Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: carpholeo on July 01, 2014, 10:01:46 pm
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/r33s33/stuff/recurve001_zps7047a40e.jpg)
Not finished yet but its getting close 63" i'm trying to let the bow tell me what it wants to be for draw length and pull
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Purty sir, I like that wood and those curves
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I love mesquite! That's a nice looking bow.
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Very nice. Looking forward to full draw.
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Gorgeous profile and wood right there.
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Don't know how it will turn out but right now she is a beauty. :) :) Got to love that. :)
Pappy
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Looking real nice so far! Gotta love a wood you can cook with and make a bow out of ;) I've never tried making a bow out of it, gonna have to put it on the list.
Tattoo Dave
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Will be watching this one closely. Very rare to see a mesquite bow. Beautiful wood and design.
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I'm with Badger! I've only had enough for over lays and knife scales. I always thought it was a pretty wood. Where did you get a piece that long?
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Man it's nice, stop making me want to do recurve when I can't even do straight yet >:D
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Yep! Look'n good. Can't wait to see it when it's done!
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I like the look and design of that one too, hope you post more pics of this bow as the work progresses Carpholeo.
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Very pretty. Really like the dark streak down the center of the belly. I'm sure it will really come alive when there is a finish on it.
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That is a pretty piece of wood. Nice curves. Looking forward to seeing how it finishes out.
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OK, who knew you could build a bow from mesquite?
I live in AZ, mesquite on every street corner, and every lot in town. Grows wild in the desert like a weed, and they are imported from Chile here because the Chilean ones are thornless.
Do you know what variety this one is?
Also, is it from a branch, or a split stave? (Mind is going a mile a minute!
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Lived in New Mexico half my younger life. Had no idea Mesquite could be used for much of anything other than BBQ. I'll be watching also. That is one pretty bow.
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Ok to answer the questions asked----- its very hard to find a good length of mesquite from a shoot or otherwise,
Be prepared to cut hack and chainsaw your way into a dense mesquite thicket if you want a good shoot or stave. and you will get bloody. This bow is honey mesquite and from a stave. honey mesquite tends to be less knotty that screwbean mesquite, however screwbean mesquite makes a slightly faster bow than honey. I dont have any experience with velvet mesquite. I have only made maple board bows in the past which i found to be fairly easy with all the good info on this site. but mesquite has been a real challange to even get to the point where you call it a bow.
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Several years ago I spent a week in Az hunting for iron wood, I had no idea there were so many varieties of mesquite. I wasn't able to get a positive identification on anything to speak of.
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Yeah i hear ya, i'm in the same area and i still dont know how to identify ironwood
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Heres a screwbean mesquite pyramid bow im working on, knott city, and this was from the best stave i could find
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/r33s33/stuff/flatbow_zps9453053a.jpg)
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Yikes!!!! 27" true draw length
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/r33s33/stuff/tiller_zps34213fd1.jpg)
looks like i have some fine tuning to do
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Nice bend! Tiller looks good here. That screwbean mesquite looks like the osage in my vice right now, knot city for sure.
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OK, after some research, here's what I've found.
The most common desert mesquite is velvet mesquite. It's what found locally in all the washes. Screw bean is found in the riparian areas. Honey is found in elevations above 2500'.
That said, what I'm going to find here is the native velvet mesquite and and imported Chilean mesquite. Any advise on which to seek out?
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I thought this was interesting, screwbean ranks as one of the hardest woods out there, very colse to osage
Janka Hardness Scale
Wood Variety Sorted by Hardness
Ipe (Lapacho) 3680
African Blackwood 3500
Macassar Ebony 3220
Brazilian Rosewood 3000
Bloodwood 2900
Osage-Orange 2500
Jatoba 2350
Screwbean Mesquite 2335
Persimmon 2300
Santos Mahogany 2200
Dogwood 2150
Ohia 2090
Purple Heart 2090
Bubinga 1980 (2000+?)
Jarrah 1910, 2082
Hop Hornbeam 1860
Purpleheart 1860
Pecan 1820
Shagbark Hickory 1820
Hornbeam 1780
Morado 1780
Ziracote 1750
Apple 1730
Paduak 1725
Rengas 1720
Almond 1700
Black Locust 1700
Ovankol 1650
Wenge 1630
Honey Locust 1580
Zebrawood 1575
Witch Hazel 1530
Canarywood 1520
Sapele 1500
Orientalwood 1480
Bastogne Walnut 1460
Madrone 1460
Rosewood 1450
Sugar Maple 1450
Hard Maple 1450
Cuban Mahogany 1430
Tanoak 1400
Tamarind 1400
Cypress 1375
White Oak 1360
African Mahogany 1350, 830
White Ash 1320
Beech 1300
Angelique 1290
Myrtlewood 1270
Yellow Birch 1260
Red Oak 1260
Vanautu Blackwood 1200
Larch 1200
Bastogne Walnut 1000-1500
English Walnut 1200
King Billy Pine 1200?
Green Ash 1200
Paulownia
Teak (true) 1155
Pacific Yew 1150
Cocobolo 1136
Koa 1110
Cascara 1040
Southern Magnolia 1020
Am. Black Walnut 1010
Claro Walnut 950-1000
Black Cherry 950
Imbuya 950
Sourwood 940
Eastern Red Cedar 900
Hackberry 880
Longleaf Pine 875
Rock Elm 860
Slippery Elm 860
Bigleaf Maple 8
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Heres a screwbean mesquite pyramid bow im working on, knott city, and this was from the best stave i could find
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/r33s33/stuff/flatbow_zps9453053a.jpg)
WOW!!! That is a cool hunk o wood!!!