Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: costicaldad on January 15, 2008, 08:49:16 am

Title: making a bow
Post by: costicaldad on January 15, 2008, 08:49:16 am

as an Australian i would like to know if there are any woods suitable for making a bow i live on the Murray river

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: Auggie on January 15, 2008, 11:04:54 am

Im not gonna be any help as I live in Missouri, but if you could list  what  kinds of trees you have near by maybe some of us not from down under could help out.

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: Hillbilly on January 15, 2008, 11:21:56 am

There was an Aussie who used to post on here a lot, and he had tried many of the native woods for bows. I don't remember exactly which, but I recall him saying that some of the Eucalyptus species were good, and he also found some osage growing somewhere. Try to pick the local trees that have the hardest, heaviest wood and they will probably make a bow.

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: George Tsoukalas on January 15, 2008, 11:26:34 am

Try this. Jawge
http:// www .ozbow.net/ozbow_v2_001.htm

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: costicaldad on January 16, 2008, 10:48:39 am

in my local area we have mally,river red gum ,pine, balar and box

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: Marc St Louis on January 16, 2008, 11:11:18 am

I have heard that Box wood makes a good bow. Don't know if it's the same species as what you have though

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: MalV on January 17, 2008, 12:39:46 am

I live in Perth.
River Gum - not likely to be any good
Pine - dont bother
Our Box is not the same as Marc is talking about.
Never heared of Balar.

I have made a few bows from Mallee, and have had great results.
however, there is about 1000 species of mallee, but if it is straight and dense, should be good.
The ones I have used are 'fluted gimlett' and 'merritt'. sg about .9 and hard as tool steel. It is very good in tension, and resists compression. Not as brittle as the larger eucalypts, (i.e. euc. regans).
Keep the nocks small to reduce tip weight, and start with longer bows until you know the wood.

Good Luck - Mal

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: costicaldad on January 17, 2008, 05:44:52 am

thanks mal balar is a hard wood like iron bark, and living in the mallee i should find something

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: Sidewinder on January 17, 2008, 06:29:56 pm

Welcome to the tribe Costicaldad. Look forward to seeing what some of the stuff you come with looks like.  Danny

Title: Re: making a bow
Post by: MalV on January 17, 2008, 09:17:03 pm

Just a bit of trivia on the type of mallee called 'fluted gimlett'

It was highly sought after in the goldfields here in Western Australia early last century, and was almost exclusively used to shore-up the mining tunnels. It was found to have superior strength to all other hardwoods in the arid/semi-arid area around Kalgoolie.

I can believe this, as a ELB made from this wood has almost ridiculously narrow/thin proportions for the poundage.