American hornbeam \ musclewood bow lots of pics

[OldBow]

That is a dandy and will look great in a collage for May Self Bow of the Month!

[John K]

Real nice ryan ! I'm going to be cutting some HHB this summer.

I think you have a contender there for BOM............

John

[adb]

Very nice!

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

thanks for the encouragment all.

Tracy- no need to chase a ring with hornbeam, just peel the bark and go. but chasing one out this would be a nightmare.

hillbilly- the limbs are 1 5\8 at the widest part.  funny, i never measure any limbs i always just take them down to what looks ok to me and let the grain take it thinner or wider wherever it wants.  i never think to include dimensions.

[ahawi stick]

    Great job,I've been thinking of trying hornbeam, now i'm motivated! Got lots of here, is it better to cut in summer like other white woods?

[The Burnt Hill Archer]

great looking bow man! looks very primal with the handle and all, excellent job!

Phil

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ahawi stick-  yup cut it now or in the summer if you want the bark to peel off easy and clean. you probably wont get the cambiium to stick like mine did thought.  but its a whole lot easier and trying to scrape in between all the little bumps. - Ryan

phil- thanks, i like the grip too. i would say its not a beautiful addition, but i enjoy the antiqued look or primal as you put it.

[recurve shooter]

wow. thats nice. i got a shortbow i made for my cuz out of the stuff. its awsome. and yeah, it's really hard to find a good piece of it.