a D-shaped cross-section. Polishing comes next and the choice of finish is optional. The body of the bow itself can be made of any wood that you have at hand. I found that the Grass Tree wood (using it for the bow drill fire for both the drill and base) was much quicker and easier to … Archerytopic.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This is the best wood for making a longbow as it is so brittle and light. Too much taper in a limb, depending on the Bow Maker for Ribbon Wreaths,3-in-1 Multipurpose Round Wooden Bow Making Tool with Bowdabra Bow Wire for Ribbon Crafts DIY Decoration for Halloween Christmas,9.3 X 6.1 … Hickory tolerates more wood run than any wood I’ve ever come across and it has a strong tension that makes the perfect backing. Then, use a knife to shave the wood so it's curved like a bow, and cut a notch at each end of the wood to hold the bowstring. It is a good way to get into making your own bow. When you get down to it, any tree that bears a fruit, nut, or wields thorns is a good, dense wood that should, in theory, make a good bow. Hopefully you found good wood for bows in my top nine categories, or maybe you just need to share how great one of them is for more details. Most of these wood types can be found at a hardware store, while others can only be found in lumberyards. successfully made every day with both types of glass. The amount of taper in I believe that all of the above woods are quality limbwoods and can I grew up in Texas, USA and learned archery from my dad when I was a child. Now the whole piece must be hand sanded up to at least 320 grit. First, it is easy to get, I mean easier … Where I live, Pacific Yew, a tree that needs mature forest in … This is because I have never used them Most of the ash that is available from timber merchants is American white ash, which is quite different from European ash. Be sure to never "dry" … It also makes the limb This is pronounced as "EE-pay". Finishing. The best Pernambuco bows can cost thousands of dollars, but there are many that are available at accessible prices that also sound great. The wood must be able to bend without breaking. This wood possesses none of the temperamental aspects of yew, and for a bow that is equally good in the heat or cold, one good for target work, hunting or roving, Osage Orange is the wood. excellent longbow limbwoods with a proven track record and many ardent It has various species, yellow birch being the strongest of all other species. Good staves yield hard shooting, tough, sturdy bows that will stand lots of abuse. As an all-around bow wood, Osage Orange ranks high. Specific Wood Species for making a Bow Drill Kit Below is a list of tree/plant types I love to use for the Bow Drill Hearth & Spindle. I’ve never used birch for making a bow, but once I lay my hands on this wood, I will make a bow out of it. The two types of fiberglass most commonly used in traditional bows are If you can get bamboo then go for it. If the stave tree was smaller than about 5 in diameter or bow limbs wider than 2 its best to decrown. Woods that you should keep off are softwoods, the likes of pine, spruce, fir, and cedar. Experience will dictate your final preferences and opinions. Elderberry is superior wood for drill and base when making handrill fires. Next, cut a piece of twine, nylon rope, or fishing line, and tie it to the notches you cut so the string and bow … I have tried several kinds of wood (and grass because I have used bamboo as well) and have heard of several others that are good for making bows. JUNIPERS All junipers make great bows. in a bowlimb does is create a bullwhip effect, theoretically snapping the the heck, I enjoy living life on the edge. A number of years ago there was very little choice in shaft materials for constructing wood arrows - Port Orford Cedar was king. In the simplest and crudest terms possible, the wood should be able to bend, but not break. It can be used in making flat bows but in this case, you will need to add sinew for the back to help with the tension problem. A bow will be used outdoors hence a water resistant polish is best; oil, lacquer and oil/shellac/varnish mixtures can work well. As is true of wood in general, the denser the juniper the shorter or narrower a bow can be per given weight and draw. In terms of durability and strength, Osage Orange and English Yew are the best out there, but they cost an arm and a leg. Split the section, if needed. Bert Grayson's elderberry in Oregon appears denser and more elastic than that tested here in the Bay Area, and made a decent bow. The fascinating thing about red oak is that it is easily available and it is cheap. made by the Gordon Glass Company. It also messes with my sinuses when it is still green. It is easy to get and can be very pretty especially when it is curly or quilted. taper will loose 1½ thousands and so on. Yew is typically regarded as the best wood for making longbows. bowyers more than the pros and cons of various limbwoods.