Laburnum (updated)

[FilipT]

Where have you been this two years!

[Lucasade]

Lurking and occasional bowyering - having three jobs doesn't leave much time for hobbies 

[Limbit]

Looks doable! Where exactly does one get Laburnum? I'm guessing Europe. I see laburnum bows pop up now and again and think it is a lovely looking, highly usable wood. It's on my top ten to try bow woods list and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can eventually run into some.

[mikekeswick]

Narrow and thick!!! You can make the overall length shorter than 'normal' too. Labernum is highly elastic ,great in compression and tension....what more could you ask of a wood?!? As I said before though do not make a flatbow.....poor cast and handshocky. Thicker is quicker

[Lucasade]

Looks doable! Where exactly does one get Laburnum? I'm guessing Europe. I see laburnum bows pop up now and again and think it is a lovely looking, highly usable wood. It's on my top ten to try bow woods list and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can eventually run into some.

It seems to grow all over, though it's native to southern Europe which I guess is why the Gauls are said to haved used it for their bows rather than yew. The best time to find it is in late spring when the flowers come out, otherwise it's difficult to spot amongst other trees.

Narrow and thick!!! You can make the overall length shorter than 'normal' too. Labernum is highly elastic ,great in compression and tension....what more could you ask of a wood?!? As I said before though do not make a flatbow.....poor cast and handshocky. Thicker is quicker

I think a flatbow would be a waste of this stave! And you were right about the sapwood being like butter, chasing a ring for the first time ever is proving to be much more straightforward than the yew I'm working on, which my drawknife doesn't seem to like at all.

[FilipT]

How much sapwood needs to be reduced? Laburnum is btw, good wood choice listed in EWBS wood list for warbows. But I don't agree it grows all over, this is small bush type of plant and can only be found in mountains of Southern Europe.

[Lucasade]

How much sapwood needs to be reduced? Laburnum is btw, good wood choice listed in EWBS wood list for warbows. But I don't agree it grows all over, this is small bush type of plant and can only be found in mountains of Southern Europe.

I don't live in the mountains of Southern Europe 

[FilipT]

Nor I, where did you get it?

[Lucasade]

In our village in Warwickshire, UK - less than a mile from my house.

[FilipT]

Interesting, look at paragraph on wikipedia: "They are native to the mountains of southern Europe from France to the Balkans."

Anyways its a decoration plant so it may be seen outside this areas described.

[Pat B]

One variety that I'm familiar with, a hybrid, is grown as a landscape tree called a Goldenchain Tree, Laburnum x watereri. It is a hybrid of
L. alpinum and L. anagyroides. I've never used it as a bow but I have seen some pretty nice bows made from it.

[Lucasade]

That's almost certainly what this is - it's very difficult to find the species for sale, at least in the UK.

[FilipT]

You can find small plants very cheaply here in Croatia, but who has patience to wait for them 20 years haha

[Limbit]

Yeah, I heard the UK has a hybrid species there and I was assuming you lived in mainland Europe or the UK. I am pretty sure there is next to zero in America. Could be wrong, but I wouldn't even know where to start looking.

[wizardgoat]

There is lots of laburnum growing in the Pacific Northwest. Looking out my front window I can see 4, and none were planted by people.