Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 08:41:07 pm

Title: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 08:41:07 pm
This is a very horribly made hackberry bow I took a ton of set due to me not letting it dry it's been laying in my basement since september so today I picked it up and just bent it as far as I could since I don't care about the bow so just check this out how strong hackberry is under tension


(http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q681/joec123able/B1C32F44-F93F-4944-9E73-049599236677-259-000000290ED5DDC7_zps7144f65b.jpg)

Almost 90 degrees and still hasn't broken under tension this bow pulls about 55 pounds too
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 08:44:02 pm
Forgot to mention the tips are supposed to be stiff it is a leverish type bow
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 08:56:13 pm
(http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/q681/joec123able/1F5E626D-8B60-471A-A08E-2FD9B68619D3-314-0000002E6D0869CB_zps1b7098ee.jpg)

And here it begins to collapse under compression well before giving out under tension
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: BowSlayer on June 12, 2013, 09:31:21 pm
Amazing!
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: okie64 on June 12, 2013, 09:36:47 pm
Thats pretty cool. Seems like someone else did that same kinda experiment with hackberry awhile back.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: adb on June 12, 2013, 09:41:50 pm
Jesus H... that must be very wet wood!
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 09:45:50 pm
Jesus H... that must be very wet wood!


Lol what ??? It's not wet at all I made this bow ins September it's been laying on a chair in my basement since then
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Raptard on June 12, 2013, 09:54:34 pm
i think he thought that you steamed it
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 12, 2013, 10:03:54 pm
i think he thought that you steamed it

If that's what he wants to think then so be it but I definetly didn't steam it it's dry wood
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: adb on June 13, 2013, 01:44:54 am
i think he thought that you steamed it

If that's what he wants to think then so be it but I definetly didn't steam it it's dry wood

Whoa there cowboy... I didn't say anything about steam. I meant that piece of wood must have fairly high moisture content to able to bend like that.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 01:50:25 am
i think he thought that you steamed it

If that's what he wants to think then so be it but I definetly didn't steam it it's dry wood

Whoa there cowboy... I didn't say anything about steam. I meant that piece of wood must have fairly high moisture content to able to bend like that.

But there's no way it hasn't been near any moisture it's just sat in a basement for 9 months
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Josh B on June 13, 2013, 02:01:10 am
That's about par for the course with Hackberry.  You can trap it and heat treat it until the belly is hard as stone.  It just performs better.  On the other hand, if you don't heat temper it, it usually isn't to impressive.  Josh
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: AH on June 13, 2013, 02:53:45 am
Thats pretty cool. Seems like someone else did that same kinda experiment with hackberry awhile back.
I think Toomanyknots had a video on that
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: dwardo on June 13, 2013, 05:00:00 am
I have a failed elm bow that does the same. Will dig out a picture later. Certainly not moisture content just a dead belly and a back that refuses to give up.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 05:05:20 am
I have a failed elm bow that does the same. Will dig out a picture later. Certainly not moisture content just a dead belly and a back that refuses to give up.

Exactly
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: adb on June 13, 2013, 11:23:29 am
Amazing that it can bend nearly 90 degrees without breaking. What does it look like when you let it go?
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: toomanyknots on June 13, 2013, 11:32:41 am
Here are a couple photos I took of a hackberry longbow I screwed up. I think it might of been 60# or 70# @ 28" I think, but I am not super sure.

(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/hackberry%20tension%20demo/Snapshot13-16-20124-54PM.png) (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/toomany7/media/hackberry%20tension%20demo/Snapshot13-16-20124-54PM.png.html)

(http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb392/toomany7/hackberry%20tension%20demo/Snapshot13-16-20124-56PM.png) (http://s1203.photobucket.com/user/toomany7/media/hackberry%20tension%20demo/Snapshot13-16-20124-56PM.png.html)

Hackberry is extremely strong in tension, and it is my belief that this plays a good part in why it is generally accepted to be the most steam bendable wood. The fibers are very strong and hold together very well. I had a hackberry warbow I screwed up a couple years ago, and I was trying to break it, and it wouldn't break for nothing. I was jumping off my porch onto the tip, and it was "pogo stick"-ing me back up on my porch! It also grows extremely straight most of the time, and with almost zero knots. If I had a way to mill me up some, I think it would be excellent for backings. It would be so easy to get perfect straight grain. It is also almost always pure white to the pith 99% of the time, so all the backings would come out nice and creamy white, where as with hickory you got all that brownish heart wood.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Marks on June 13, 2013, 12:18:49 pm
I keep meaning to go cut me some hackberry but I just haven't yet. I have osage and crepe myrtle drying in the garage. I need to go ahead and get some hack in there. We have that stuff coming out our ears on the farm. Every fence row is full of it and its all thru the woods too. Like you said, seems to grow good and straight.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Thesquirrelslinger on June 13, 2013, 01:26:34 pm
Is hackberry approximatly as good as hickory?
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: toomanyknots on June 13, 2013, 01:38:03 pm
Is hackberry approximatly as good as hickory?

I think hickory would be pretty hard to beat, but I don't know. My instinct says it might be "close". But hick is super strong in tension. (except the garbage dry rotted stuff I bought a month or so ago,  >:().
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Thesquirrelslinger on June 13, 2013, 01:43:07 pm
Is hackberry approximatly as good as hickory?

I think hickory would be pretty hard to beat, but I don't know. My instinct says it might be "close". But hick is super strong in tension. (except the garbage dry rotted stuff I bought a month or so ago,  >:().
Maybe the garbage you bought was actually pecan...
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 02:10:37 pm
Amazing that it can bend nearly 90 degrees without breaking. What does it look like when you let it go?


It looks like its suffered major compression damage but the elastic strenth of hack berry just amazes me I need to get my hands on some hickory and compare the two
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: toomanyknots on June 13, 2013, 06:57:19 pm
Is hackberry approximatly as good as hickory?

I think hickory would be pretty hard to beat, but I don't know. My instinct says it might be "close". But hick is super strong in tension. (except the garbage dry rotted stuff I bought a month or so ago,  >:().
Maybe the garbage you bought was actually pecan...

I think it was just bad quality for some reason, dry rotted or something. And from what I hear, pecan is great wood too.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 07:06:30 pm


Hackberry is extremely strong in tension, and it is my belief that this plays a good part in why it is generally accepted to be the most steam bendable wood. The fibers are very strong and hold together very well. I had a hackberry warbow I screwed up a couple years ago, and I was trying to break it, and it wouldn't break for nothing. I was jumping off my porch onto the tip, and it was "pogo stick"-ing me back up on my porch! It also grows extremely straight most of the time, and with almost zero knots. If I had a way to mill me up some, I think it would be excellent for backings. It would be so easy to get perfect straight grain. It is also almost always pure white to the pith 99% of the time, so all the backings would come out nice and creamy white, where as with hickory you got all that brownish heart wood.


Yea I think hackberry would be amazing backing material
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Thesquirrelslinger on June 13, 2013, 09:23:26 pm
I just got meself some ash and elm... Intend to make a nice bow...
Seasoned elm is not nearly as strong in tension as hickory... but man, its good. a thin heartwood locust piece is practically unbeatable in my book. Bend it 90, 100, 200 degrees... at 250 or so it cracks.
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 09:39:12 pm
I just got meself some ash and elm... Intend to make a nice bow...
Seasoned elm is not nearly as strong in tension as hickory... but man, its good. a thin heartwood locust piece is practically unbeatable in my book. Bend it 90, 100, 200 degrees... at 250 or so it cracks.

I made one honey locust bow shot it alot took a few carp with it and one day while I was stringing it it popped a splinter on the back still have the bow been standing in a corner for a while with a piece of rawhide I was intending to fix it with but I don't think it's even worth fixing
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Slackbunny on June 13, 2013, 09:46:27 pm
Is hackberry approximatly as good as hickory?

I think hickory would be pretty hard to beat, but I don't know. My instinct says it might be "close". But hick is super strong in tension. (except the garbage dry rotted stuff I bought a month or so ago,  >:().
Maybe the garbage you bought was actually pecan...

Pecan is hickory. Hickory is a genus better known as carya, and pecan is Carya illinoinensis. There are nearly a dozen of species of hickory, like pecan, shagbark, pignut etc each with their own latin species name. But its all hickory. 
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Badly Bent on June 13, 2013, 09:58:01 pm
It's all fun till someone gets hurt. >:D  Be careful of flying pointy splinters when torturing wood like that, doesn't look like the safest way to test the resiliency of bow wood. Just saying we don't want any of our fellow bow makers disabled. :)
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 13, 2013, 10:07:06 pm
It's all fun till someone gets hurt. >:D  Be careful of flying pointy splinters when torturing wood like that, doesn't look like the safest way to test the resiliency of bow wood. Just saying we don't want any of our fellow bow makers disabled. :)


Lol nope we don't want that but this is safer then putting a string on it and drawing it back till it breaks
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Badly Bent on June 13, 2013, 10:20:04 pm
Joe, not if your pulling the string on a tillering tree with a rope from 15' away. ;D ;D ;D 
Be careful bro. :)
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: raghorns on June 13, 2013, 11:49:27 pm
If you used hackberry for a backing...what belly wood would you team it up with?

Lyle
Title: Re: Check this out
Post by: Joec123able on June 14, 2013, 12:06:42 am
If you used hackberry for a backing...what belly wood would you team it up with?

Lyle

I'd team it up with something known for high compression strenth like ipe, Osage,mesquite,juniper and so on