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Author Topic: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?  (Read 21861 times)

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Offline makenzie71

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Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« on: December 10, 2009, 02:57:00 pm »
It's just a matter of curiosity.  Searched for a bit but got tired of sifting through results that had words within the threads that had the letters "p", "i", "n", and "e" in them consecutively...like "spine".
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Offline RidgeRunner

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2009, 03:09:56 pm »
It is brittle and breaks quite easy.
That being said it seems to me that somewhere back in ancient history pine bows used.
I think that was because nothing else was available.

David
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Offline Parnell

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2009, 03:14:29 pm »
From what I've read - it's possible to make a pine bow.  But I understand that it just doesn't stand up.  I guess they have to be heavily overbuilt.  I'm no expert, though.  There were some pictures, though, I recall of some in TBB1, maybe?  I want to say it was spruce, but not sure...
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Offline Tom Leemans

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2009, 03:25:19 pm »
The cells just don't resist compression (or tension for that matter) enough. Hit a 4x4 untreated pine post with a hammer, then go hit an osage corner post with a hammer. Which one had the bigger dent?
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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2009, 04:31:21 pm »
Make a pine bow, and it'll become clear to you quite soon. ;D
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Offline makenzie71

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2009, 04:43:03 pm »
I've made one with pine laminations...didn't really seem to cause any issues, but it wasn't the best bow I've ever built.

The above makes sense...it's not a dense wood and is not very resilient.  I was just curious if there was something greater in the reasoning.
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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2009, 04:50:43 pm »
I'm talking about a self bow, not just filler in a sammich. Pine is light, brittle, and very weak in tension. I wouldn't trust it. Old-growth yellow pine heartwood might make a decent overbuilt bow, but there are plenty of better choices out there.
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Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2009, 05:26:21 pm »
Low in density too. Jawge
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Offline Dano

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2009, 05:49:33 pm »
If you glue enough laminations together you make a bow outa cardboard too.  ;D The density as others have said is the main reason.
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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2009, 09:11:56 pm »
In TBB, this is all explained.  Any wood will make a decent bow, you just might need to make a very wide flatbow out of it to get a decent draw weight.  A pine bow would need to be very wide and thin, which would be a lot of work and the resulting bow would be unwieldy and prone to damage because it is so soft.
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2009, 10:15:43 pm »
Douglas Fir will make a Self Bow....I have done two of them in the Wampanoag Style...and both preformed quite well....
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Offline bootboy

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Re: Why is pine considered a bad bow wood?
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2009, 09:07:08 am »
I've made a bunch of pine and spruce bows they work work fine. Just back them with burlap first and you have a shooter.
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