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Offline carl

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cotton wood
« on: February 17, 2011, 01:19:30 am »
Greetings all, my neighbor is going to take out a cotton wood tree. Has any one made a bow out of this wood or is it just good for dug out canoes ;-)

Carl
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Offline Pat B

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2011, 01:26:20 am »
Cottonwood is not a good option for bows but might be just fine for arrows.
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Offline toymaker

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2011, 01:33:16 am »
The woods next to my work is loaded with huge Cottonwood trees. Judging by the way healthy branches break off I wouldn't use it for anything but firewood :( 
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Offline sailordad

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2011, 01:34:11 am »
i wouldnt use it for a bow
but i have seen a lot of people on here try woods that werent supposed to be bow woods
make some decent bows
like they say, keep it long and keep it wide
just a guess but if you go 6" wide by 9' long
it might make a decent bow  ;D
 
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2011, 01:36:57 am »
The Apache used cottonwood roots and heavily deflexed the tips so that they were under no strain when strung.  many Apache considered the repeating gun to still be a weak choice and suitable only if you didn't have a bow handy!

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Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline Bevan R.

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2011, 01:37:57 am »
Remember an article in PA where a guy in Hungry (I think) used cottonwood for his arrows.

Bevan
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Bowmakers are a little bent, but knappers are just plain flaky.

Offline JackCrafty

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2011, 02:38:13 am »
I've tried cottonwood and it is weak in tension.  It is very light wood, and I guess I would compare it to white pine.  You can make a bow out of it but you can't put much strain on the wood.

I think the Apaches used willow, not cottonwood.
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Offline carl

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Re: cotton wood
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2011, 11:24:19 pm »
Thanks, just as I suspected. The fire wood rout sounds good to me. I'll check on the root idea.
Carl
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