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Offline ken75

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help with these trees (for bow wood)
« on: November 01, 2009, 03:16:38 pm »
hey these trees are from a creek bottom in southwest ga trying to find out what they are and if they would be good bow wood, the first pic i was told was sparkleberry member of the blueberry family , anyone have any experience with this one ?

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Offline ken75

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2009, 03:18:01 pm »
and this one, last one is just a cool pic of the creek !

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Offline woodstick

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2009, 08:26:23 pm »
dono that is a cool pic of the creek, looks like there should be a little mink and coon there. good trapping.
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Offline billy

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2009, 10:16:33 pm »
The first pic looks like mountain laurel (rhododendron), second pic is of some kind of maple, third pic looks to be either beech or alder.  Never tried to make a bow from any of them.  Give it a try and let us know how they work!
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Offline cowboy

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2009, 10:45:27 pm »
Man: Don't have a clue about sparklebery, but that second one is called elm around here and makes good bows, the third one is a creek most likely loaded with bow wood :).
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Offline sailordad

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2009, 10:54:54 pm »
dont know on the first one,the maple i believe is very near boxelder,the elm i would use,the creek i would like to be floating down
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #6 on: November 02, 2009, 12:46:25 am »
The First....??? The Second looks like a Sugar Maple...the Thrid is in my Opinion...definitely Alder
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Offline bambule

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2009, 03:40:28 am »
Third one is definitly no Elm - Elm has asymmetrical leaves at the end
the second looks like sugar maple...



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Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2009, 06:14:43 am »
A picture of the leaf is not enough.  A small description of the tree along with a picture of it would help
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Offline ken75

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #9 on: November 02, 2009, 09:14:45 am »
thanks guys for all your input , im gonna try each one soon ,marc. tried to get the tree trunk behind the leaf , all of these trees are medium heigth smooth bark so i didnt think that would help ,Salior bring the tube i got the homemade wine already bout six gallons !!
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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #10 on: November 02, 2009, 10:13:50 am »
That sparkleberry should make a good bow if you can find a straight piece. Haven't tried it myself, but most of the heath family plants have hard, dense wood. The second one looks like either chalk maple (Acer leucoderme) or Southern sugar maple (Acer barbatum.) They are very similar and grow in a lot of the same places. It should make a good bow. From what I can see in the pic, the third one is probably American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), also known as musclewood, ironwood, or blue beech. Hard to tell from the photo, but if it's hornbeam, the trunk will have smooth, gray bark that is fluted and muscle-y looking around the base of the trunk. It will make a bow too if you can find a straight, untwisted piece. The other thing it could be is tag alder (Alnus serrulata.) Alder is a large shrub with soft wood, and often has little mini-pinecone looking fruits at the ends of the twigs.
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Offline ken75

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Re: help with these trees (for bow wood)
« Reply #11 on: November 02, 2009, 01:52:21 pm »
thanks hillbilly i think your right about the hornbeam no lil cones and the discription fits . finding long straight pieces of these would be hard , thought i would cut forty inch stave and split and splice to make a bow from ,i'll post as i go when the wood is dry thanks for the info everyone !!! :)
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