Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: RabidApache on February 08, 2010, 02:41:38 pm
-
Hello everyone, newbie here from AZ. I just completed my first ever bow from Hickory. Specs are 66" pulls 57#@27" and it shoots like a dream. Its not purdy, but it kills. Period.
So my question is about Mesquite wood, has anyone ever tried working with this wood? Since I'm in Az, I have plenty to spare. How about Salt Cedar as a bow wood.
Your thoughts please, hunting season is over now. So now I wanna build bows and experiment. Thanxx
Lion hunting with my bow.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l102/desertHARE/longbowdew.jpg)
-
Welcome RA,glad to have you.That's a fine lookin' hickory bow you've got there.And,yes,mesquite will build a good bow,it's just hard to find a straight piece that's long enough.Hope you can find some. God Bless
-
Welcome to PA, RabidApache. The dry AZ climate is perfect for hickory bows. Hickory likes to be dryer than most other bow wood. I have made good arrows with salt cedar. Don't know about bows but give it a try and let us know.
Show us a good full draw pic of your bow and OldBow will sign you up for Bow of the Month.
-
Rabid,
Looks great! The scenery is awesome, too. Is your hickory bow from a board or from a tree stave?
-
Welcome brother of the bow.. I have used salt cedar for arrows for years.. tough wood.. I bet it would work great for a bow! great looking bow you built, look forward to seeing more... Hawk
-
Good to have you aboard. Great looking bow. We have pignut hickory here in Ga. tough stuff. don't know about salt cedar.Ron
-
Thanxx guys.
I've heard of only one other prim.archer in AZ that has made a bow from salt cedar. He's an all-around outdoorsman, exceptional flint-knapper and bowyer.
Basically I'm new to the selfbow community, but not to the hunting community. I've hunted since I was 9yrs old. I started from firearms/shotgun to a Trad. bow, then to compound and finally to building my own. I get more satisfaction of just closing the distance to my quarry than the killing of a "trophy" nowadays. Antler size means less to me now then when I was just starting out.
Mesquite and Salt-cedar are very common to my area. I was just curious and wanted more info before the build.
I'll post pics/vid of my bow soon. Since the build, I have sparked a lil fire inside me and now I want to build more :D. Addicted if you will.
-
Welcome to our addiction. We all are. ;D
-
Hello RabidApache,
That is a great picture you posted! The bow looks great too. Congratulations on it. Sounds like you've got the bug and you've definitely found the right place to be. It's a great crew of people - welcome!
Parnell
-
Welcome aboard RA! Cool pic! First thing that popped into my mind when you mentioned mesquite was "Jackcrafty" out in Midland. He's made some good bows from it and I'm pretty sure he always sinew backs em. Hopefully he'll drift through here and share some wisdom..
-
Looks like a nice bow you have there, and nice country too.
-
RabidApache,
Nice job on that bow man! What part of Arizona are you in? I'm in the Tucson area. If you ever want to get together and shoot some bows or make some shavings let me know. Welcome to the forum!!
Nate
-
R-Apache- I've found Mesquite to split length-wise easily. Otherwise, it's a great wood. I think it could make a good bow. Better than mesquite is Huisache..if you have it up there. I'm in S. Texas. Love that pic, man !
Tom
-
Welcome aboard, think you will like it here :)
-
Welcome,cool pictures,love to see some close ups of the bow,sorry I don't know anything about
Mesquite. :)
Pappy
-
A couple of pic's of "Sally" my bow.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l102/desertHARE/Hickbow1.jpg)
Close up of the handle. The bow is still pretty much roughed up with rasp marks here and there. Fininshed it with 180grit. I didn't want a pretty bow, I wanted something rugged, hammered and thrashed lookN >:D. Maybe I shoulda called it "hangover" LOL.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l102/desertHARE/closeupBow.jpg)
-
The mesquite bows I've made were sapling bows: kids bows made from small diameter limbs with mostly sapwood. Mesquite is very stiff (when fully dry) and works well for powerful short draw bows. The wood is brittle in dry weather, however, so it might be best to back the bow with sinew...although the bows I have are not backed.
The wood steam bends easily, which is great for us who like to make double curve bows. Mesquite holds its shape very well if you steam and shape it when it's green. I haven't tried shaping Mesquite when dry, so I can't say how well it holds it's shape when heat alone is used.
The heartwood is different from the sapwood, in both color and strength. I think an all-heartwood bow will be stronger than an all-sapwood bow but it is hard to find a straight section of Mesquite (with a large enough diameter) for a bow longer than 40" or so. Also, sometimes there are voids in the heartwood that only show up after split and carve the wood...which can be very disappointing. There are also lots of knots in Mesquite, so you will have to spend a lot of time looking for that "perfect" stave.
I recommend harvesting only green Mesquite wood. Dead, standing Mesquite seems to be very brittle in most cases. And do not store the harvested Mesquite with the bark on! Beetles will get to it and the sapwood will look like swiss cheese in a few months (in warm weather). The heartwood is somewhat more resistant to the beetles but not much. I ALWAYS remove the bark and carve the wood down to bow dimensions before I let it dry out. I've had problems with checking but I also didn't seal the wood...so you might try shellac or something. Always seal the ends in any case.
(BTW - Thanks Cowboy)
-
I have only madew a couple of short mesquite bows and noticed it had some tendency to chrysal. The iron wood that grows in az can make a fine bow but most likley would need to be spliced as finding a long straight piece id almost impossible. Steve
-
Welcome RA,glad to have you.That's a fine lookin' hickory bow you've got there.And,yes,mesquite will build a good bow,it's just hard to find a straight piece that's long enough.Hope you can find some. God Bless
I may have found some.
-
Pretty awesome, Cip. I'd love to see some sinew backed shorty jobs done! Heck, I'd want to try my hand with one!!! How long are those pieces?
Must be hard to find straightish stuff.
-
Wow this thread was 4 years old :o
Quite a bump
-
Pretty awesome, Cip. I'd love to see some sinew backed shorty jobs done! Heck, I'd want to try my hand with one!!! How long are those pieces?
Must be hard to find straightish stuff.
Steve, these are 6ft long. Had to walk a lot and search to get em
Cipriano
-
Welcome. Good folks right here on PA
-
Ed Scott makes the nicest looking bows ive ever seen and he makes some from mesquite
-
Screwbean Mesquite is the best of the mesquites for making a bow. Its what the Yuman Indians prefered. But as with all mesquite, its very hard to find a suitable piece.
-
Screwbean Mesquite is the best of the mesquites for making a bow. Its what the Yuman Indians prefered. But as with all mesquite, its very hard to find a suitable piece.
I found some nice ones.
-
Is that screwbean?
-
Is that screwbean?
No. Just regular Texas mesquite.
Cipriano
-
Texas mesquite would be honey, velvet or another type?
-
It's honey mesquite.