Birch Bow, Help Please.

[bushman]

Hey,
New to this so unsure as to where to post this. I was tryin to make a short bow out of birch. It was a very young tree, only 4 inches throw at the base, I cut it down in mid winter and it has been dryin for about 2 years now. The bow I tried to make was only 20” tip to tip. When I was tilling it I only draw it to a 7” draw. This bow I was planning on using for bow on a small crossbow. At this size it had a draw weight of around 25, 30 pounds. While I was tillering the bow, wood started to lift off of the back of it about 2 inches down from one tip. So I though since I had just taken the bark off of it the sapwood was no good. Then I took off a few rings of wood, now it is only 13 and ¾”. I nicked through one ring to many so I had to take it down more then I was planning on. That’s why it got so short. But that worked out a little better I guess, since now it is goin to be shorter for a crossbow pistol. Now it is about a 5 to 10 pound draw at 4 inches. This time at the handle on the back it looks like it is starting to lift again. Why is this happening? Anyone have any ideas? Is the wood closer to the bark failin under tensions? Did I not let it age long enough? I life high up on the mountains (around 3000 ft) in the interer of BC, Canada, would this affect the agin of the wood in any way? Is it just the type of birch I’m using, not sure what type it is but it’s the type that the natives used to make their birch bark canoes out of. Also on the belly I noticed that there was some fine lines cutting across the grain after tillering, what are these lines called, that is if they have a name at all? Does this mean that the wood is also failing under compression as well? I was planning on baking this bow with sinew and putting cow horn on the belly. Is this still possible or will the wooden core just fail on me and waste me time and sinew and horn? I was planning on wraping some sinew around the spot where it was starting to lift before I backed it and put before I put the horn on the belly. I was tryin to use wood that is around me but don’t have much around here that I know can be used to make a good bow, I have birch, some mountain ash but haven’t found a big enough tree all I have found have been more like bushes, mountain vine maple, and some juniper. Would I be better off using some mountain vine maple instead? New at makin bows, have always wanted to do it and have tried over the years but haven’t had that many that have worked to well or lasted that long. Thanks for any help in advanced.   

[MaceG]

       Well the longer it is, the easier it will be to tiller. What else do you have besides birch?
There's a build-along section on this board that can teach you alot. And read through the posts here, even the old ones. There's a motherload of information here.
Now, I'll let folks with more knowledge answer your question better.

[bootboy]

if you only have birch, use birch, if you have any other hard wood just about; then use it.

[dwardo]

I made a birch bow recently and had lots of problems with chrystals (little lines running across the bow)
The bow turned out ok in the end but it was so sensitive to tiller it was a nightmare. Given the dimensions you are trying i think you would need a lot of luck.

Here is the birch bow.

[El Destructo]

I like Birch...and have as of yet never had a problem with Chrysals at all....you can't expect to make a 69-70 pound Bow from Burch....just isn't very feasible....but a nice 45-55 pounder is quite safe to get from a nice stave of White or Yellow Birch....JMO

[TBod]

Mountain Ash or Rowan is ok. I'm making  a bow of it right now seems to be like a typical medium dense white wood.

According to my little experience Birch can vary in density from tree to tree. Saplings seems to be denser than bigger ones (Have only tried a few though). Any comment on that  Destroyer?

 

[adb]

If you live at altitude in the interior of BC, you should be able to find yew!!! Find some of that, and you're set. You can make any type of bow you want.

[El Destructo]

I have never made a Bow from anything bigger than a Sapling of Birch....never had one that I had to split into Staves...and never had one break as of yet either.......... ....that being said....I believe that a Sapling of Birch is denser than an Adult Tree....because I have split Birch for Firewood...and it seemed that the Little ones and the Limbs were always denser than the  Main Trunk of a Full Grown Tree....JMO

[TBod]

Ok Thanks E.D! Saplings is king when it comes to Birch. Makes wonder about other white woods..

[VenomBOWslinger]

I HAVE USED BLACK BIRCH AND WORKED OUT WELL ALSO SMELLS GOOD..LIKE ROOTBEER   I HAD AN IDEA OF MAKING A WHITE BIRCH BOW AND LEAVING THE BARK ON FOR THE BACKING WOULD LOOK REALLY NICE!!!  ARE U SET ON BIRCH CAUSE SOMEONE MENTIONED ASH WHICH MIGHT BE A BETTER CHOICE IF UR NOT TOO EXPERIENCED IN BOW MAKING!! GOOD LUCK GIVE US SOME PICS SO WE CAN SEE WHAT UR WORKING WITH!!!

DWARDO COOL SHORTY!!!

CHEERS!!!

[bushman]

Thanks for the replies. I would post some pictures but I haven't got a digital camera and the closes person I know that has one is over an hour away so that’s not goin to work to well. I tried to draw back the bow today and it started to lift on the back again. It made a little snap noise then when I looked at it when I had it drawn I could see that there was a line straight across the handle on the back on ether side of the piece that was lifting up. For some reason it seems like the rings in this birch aren't sticking together very well. When it did this the first time the piece that lifted up just bellow the tip lifted clean to the next ring of wood and just seemed to peel off of it with out damaging it, and that’s what it is doin again. So don't think this is goin to make a bow. Might as well use it to start my next fire in the wood stove and learn from it. Wondering as to why the rings seem not be locked together though. Any one ever see this before in birch when you have worked with it?
Nice lookin bow there, Dwardo. What’s the weight of it at what draw? Will the chrystals weaken the bow and make is susceptible to breakage later on?
Adb, I would love to get my hands on some good yew but haven't got much of it near where I live, least the few that I have seen around here wouldn't be that good for a bow, they where more like a bush then a tree, the biggest one I have seen was 6 feet tall and only about a inch or 2 at the base.

[Shadow Walker]

 HAVE USED BLACK BIRCH AND WORKED OUT WELL ALSO SMELLS GOOD..LIKE ROOTBEER
I carved a dragon head on a walking stick once for a client. It was sassafrass ( don't know if I spelled that right) It had a very strong root beer smell.

[Marc St Louis]

If you have Vine Maple and Juniper then either one of those 2 will work well

[adb]

I HAVE USED BLACK BIRCH AND WORKED OUT WELL ALSO SMELLS GOOD..LIKE ROOTBEER   I HAD AN IDEA OF MAKING A WHITE BIRCH BOW AND LEAVING THE BARK ON FOR THE BACKING WOULD LOOK REALLY NICE!!!  ARE U SET ON BIRCH CAUSE SOMEONE MENTIONED ASH WHICH MIGHT BE A BETTER CHOICE IF UR NOT TOO EXPERIENCED IN BOW MAKING!! GOOD LUCK GIVE US SOME PICS SO WE CAN SEE WHAT UR WORKING WITH!!!

DWARDO COOL SHORTY!!!

CHEERS!!!

My ears hurt... why are you hollerin' at us??

[El Destructo]

I HAVE USED BLACK BIRCH AND WORKED OUT WELL ALSO SMELLS GOOD..LIKE ROOTBEER   I HAD AN IDEA OF MAKING A WHITE BIRCH BOW AND LEAVING THE BARK ON FOR THE BACKING WOULD LOOK REALLY NICE!!!  ARE U SET ON BIRCH CAUSE SOMEONE MENTIONED ASH WHICH MIGHT BE A BETTER CHOICE IF UR NOT TOO EXPERIENCED IN BOW MAKING!! GOOD LUCK GIVE US SOME PICS SO WE CAN SEE WHAT UR WORKING WITH!!!

DWARDO COOL SHORTY!!!

CHEERS!!!

My ears hurt... why are you hollerin' at us??

Lots of People don't know that Caps means you are angry or Screaming!!!

But then Who am I to say anything....I am King of the dot dot dot...........