New member, bowelder, hazel, man what a can o' worms!

[Eric Kol]

Hey all,
good to have found you. I have been reading Primitive Archer for a few years now. I have practiced "primitave" skills for twenty years or so (I'm in my early 30s) and am just now getting to build a bow now. I have started before, but never had the time or focus to follow it through the final tillering.
My son was in a large production (Children's Theater in Minneapolis, MN) and played an adolescent Dakota boy. He had a number of on stage shots with a shop made board bow.
Well, that got him excited for shooting, as he got to shoot every day. We dug out  my grandfather's hickory long bows that he made (and one for my young father) and hunted deer with in the 1930s. I am not quite sure what they are pulling now, but I would have no second thoughts about going out to harvest a deer with it right now!
We talked about a winter bow project, as he would like to build one and I have always wanted to build one.
I went out yesterday and harvested some wood for staves, and what at first sight looked like ash, is boxelder. I went to a place where a trail crew had done some brushing and saw ash and boxelder, but without the leaves I got the logs confused! I should have known right away from the smell, but oh well.
I have the wood split into staves, debarked, roughly thinned to about 1 1/2", about 3" wide and have not touched the outer growth ring. I clamped the staves to a 2x10 with the bark side facing up, and put a few blocks of wood under the tips to maybe ad some recurve. I wrapped the ends in plastic wrap, as I couldn't find my wood glue. I was counting on letting these sit for at least a month like this, and then starting to clean 'em up some more. The wood was quite green, perhaps having been cut down  less than a month.

First of all, I read that boxelder is a borderline wood. What can I expect from it? These are first bows! We are more looking at the process right now. I think my son would like to make one and have that be it. I would like to build a bow out of every tree I can find localy, and then go on and mix-n-match! So I don't mind pissing in the wind if it helps me to avoid pissing in the wind next time. I'm all about the journey. I just want a heads up I guess.

Should I have him (my son) even bother with the boxelder, or should I go cull an oak sappling (3") that I saw and split and bark that for rapid curring?
I also have a Hazel tree (not really hazel nut, more like a weed!) that I need to cut down. Is this wood useable for a self bow? I did some searching on the web, but found little info and the hazel I did find I'm not sure was the same type. I suppose I could make any of these useable with a hickory backing, but I am thinking more for self bows.
Thank guys, and I am looking forward to the build and to getting to know some of you and your methods. Eric Kolcinski, Minneapolis, MN

[George Tsoukalas]

Oak saplings are a good way to start. Here are some directions I wrote a few years ago. Jawge

Sapling bows are a pretty neat way to start. Double you draw and add 20- 25% for a length. Pick a nice straight hardwood such as hickory, ash maple, hop hornbeam, etc. Avoid osage, mulberry and black locust. These are woods that function best with heartwood backs and a sapling wouldn't have enough heartwood. Look for a sapling 2-3 inches or so. Choose the best side for the back. Knots and imperfections on the back are to be avoided. Mark 2 lines down the length of the stave to delineate back from belly. Remove the bark Remove the belly wood with a hatchet. Mark a 4 inch handle length- 2 inches on either side of the middle. Leave that area alone while tillering. Hack away the belly wood with a hatchet. You can narrow the stave to 1.5 in wide to just past mid limb.. I use the hatchet. Drawknife too. Leave the handle full width for now. Later make it 1.5 in wide.  Taper the width to 1 inch nocks. Later make them 1/2 inch. Begin to floor tiller the stave. Just start the wood bending. That will make it thinner and less likely to warp as it dries. Let it do so. You can check periodically with a moisture meter. 6-10% is good depending on the wood type. Hickory likes 6-8%.  You can also monitor the weight of the stave with a scale. Follow the Bow Making Directions on my site. Help and comments welcomed. George

http://mysite.verizon.net/georgeandjoni/archer.html

[Hillbilly]

Trying to make a bow from boxelder when you're just starting bowmaking is a good recipe for frustration. I'd go with the oak sapling, like Jawge said. The hazel would probably make a decent bow, too-it's usually pretty hard, dense wood. Gordon has a haxelnut bow build-along going on at the top of the "Bows" forum right now.