dogbane bowstring

[richardzane]

I figure its good to know how to make a bowstring in a pinch. This is a dogbane bowstring i've been using pretty consistently since spring.
I have it strung on a 48# hackberry bow.  ( for my bows and arrows: hackberry, persimmon, dogbane and wildrose grow near each other)
My next test is to make one for my 55# bow..then for my 65# persimmon bow...

Harvest the reddish waxyish looking stalks in Winter. There are lots of ways to get fiber and videos on Youtube. But what
works for me is sand very lightly the surface to remove most of the waxy bark. then from the base start stripping fibers.
save the LONGEST ones for the bowstring and make bunches about the size of your finger. start with a basic cord 2 ply twist in the hand and keep adding
fiber when the shorter side approaches (but before it gets) thinner. It may take  making a 12 foot string before you find the best and most consistent area for a string.
the loop is the same used on a lariat. (a square knot on the end of a small slip knot) as you twist, rumple off any remaining bark.

After shooting it 100 times i was bragging with friends and strung the bow. when i pulled it back the string broke! (after laughter) I noticed my bownocks
had cut it. I filed those smooth. But the cool thing was that in a short time I was able to repair it,twist in new fiber ,get it strung and shoot arrows within an hour. likely not something
you could do using any commercial bowstring material while out in the bush. It stretches very little, and waxed with some beeswax it feels near "unbreakable."

another thing about dogbane...it kills ticks. while checking my field this summer ticks were crawling. I snapped off a dogbane leaf and applied the white sap to the top of the crawling tick. that tick was immobilized . I tried it on a bigger one, and that one just walked in circles till it froze up. I noticed NO TICKS in my stand of dogbane. now if we could
come up with a watery dogbane spray for pant legs....     I've heard its toxic stuff though...

[richardzane]

here is dogbane stalk and fiber

[Frawg]

Nice looking string. Thats very interesting about the ticks.

[madcrow]

Matt, if you want to give the cordage a try, remind me the next time you come down.  I have a few hundred stalks left to process.  I will hook you up.

[RidgeRunner]

Richard:
How do you remove the outer "bark" chaff from the fibers???

This seems to be the hardest part of working with dogbane.
I have a bout 100 stalks that are over a year old.
Was playing with one the other day,  that bark is hard to remove.

Thanks
David

[madcrow]

I'm not Richard, but here are a couple of ways that I have dont it.  Start at the big end and scrape it with a knife til the bark comes off.  The other and easier way is to pinch the big end til pop and starts cracking.  Crack it all the way down the stalk, then break the inner stalk off the fibers.  Once I get a couple of dozen stalks worth in a pile, I hold it between my hands and work them back and forth like I am warming them up.  Lots of the outer bark will come right off.  The majority of the rest will come off when you twist it into cordage.

[richardzane]

Heya David,

I've tried it a couple ways. the first way actually worked the best. was actually looking for basket making material -- didn't know what dogbane was!
1st)) found the stalks and cut through at the base and discovered the fibers and thought.."dang..these are tough fibers"... cut stalks brought em home.
i simply started at the end an peeled off strips saving only the longest ones(didn't scrape) once i had set aside bunches I rolled the bunches on my leg
and simply twisted the fibers between my fingers to get the chaff off. Some of the chaff is likely still twisted in the bowstring. doesn't seem to affect it.
the positive : long fibers, all sized nicely not alot of fraying.

2nd)) method,  as Madcrow said  sand or scrape off the red stuff as clean as you can, crack the stalk at the base.  and split it all the way to the tip into 1/4 sections( it almost does it naturally) hold the 4 sections splayed together at the base between your thumb and pointer .(You'll be seein the inside of the stalk) snap off the four pieces about 3 inches down peel it back off of the strings and discard. go down another 3 inches and repeat. if you hold the four pieces side by side closely this goes pretty fast. The nice thing about this is you get ALL the fibers from a stalk. the negative ,is that you have a lot of frayed and shorter sections all mixed in and it can be messier and harder to twist an even string.

some people roll two cords and let them twist together.So far I like to twist hard every inch of the way. this makes a really tight cord. i haven't tried a flemish twist end yet.
i was more concerned about twisting a consistent sized string. hope that helps some? I could show some more process pics?

[huntertrapper]

Thats great info man especially about it being tick repellant. My dog gets infested with them. I've heard of making strings with milkweed as well.

[richardzane]

seems the weakest places on a good d.b. string will be nock areas.(bow or arrow)
String'll need to be thicker than a 15 strand  3 ply commercial  50 twist.  Arrow nocks have to be cut wider and smoothed inside.
this would likely be a good place for an inset nock, but haven't tried that yet.

Just harvested a bundle of d.b. stalks to make more strings for replacements. I'll share some pics.
My challenge in all this is making use of the natural materials in the area i live, as much as possible anyway.

[madcrow]

~m still working on stalks i harvested three years ago.  I ended up with just shy of a thousand. 

[YosemiteBen]

Good morning all - a small break between storms here in Yosemite.  Dogbane (apocynum cannabinium) is an excellent string material as is milkweed (asclepias speciosa and others) and due to their toxicity care should be taken when harvesting and using.  Here we wait until all of the leaves have fallen off and the stalks turn brown.  Last year I harvested 3000 stems from one patch and barely made a dent in it.  Plans to go back this year.  got it to trade if you want some.  There are some directions on the web if you google making string. In the past when we teach groups of people how to make it we start with scraping very lightly in one direction from the earth end to the sky end. If you scrape too hard or back and forth you cut through your fibers and end up with good tinder.  Start again at the earth end and pinch the stem between your fingers all the way to the top.  Separate into 4 pieces and line them up with the inside facing you rest them pieces on your fingers and stabilize with your thumb, kind of like you are wearing a mitten.  Using your thumb push up about 1 or 2 inches of "stick and using your other hand bend back over your holding hand. Then holding your pushing hand like you are wearing a mitten use your thumb to grab the freshly broken ends and peel from the fibers. Continue all the way to the sky end. I usually work the fibers between my fingers like I am scrubbing a cloth - so whatever works for you.  I finger twist mine but as you gain confidence you can thigh twist it to go faster.  so there are my thoughts on the matter. Ben

[richardzane]

cabinet scraper works great.
 works great for scraping the hair off a dry stretched deer skin too

[Dictionary]

Ahh i didnt notice you actually made this thread. I thought you were just jiving when you said you were going to when you posted those copper points.

How long is your hackberry bow by the way and how long did it take you to complete a string for it?


I haven't really learned anything about making cordage so im not even sure what two ply means but i'll have to do my research 

[richardzane]

see what you got me into, Dictionary?

here are some pics from today - preparing the dogbane fiber for making a new bowstring.
hope these load ok

[richardzane]

here's some play by play pics
1)  setting out four stalks worth of fiber for the flemish twist( i thought ,"why not try one?")
2) end loop short section of fiber goes into the short section, long fibers go to the long.
3) adding fiber, twisting tight as possible
4) string is trimmed ,beeswaxed,and strung on my ol' reliable follow-the-string 50# hack berry (60" unstrung)
5) full.draw 28"? with the new dogbane string