Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: gmc on July 24, 2011, 12:20:02 pm
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Finished this bow up a few days ago. One ring of sapwood left on a pretty springy piece of red mulberry. It was checked pretty bad on the back but I hated to throw it away and the bow doesn't seem to mind too much. Its 51'' ntn and pulls 54 lbs. @ 24''. Its 2-inches wide off the handle and weighs about 13 oz. overall. I used linen for a string and handle wrap and sealed the wood in linseed oil.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/Frontprofile-3.jpg)
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/Brace2.jpg)
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/braced3.jpg)
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/Unbraced-1-1.jpg)
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/Tiller1-1.jpg)
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man thats a sweet bend on that on G
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Man that is my kinda bow! Love it.
Jon W.
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That sir is a sweet thing indeed
rich
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Boy, do I like the looks of that bow! I especially like the longer fadeouts and the linen wrapped handle. I gotta get me some of that linen. My good bow-buddy cut a bunch of Mulberry. Its seasoning now but, I know what kinda bow I'm making as soon as its ready. Stands real straight too. Nice job on a beautiful bow.
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Love the profile on this one...I also like the looks of the longer fades, may have to tweak the hickory stave I have laid out (almost glad I was putting it off now, smiles)
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Very nice short bow. Well done.
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Gotta love that smooth curve on them bendy handle shorties, great job.
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Thanks guys for the comments.
Matt, mulberry is a fine bow wood. Its very elastic and carries a little lower density but performs well if left a little wider. It also lends itself quite well to this design. The fades are 3-inches which really helps to see through the bow with the added width.
Tell your buddy that mulberry is not a very well behaved bow wood when comes to drying. Smaller sections will twist as it dries, larger sections will check like no tomorrow (to the bone). This wood will also will check subsurface on the back, you'll think things are fine but as you chase down and there will be surprises if not properly cared for early on. I'd recommend removing the bark and sealing over the sapwood or if you don't plan using the sapwood, remove it altogether and seal with shellac. Its a pain but you'll be glad that you did. Most woods with sapwood will check down the heartwood, mulberry doesn't descriminate at all. There is actually little to no difference in the two with this wood.
Sorry to ramble on if you are aware; just passing on some experience that may help if you didn't. I've harvested sapplings and larger trees and had issues both times drying this wood. I'm getting another lesson right now with Persimmon.
Here a picture that I took sometime ago with a badly checked mulberry stave. Notice the drying cracks subsurface, not visible on the top. I have seen these go completely to the bone.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh213/colevy/MulberryCheckedSample.jpg)
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Sweet little bow gmc, beautiful bend and it looks sweet as well.
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I was lucky to spend a couple of hours at gmc's house talking, looking, and shooting bows yesterday. This bow, as well as all of his, is just a great bow.
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Another good job gmc! thanks for sharing the pics.
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Very nice bow. I like mulberry too.
George
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That is just gorgeous, smooth clean and simple, beautiful tiller.
Do you think it would like to come out for dinner one night? I promise I'd behave O:) and I'd have it back home by 11:30 :D
Del
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Great looking bow!
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That is a beauty, thank you for showing her off.
And thank you for sharing your experience with Mulberry.
Have been hunting a stave worthy trunk or branch for a while.
Will be sure to Peel -N- Seal it once I have it brought to ground and split.
-gus
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Thanks again guys for all the nice comments on the bow.
Matt S., your welcome here anytime, bud. Wish you had longer to stay, we were just warming the strings up.
Del, back before midnight and not a minute later Mr. >:D
Gus, your welcome. Good luck in your search, too. Mulberry of any size is a rare thing around here. I got lucky with a couple large trees a guy at work wanted cleared out of his yard (he didn't like the mess from all the berries). Those were some of the biggest Mulberry trees that had I'd ever seen. He had one 3 ft. in diameter and there wasn't a bow in that gnarly sucker and just luckily I didn't have to cut it to take the other two. ::)
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Now that is a very sweet bow! Well done. Congratulations
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Sweet little bow,very nice work ,and you are right about persimmon,it will check
like crazy and can turn inside out as it dries. :) :)
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I've got quite a few mullberry within walking distance of my house, but just don't have the heart to cut one down. I love them berries and all the critters do too, around here every animal that walks, flies, or crawls eats mullberries.
Like you said though, finding a straight trunk on one would be a chore.
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Yea, my place in Nebraska had lots of mulberries trees too. My outside chickens went nuts when they ripened and started falling. Boy did that purple poop stain everything. My first few bows were mulberry.
George
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It's a beaut! Gotta love that mulberry eh?
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A great bow, Greg.
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That is a nice looking mullberry bow what a nice job I am very good frends Matt W and we have some mulberry to make some nice bows thank you for the infomation on how to dry it take care old timbet bows.
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Sweet little bow, I think you squeezed every bit of bow out of that piece of wood that was in it. :) I like mulberry, one of my favorite bow woods.