sapling bows

[mox1968]

hello guys, has anyone done a buildalong using 1" 1/2" to 2" thick saplings ?? I found a stash of them last night when walking the dog all ash all have good straight sections at least 6 feet long it looks like coppicing as its ina hedgerow on the father in laws farm so he wont mind me nabbing some.any tips on laying out and whether or not to season with bark on or off??
thanks
john

[VenomBOWslinger]

It can be done but not much room for error.  It also depends on style ur looking to make.  The annual rings will most likely be small and hard to identify.  Try not to hack through them on the back.  I would personally season them up a bit. Get urself a good book perhaps the Native American Bow book is a good one they explain alot also I can say from exerience the Gents on here will help u if they can also dont be afraid to search the forum from past threads alot of good info goes to waste because people dont take the time to read... Anyway I think u asked if saplings can be used or something to that effect...The natives never ran to the mill to get lumber that I know of... A bow can be made from just about anything!  I seen and made a bow from sumac... Good luck and show us what u got! 

CHEERS!!!

[Hillbilly]

If you look in the "how-tos and build-a-longs" section, there's probably something in there to get you started. Ten pages of good accumulated knowledge. I know Gordon has a build-a-long somewhere in there with a small hazelnut sapling. Keenan did one from a juniper limb, probably more in there if you look around. I've made a bow or two from 2" saplings, that's about as small as you can go and still get a decent-weight bow. 2 1/2"-3" would be better, but it can be done with what you have. I would take the bark off and take some wood off of the worst side so that it doesn't have radial splits and cracks as it dries-whole, round pices of wood usually check badly. Do you know what type of ash it is?

[Pat B]

Check out Gordon's build-along. Between he and Keenan there is plenty of info to help you out.

[mox1968]

i would guess its european ash, ive made a flat bow from the stave i took off a full grown tree in the same area which worked out ok.

[mox1968]

thanks guys will let you know how it went after i season it a bit but will strip off the bark now anyway.

[youngbowyer33]

sapling bows are fun to make

[George Tsoukalas]

 I just finished one from white oak. Cut your sapling a good 6". Bottom of the tree=Bottom of the bow. Cutnone 2-3 inches. Too small for splitting. Position the back of the bow so that the string falls in the handle. Mark belly from back with a marker. Mark a 4 inch handle in the center. Hack away the belly wood with a hatchet. You can get the limbs bending a couple of inches. In a few days, you can remove the bark. Tim Baker leaves it on his plum bows. I may try that with my next one. Now if you cut the back when removing the bark, forget about that stave. The rings are too tiny to chase.  I put the stave near a heat source. I check the moisture with my meter and continue working the stave as it approaches 10%. When it is less than that I work it into a bow but stop if it goes beyond the 10% threshold. When making these as with all bows leave the knots a bit wider and tiller them slightly stiffer than the rest of the limb. This last bow needed a "wrap" of artificial sinew to strengthen a knotted area  despite the preventive measures I mentioned but it shoots well. 52# at 26 in. Jawge

[hedgeapple]

Here's the link to Gordon's build-a-long.  I have it booked marked.  There's a ton of useful information in it.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,4815.0.html

[zenmonkeyman]

I already replied to this but it didn't seem to take, so my apologies if you have to read this 2wice!

Gordon built a serviceberry sapling bow from a sapling that was a mere 1 3/4 - 2" diameter.  He managed a staggering 63#@27".  The bow is 59" NTN.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,10536.0.html

[The Gopher]

I am working in a HHB sapling bow that was taken from a sapling inly about 1.5" diameter. I stripped the bark off and left the stave longer than normal since i didn't have anything to seal the ends. I took off a bit of the belly wood to help speed up drying but didn't even remove enough to get the limbs bending. after a few weeks of drying there were small checks on the back btu nothing that i thought looked too dangerous. The bow can now be braced at a low brace, its lookin' good. This is the bow i pick up between projects so it is slow going right now, i'll post pics when its done.

so if you strip the bark now, you might get checks but if you leave the bark on you will need to be very careful when removing it later. since the bark is probably pretty thin you might be better to sand it off until you just start to see the whitewood show itself, that would also give you a cool camo effect.

[wodpow]

I always remove the belly wood to the pith or down to the core before anything else gets done, I leave the bark on and let it dry most i leave the wood full at the handle area and if it's a small limb i just cut in from the arrow side and make a handle just on that side. wont be long I will be cutting some limb trunks for some bows and cutting the belly first thing and leave the handle area full, some split there some times but it don't hurt anything beings it don't bend there  I have pictures but they won't take because their to big and I don't know how to reduce them

[Blacktail]

i say leave the bark on..i want to see what it does in the tillering. ..john

[ken75]

there is always decrowning or making a backwards bow with handle on the back , tbb2 i think

[wodpow]

Venom bow slinger: Sumac now you got me wanting to go out and check out Sumac .  I remember the wood from the main trunk is some kind of a yellow orange it been a good 40 years since I have seen sumac wood the branches were like full of a big soft kind of inner pith i can remember the main trunks braking with a loud crack when we would bend them to the ground .