No Bow Woods!

[Jacob Parnell]

Hey, I'm sure you guys on the forum have gotten tonnes of these types of topics before, but my friend and I can literally find NO bow woods near out houses.  Hemlock, Aspen and Butternut are all very plentiful, but none of these seem to be good for the build.  I can find some Maples and Oaks around my house, but all are too large, and I'm not about to cut down a 2 foot thick tree to make 2 bows. There are some birch that would be acceptable to use though, however they are on private property.

So what do you think I should do?

Thanks so much,
BG

Your both only planning on building one bow?? Hahahahahahahaha if you build one you build a thousand more lol I promise

  Ya, it sounds fun.  I may not have time to make more though, considering it takes a very long time to make one.  I will be too busy with scool 

[lostarrow]

I live in London. You aren't that far away (geographically speaking) If you know what you are looking for ,you should find Hop hornbeam (ironwood) ,Elm, maybe Ash (if the bugs haven't got it all) , Oak ,Maple ,Yellow Birch, Lilac, Mountain Ash, Alders,...... the list goes on. You've a lot more to choose from than most. You likely have black and  honey locust as well.  Once you know your trees, you'll never be able to walk in the bush without looking for bow wood again.

[burn em up chuck]

    what about yew?

               chuck

[lostarrow]

No yew around here unless planted. usually small and bushy. The other yew we have is a sprawling ground shrub. Good for medicine ,.............not for bows. Might find ERC but pretty rare as well. I just found a bunch by the R.R. track but they are getting real pissy about people going on their land.(Fines)

[twisted hickory]

Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps
Greg

http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N

Wow! Thanks so much! This will definitely help me.  I think I have seen some Bitternut Hickory around my area.  I made sure to favourite that website! 

Thanks so much.

Bitter nut should work good. I have a couple of staves of that myself. I have used shagbark to make 5 out o fthe seven bows I have made so far and it works great. Hickory is a very tough wood that will tolerate mistakes in the tillering process and still shoot good. Plus you can heat treat the dickens out of it and it will shoot good. It does like to soak up humidity so give it 4 or 5  coats of a good quality poly.
Here is a pict of what it looks like finished It is my current favoriate.

[Jacob Parnell]

Look for some Eastern Hophornbeam (aka ironwood). I'm pretty sure that grows in southern Ontario and it is a great bow wood. Ask Marc St. Louis, I'm pretty sure he's in Ontario. Good luck.

Thanks SO much everyone.  After some research, I think Hophornbeam is my golden bow wood.  I believe there is one in the forest behind my house.

[Jacob Parnell]

What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.

What does that mean?

[Jacob Parnell]

I live in London. You aren't that far away (geographically speaking) If you know what you are looking for ,you should find Hop hornbeam (ironwood) ,Elm, maybe Ash (if the bugs haven't got it all) , Oak ,Maple ,Yellow Birch, Lilac, Mountain Ash, Alders,...... the list goes on. You've a lot more to choose from than most. You likely have black and  honey locust as well.  Once you know your trees, you'll never be able to walk in the bush without looking for bow wood again.

Alright.  Thanks a lot, but I thought ash was a crappy bow wood.

[Jacob Parnell]

Here is a page on what grows up there. I would locate a logging company and go from there. If you are on your first bow get a hickory log.
Hope this helps
Greg

http://ontariotrees.com/main/alien_native.php?type=N

Wow! Thanks so much! This will definitely help me.  I think I have seen some Bitternut Hickory around my area.  I made sure to favourite that website! 

Thanks so much.

Bitter nut should work good. I have a couple of staves of that myself. I have used shagbark to make 5 out o fthe seven bows I have made so far and it works great. Hickory is a very tough wood that will tolerate mistakes in the tillering process and still shoot good. Plus you can heat treat the dickens out of it and it will shoot good. It does like to soak up humidity so give it 4 or 5  coats of a good quality poly.
Here is a pict of what it looks like finished It is my current favoriate.

Thanks! I love that snake skin backed bow!  On second thought, I don't think I have any Hickory here.  The distribution map in my tree book says that it is not in my area.

[ohma2]

why dont you go ahead and make a bow or two out of some of the lesser  woods and gain some experience learning to use your tools and tillering skills. when you aquire some better wood you wll have a better chance of building a shooter.

[bushboy]

I read somewhere that osage orange grows in southern ontario ,but not 100 percent on that!

[lostarrow]

Alright.  Thanks a lot, but I thought ash was a crappy bow wood.
[/quote]


    Lies!!!!!!

[lostarrow]

I read somewhere that osage orange grows in southern ontario ,but not 100 percent on that!

  Rare, well kept secret trees!

[twisted hickory]

What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.

What does that mean?

That is specific gravity of the wood the higher the number the more dense/hard the wood is. That is why osage is prized for bows it has a high specific gravity making it a good bow wood. shag bark hickory  is high as well.

[Jacob Parnell]

What do the numbers have to do with bow woods? for example, a Red Maple is a .54.

What does that mean?

That is specific gravity of the wood the higher the number the more dense/hard the wood is. That is why osage is prized for bows it has a high specific gravity making it a good bow wood. shag bark hickory  is high as well.

Alright, cool