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Author Topic: eastern red cedar  (Read 3374 times)

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Offline SeanStuart

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eastern red cedar
« on: July 05, 2014, 06:42:04 pm »
Hey, I got this from a neighbor, skinned it, and split it. It is about 7 feet long, but twisted 90 degrees. It is beautiful wood. I don't think there is anything I can do with this, but figured I would ask before making garden stakes.
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2014, 06:48:58 pm »
QUICK! Slap some glue or paint or shellac on the outside of the staves and slather it heavy on the ends!  Once you do that, come back in and we'll talk about the wood!
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Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline Weylin

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2014, 06:50:46 pm »
Never worked with ERC before. The upside of what you have is that it is clean and pretty knot free. The down side is that there is almost no heartwood. From what I understand the heartwood is necessary for it's compression strength to make a good ERC bow. Maybe someone with more knowledge will correct me.
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Offline SeanStuart

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2014, 07:00:09 pm »
You got my attention JW. It is sealed!
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2014, 07:06:08 pm »
Ah, good, a man that does as he is told.  Now package them up and ship them to me for further evaluation as I have never seen ERC so clear before!!!

Young bowyer made me a 63# @26" ERC longbow that was 66" tip to tip.  There is a slim strip of purple heartwood down the very belly.  I don't think it takes much heartwood to do the job.  I wonder if ERC will behave like yew when you violate growthrings.  To play it safe, you could take down the sapwood, back with very thin rawhide, and finish out from there.  As for heat corrections, I think ERC should do just fine.
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Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline SeanStuart

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2014, 07:21:54 pm »
Ha! yes, I'll ship it right off.

I was reading on this forum a discussion of ERC. One gent claimed the heartwood was no good and he used only the sapwood, the other claimed just the opposite. Both suggested backing. Do you think I can take that twist out with heat, or suggesting cut the shape without regards to the growth rings?

Either way, I will have to do some reading, and waiting.
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2014, 07:31:30 pm »
I don't think enough has been down with ERC that anyone can say with any scientific certainty whether you should or should not use heartwood or sapwood. 

I can assert from an artistic point of view that if 1/4-1/3 of the thickness of the bow is sapwood and the rest is heartwood, it will LOOK amazing!
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Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline SeanStuart

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2014, 08:36:18 pm »
Yea, I can't imagine not getting some of that beautiful red in there.
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Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2014, 08:57:44 pm »
I have some ERC staves I cut out of an long dead log, the heartwood was sound but not the sapwood. Haven't made anything out of my staves yet but suspect they will be hickory backed.

So, my experience with ERC is only from pictures I have seen on this board and the pictures suggest you can make an ERC bow with little or no heartwood
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Offline DavidV

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Re: eastern red cedar
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2014, 02:33:07 am »
Ah,That's some knot free ERC! I think it works without the heartwood, and it's still attractive wood without the red stuff. Expect a true longbow :)
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Springfield, MO
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