Interesting article about North Eurasian bows

[Tom Dulaney]

I dont know if this has been posted before, but it is a really nice article about Eurasian bows by Marcus Lepola:


https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/download/167/pdf_125

What I found most interesting ia that Finno-Ugric bows were made "backwards" relative to how most people make them. The split part of the stave was the back. Do you think it is sometimes appropriate to use such a stave, if it is backed? I am thinking there is a possibility that grain runout would be a problem. I found a nice tree branch that looks like it might have some compression wood, and I want to make it in to a bow, but backed with sinew instead of birch liken the Finno-Ugric bows. It's Juniperus ashei.

[Tom Dulaney]

From page 45:

A compression wood bow does have some recognisable characteristics that set it apart from other bows:

1. The bow is constructed ‘backwards’. As the compression wood grows on the
underside of a slant tree it will curve inward. In order to benefit from the quali-
ties of the compression wood stave the back of the bow (outer bending surface)
has to be made of the inner part of the tree. It is more common to make the bow
back of the external/surface side of a stave. This feature will be easy to discern
if one is able to study a broken limb on a bow in a museum collection.

2. The compression wood bow is recurved when unstrung or has a very slight set
even if it has been strung for long periods of time. Most other bows take a set

[willie]

Do you think it is sometimes appropriate to use such a stave, if it is backed? I am thinking there is a possibility that grain runout would be a problem.

Yes, The compressionwood outer growth rings of the tree used for the belly lam are preferred as the belly of the bow because of the normal wood that occurs towards the center of the tree/limb. If tillered conventionally,  the two different kinds of wood mixed on the belly of the bow, makes tillering difficult and the limb prone to warping from moisture content change

[loefflerchuck]

Thanks Tom. I read this then printed it out for quick research later. Great info here!