Where Do You See Bows? (Juniper Harvest)

[gfugal]

So I'll be posting pictures of my Juniper harvest, and I'm just wondering where you guys think I should cut out the future bows from. I got three different logs split. The first is the prime log. It's the longest, thickest and most clear of knots. Unfortunately being juniper, it's hard to find any long straight piece that doesn't have a branch off at some point, since they're such short trees. The second one is the branch I cut myself on, see this thread for the story: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,59996.0.html. After splitting it I can't believe I risked myself for it, it's not as good as I thought. Unfortunately, it has a large branch coming off and has a crook in it. I might be able to get a bow from it but we'll see. The last log is the top half of the first prime log. It's got tons of knots and I doubt I'll be able to make any bow from either half. At least not with my current experience.

[gfugal]

Here's the best log. It's pretty long at a little over 70". It also pretty thick at about 5" in diameter at the thick end. I split it in half and I'm debating splitting the larger half again. But I'm not sure if I would just ruin a good thing since I might need as much room to work around knots. I should be able to get two bows from it, one from each half.

[gfugal]

Here's the second log that I cut myself on trying to harvest. You can see the huge knots and crooks. I'm thinking the only way to get a bow would be to splice them together and use the straight parts before the knots or crooks. The half on the right is about 30" to the first big knot so if I spliced it together I might get a 52" bow. Not the longest, but I could make a short draw bow from it. Maybe put some small siyhas on the end to lengthen it out a bit.

[gfugal]

Here's the last log. It's the most inferior of the three. It just has so many knots I don't know If I'll be able to get anything from it. What do you guys think?

[Springbuck]

The inside looks better than the outside on a couple of those!  You have your work cut out for you getting around some of those knots, but I thnk the first and second pics, esp have some potential.  What's the plan"  Sinew backed Native-style, or hickory backed?

The best juniper I have found was never from a whole log or a tree trunk.  Rather, I look for big, spreading trees close to the base of a hill or in a low spot.  If you fight your way in, the very lowest and second tier branches are very old, long, and reaching out from under the rest of the tree to find sun, thus have greenery only toward the tips.  The shaded TOP side of those long branches are often knot free from being in the shade and have been for many years.  They can be pretty long, but truly straight sections are rare.

[Newindian]

I can't make out much in the pictures they look alright, it may be a bit early but the bark should peel off at the sap wood, with some prying. Juniper is tougher than its usually given credit for, I've made a self bow  or two out of some really crapy pieces, might be somewhere on this forum. If you just treat the knots well it'll probably be alright, most of the time twist is a more troubling issue.

[gfugal]

The inside looks better than the outside on a couple of those!  You have your work cut out for you getting around some of those knots, but I thnk the first and second pics, esp have some potential.  What's the plan"  Sinew backed Native-style, or hickory backed?

Yes, the bellies make them look a lot nicer. I'll have to peel off all the bark and see what I got. Do you think its better to let it season with the bark on or off? I was planning on sinew backing one for the bow trade this year. I can't decide If I should use one of the large logs from the first picture or make a spliced handle bow from the second. Probably one of the large logs since its the nicest and longer (about 70" vs the <60" of the other). The question though is do I split them and try to get 4 staves from it instead of 2?

The best juniper I have found was never from a whole log or a tree trunk.  Rather, I look for big, spreading trees close to the base of a hill or in a low spot.  If you fight your way in, the very lowest and second tier branches are very old, long, and reaching out from under the rest of the tree to find sun, thus have greenery only toward the tips.  The shaded TOP side of those long branches are often knot free from being in the shade and have been for many years.  They can be pretty long, but truly straight sections are rare.

That's great advice! I'm going to look out for that next time. Bytheway, I'm going to shoot you a message. I was wanting to head up sometime next week to your place if that's possible.

I can't make out much in the pictures they look alright, it may be a bit early but the bark should peel off at the sap wood, with some prying. Juniper is tougher than its usually given credit for, I've made a self bow or two out of some really crapy pieces, might be somewhere on this forum. If you just treat the knots well it'll probably be alright, most of the time twist is a more troubling issue.

Yeah the pictures aren't the best since it was getting dark and I didn't remove all the bark. Is that something I should do? I would agree that it is a resilient wood. My first bow was from a small knotty branch, and it did a lot better than I thought it would. I'll have to look out for your bows.   

[Newindian]

Yes you should remove the bark, if you like the look peel off small paper thin strips and glue them on the back as though they were sinew, then sand when it dries