Author Topic: How small is too small?  (Read 3315 times)

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Offline jayman448

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How small is too small?
« on: April 15, 2015, 03:26:15 am »
ive found a dead straight ash sapling. just beautiful. it would be magnificent in 8 years or so but i dont want to wait XD. so..... what is the minimum diameter ash sapling youd take for a bow? for something so small i think id hope for around 35# @ 27"

mikekeswick

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2015, 03:27:53 am »
1 1/2 inches for a narrow bendy handle bow.

Offline Pat B

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2015, 08:30:12 am »
I agree with the diameter but I'd never cut a dead standing ash tree for a bow stave. Whitewoods deteriorate quickly after they die.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Slackbunny

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2015, 08:42:57 am »
I've made kids bows from HHB branches that were no wider than 3/4". Most of them pulled between 10-20lbs @ 20". That was HHB which has a bit more kick than ash, but they were also all quite short, the longest being around 50" long I think. They were all bend through the handle bows.

Pat, I think he meant that it was dead straight, as in very very straight, not dead and straight.

Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2015, 09:24:55 am »
Saplings, which by definition have high crowns, must be left longer to counteract the crown. For a 27" draw leave it a good 68" nock to nock.  A narrow region right down the middle of the back takes most of the tension.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2015, 09:41:28 am »
I guess there wasn't a comma after "dead".  ;D
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2015, 10:28:14 am »
I didn't know we had a live white ash in the Americas. I haven't seen one in my travels for several years. Good find.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline jayman448

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2015, 11:04:31 am »
I agree with the diameter but I'd never cut a dead standing ash tree for a bow stave. Whitewoods deteriorate quickly after they die.

perhaps i should have said arrow strait. it is very much alive

Offline jayman448

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2015, 11:07:10 am »
I didn't know we had a live white ash in the Americas. I haven't seen one in my travels for several years. Good find.

within the past year i have found only two small groves (pockets of maybe 15 trees)

Offline wizardgoat

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2015, 11:49:27 am »
You talking mountain  ash?

Offline jayman448

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2015, 02:32:35 am »
i think so.... XD

mikekeswick

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2015, 03:10:10 am »
Mountain ash is a different species. Mountain ash = Rowan - Sorbus aucuparia
White Ash - Fraxinus Americana

Offline DC

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2015, 12:50:23 pm »
Mountain Ash has bunches of white flowers that will be coming out soon(here). They really stink. They turn into bunches of red berries. Robins love them.

Offline jayman448

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Re: How small is too small?
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2015, 10:12:57 pm »
Um.. ill have to check xD