Juniper branch

[Tanneur]

Hi! I'm an occasional bowyer and got a large pile of recently cut juniper. I never worked with juniper before and would like to give this branch a try. The bow would be sinew backed. The branch is 55” long and about 2” large. Here is view of the cut of one end.



I'd like to use the top of the branch (white line) as  the back of the bow. I don't want to use the tension side of the branch as it is not large enough for my liking... Any objections/comments?

The branch has two sides (back and/or belly). One with a lot of more or less small knots. The other one with much less small knots but contains one much larger knot that would be situated mid-limb.



Top view of the knot



Side view of the knot



My questions are: If you've ever worked with juniper, what side would you chose as the back?

1)The side with a lot of knots but rather small ones?
2)The side with much less knots but one big one?
3) Or the tension side nevertheless…?

Please take into consideration that whatever option I chose the bent side will have to be heat straightened (dotted line) anyway.

Thanks!

[willie]

Tanneur
welcome to the forum. did you see the topic on branchwood a fews days back?

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,54978.0.html

It is not clear to me what the orientation of the second picture is.

is the tension side in the first photo the same as the upper side in the second photo?



is that

[wizardgoat]

In my experiences junipers don't bend that well unless they are fresh cut. That photo of the whole branch looks like a nice profile, just recurve the right tip a bit to match it up.
If you are sinew backing you can decrown and clean the back up

[wizardgoat]

And are you sure that's juniper? Looks like cedar?

[MXer]

It's Juniper.  I am in the middle of second bow.  I've only worked with Juniper so far.  I was always told to work it down pretty far then let dry.  ...and in my limited experience that is true.  The first one I let dry and it developed large cracks that couldn't be worked around.  The one I'm on now I couldn't get to right away so I melted wax onto the ends.  It sat for at least a month and didn't crack at all.  A little tip I learned from the first one...use a dull paint scraper and while that branch is still fresh, slide it under the bark and it'll come right off.  Just use the outer layer (ring) as the back of the bow.  I used the tension side for the back of both bows I've made and even let the second one dry before tillering and it still has quite a bit of set.  I'm not sure how to defeat that.  The one I'm building now the set will end up as deflex and I am going to try to heat the tips and shape into reflex.

[Bryce]

And are you sure that's juniper? Looks like cedar?

Agreed juniper has a dark heartwood.

[MXer]

Didn't catch that...I think you guys are right.  Juniper definitely has a dark heartwood that I don't see on this one.
 

[blackhawk]

Yup...aint a juniper of any sort. Prob a cedar,and might not be worth your while.  Where exactly did you cut this? 

[wapiti1997]

Eastern red cedar is Juniperus virginiana, I have seen branch wood without any reddish heart wood.

Yes, location is an important factor when discussing bow wood..

[Tanneur]

@ Willie: Tension side is reflexed, compression side deflexed (pic 2). Thank you for the link. Didn't know that thread. The talk there is mainly about tension or compression side. I'd prefer to take the tension side too but it's crown is very high and if I decrown I'll only have standing rings on the back.

However, if I take the branch as shown in the following pic, it's in fact the side that grows vertically to the ground, I have a back that is 2” large with on single growth ring. But with the tension wood on one side and compression wood on the other side of the limb. Does anyone think this might cause problems?



Juniper or not: I have juniper with brown heartwood. This one only has very light brown heartwood with most of the heartwood on the compression side. Origin of the wood: Europe.

[Tanneur]

Bark

[PatM]

Certainly looks like  Common Juniper or a similar species/cultivar. I wouldn't make it with those lopsided rings to one side.

[Josh B]

With those thick rings, the heartwood hasn't had a chance to develop yet.  That's pretty common on fast growth juniper branches.  I would decrown the tension side.  I've made juniper selfbows with a decrowned back that are still shooting today.  Since you plan to sinew it, the ring orientation is a non issue anyway.  If I'm reading it right, the tension side is the reflexed side?  If that's the case, I wouldn't even consider making it any other way.  Josh

[Bryce]

The top of the branch should be the back of your bow. I prefer branch staves over all others bc it's usually denser and has greater tension properties.

[Tanneur]

Thanks for all your comments and a special thanks to Gun Doc and Bryce (Pincone): that was very helpful. I'll follow your advice.