What do you think of these woods for bows?

[bjrogg]

My cousin wants to know if these are good bow woods. Red Cedar, Russian Olive, and Hedge Apple. I told him I would post his question and find out what everyone thinks. Thank You for any information.

[osage outlaw]

Hedge apple is osage!!!

[bjrogg]

That's what I thought. I haven't seen any of this wood yet.

[GB]

I've made two backed bows with Eastern Red Cedar as the belly wood and am pretty impressed with it.  It seems pretty strong in compression and is very elastic.  Good looking, too.

[Limbit]

Russian olive is very poor in tension and tends to have some pretty terrible set problems. Meaning, it will blow up or fail to keep its form and strength. I have tried it myself with zero luck, but I have seen some examples of it online. One man used the heart wood and the sap wood to make a very good looking, but very over-built looking bow. He heat treated the belly to reduce the set with success. That doesn't mean it is a good bow wood like Red Cedar and Osage, but it is still usable with the right skills. Go for the "Hedge apple" if you are new to bow making. The red cedar takes some additional skills to make a bow successfully out of.

[bjrogg]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm still pretty new to the primitive world I've built a few bows now and my cousin is my biggest "cheerleader". I didn't realize he had a cousin with access to the orange stuff. Might have him cut some Red Cedar for a later date. I believe it's what I call Juniper. Is it the same as "Red Elm"? I wouldn't think elm and cedar would be the same but have only seen Red Elm as bow staves for sale on e-bay

[Limbit]

You are right, "Red Cedar" is really a species of Juniper that usually goes by the name Eastern Red Cedar or "aromatic cedar". It is more closely related to cypress as all juniper are if I remember correctly. Either way, it requires certain design considerations and you should do quite a bit of research on it before blowing it up using it the same you would another bow wood. It is quite valuable as a compression wood in short sinew-backed bows, but is difficult to make into an unbacked bow without a lot of experience.

[Pat B]

Red elm is not red cedar but is a very good bow wood.

[bjrogg]

Thanks guys maybe a sinew backed juniper in the future

[JoJoDapyro]

Russian Olive is beautiful wood. It seems very light to me. I have some that I have used for knife scales. I got some polished up last night on a cheap knife, it has beautiful rays like oak. Juniper is a lot stronger than I would have thought. If I would get off my lazy butt and finish mine, I have a Utah juniper bow, backed with sinew.

[bjrogg]

Yes JoJo I'm sure that's why my cousin asked about the Russian Olive. He said it was just beautiful might have to make some knives.