Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: blackpanem on April 02, 2012, 05:42:13 pm

Title: beach bow?
Post by: blackpanem on April 02, 2012, 05:42:13 pm

how well does beach work for a bow? i have a bunch of straight 20-30 foot tall beachs that i can get easily

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: Pat B on April 02, 2012, 05:44:16 pm

Beech should work fine for a bow.

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: blackpanem on April 02, 2012, 05:44:57 pm

ok thanks ;D

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: JW_Halverson on April 02, 2012, 06:03:56 pm

I remember that movie...Beech Bow Bingo with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Post pics of the build, you know we all wanna see!

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: RobWiden on April 02, 2012, 06:06:06 pm

    I've made a couple of hickory backed beech flatbows that turned out pretty well. I glued in some reflex and they kept almost all of it. I don't know if it was just me or the wood but the one unbacked one I made broke. (Board bow.)

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: danny f on April 02, 2012, 06:06:55 pm

i got told not to use beech for bows, i always see plenty of nice straight beech in the woods but leave it there. i think i will have to go and do some cutting now if it is suitable after all.

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: RobWiden on April 02, 2012, 06:08:11 pm

    Wow, JW, you must be almost as old as I am.

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: JW_Halverson on April 02, 2012, 06:09:24 pm

I'm old enough to know that the father of David Crosby (Crosby Stills & Nash) worked on the film. 

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: DarkSoul on April 02, 2012, 07:41:53 pm

A beach is a sandy strip at the sea side.
A beech is a tree in the Fagus genus.
;)

What species of beech are we talking about? I dislike the European Fagus sylvatica for bows...not many good bows made from it. The American species might be a different story.

Title: Re: beach bow?
Post by: Dauntless on April 02, 2012, 10:06:00 pm

Isn't it supposed to have shorter fibres?  Anyways if people managed to make holmegaards backwards (check the TBB2 chapter on ancient European bows: raised handles and tillering on the back!) then a conventional beech bow should work just fine.