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Author Topic: Elm as bow wood?  (Read 6602 times)

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Offline Wildchild

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Elm as bow wood?
« on: October 11, 2009, 11:24:00 pm »
Hello to all!
I just ran into some luck, and soon i'll be getting a 72" long Elm trunk, and i was planning on splitting it for bow staves, but im not sure how good of bow wood it is. Im not sure what species of elm it is, but if anyone knows if it would be good bow wood or not, i would be appreciative.
as far as the bows, i was hoping to make my first (and however many more i can get out of it) unbacked self bow. im aiming for 68" bow, with a 40-50# draw at around 26".
ive been reading, and i believe i have a decent enough understanding to start my first bow, and was hoping to (attempt to) make one with something around those specs with this elm, as its the only wood i have access to at the moment.
any and all feedback on this is greatly appreciated
thanks,
WildChild
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Offline JustAim

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2009, 05:28:17 am »
In Tim Bakers words:


(ELMS): English .49; American .50; slippery .53; wych .60; rock .63; Winged .66;; paper; white; Texas; flowering. Wych elm grows in England, where it was thought of as best or the otherwoods. Elms are especially strong in tension compared to compression. Therefor, as with the hickories, elms hold up in overstrained designs. Three unidentified elm logs from Texas yielded limbs denser than other elm, more massive per drawweight, and taking more set. Its creamy wood polished as smooth as ivory. If these three logs were typical of the subspecies this is one of the rare woods which is less efficient by its nature.

Elms are considered a true bow wood.

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Offline snedeker

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2009, 08:44:58 am »
Yeah, its good.  Build away
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Offline DanaM

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2009, 12:46:36 pm »
Elm is great for bows, it has an interlocking grain that will tolerate run outs and lots of other abuse.
The interlocking grain also makes it tough to split but you will find that out for yourself ;) >:D
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Offline dwardo

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2009, 01:33:17 pm »
Quote from: DanaM on October 12, 2009, 12:46:36 pm
Elm is great for bows, it has an interlocking grain that will tolerate run outs and lots of other abuse.
The interlocking grain also makes it tough to split but you will find that out for yourself ;) >:D

A 6 ft 3 mate helps when splitting elm, give him a big hammer a few axes and stand back :)


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Offline Tom Leemans

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2009, 02:32:07 pm »
Why go 68"? You should be able to get that kind of weight out of a 64" or even 62" bow.
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stonen25

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2009, 04:11:36 pm »
Hi every one!I am a new member in this forum.I have been making bows for quite a while.Mainly selfbows,but also some wood laminates.My favorite bow wood is Elm,specially rock Elm.It is a very tough wood,also very hard to split.My experience is even full of knots it makes a very good bow and following the grain is not as important as with other wood.Since i got my band saw i use it to split all my Elm logs, even if the grain is somewhat twisted.It never caused me any problem.I most of the time produced bows with 0 or very minimal string follow.Since in my neck of the wood no osage or yew grow and due to the high cost of these woods i have never use them for bow making.Having Elm around i do not feel deprived.It also respond very well to belly toasting.Paul  :)
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Offline Wildchild

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2009, 06:15:34 pm »
thanks all of you, and to tom, the reason i want to make it a 68" is because thats what im currently shooting, and i have a pretty long drawlength (32"). so i wanted to be able to draw my full length, but i want it to pull between 40 and 50# around 26" so my younger brother can shoot it as well.
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They may be able to take our guns...but when they do, they better beware our bows!

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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2009, 08:48:21 pm »
I like elm. I would rate it as one of the best whitewoods.
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Offline PeteC

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2009, 09:32:15 pm »
Wild child,yes ,the elms are very good bow woods.I built a flatbow 68" long. 2" at the fades out to a little past midlimb,then tapered to 3/8" tips.I heat treated it,and it will draw 60# @ 31" and still holds 1 1/2" of reflex...The heat treating is the secret .. ;)  God Bless
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Offline Tom Leemans

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #10 on: October 13, 2009, 10:29:10 am »
Oh, o.k. gotcha.
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Offline OldBow

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Re: Elm as bow wood?
« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2009, 11:15:14 am »
Check out the bows that twistedlimbs has submitted. He rules when it comes to elm.
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