Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jayman448 on April 03, 2015, 03:51:05 am
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i may have asked this already. will willow work? i found a good shoot that is about 13 inches round. there is a knotted area but they are both on the same side and it can be put smack dab in the handle i think. so... cut it or leave it?
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It's generally considered not worth using,(too weak in compression) but it can make a bow. Mind it grows so straight and plentiful (well it does round me) I would only consider a perfect piece and then only if you have no other alternative.
You could make a cricket bat with it tho' >:D
Del
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mkay. as far as bow wood goes, i hate where i live. much anger XD
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Find out which bows woods were used by local Natives.
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Where do you live?
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His Profile says "Interior BC Canada". There are more than a few well reputed bow woods from that area from what I hear. Yew would be the first one, ...but they have Apple, Birch, Dogwood, Black Hawthorn, Juniper, Vine Maple, Other maples, and some Oaks. I've never been there, but several of these sound like woods that we see bows made from betimes on this site.
OneBow
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I grabbed some willow I had mistaken for Osoberry (no leaves)
I couldn't figure out why It wouldn't work too well. I managed to make one or two sub-20# bows before I learned what osoberry looks like.
Look for serviceberry or saskatoon berry. Scotch broom would work. Or take a road trip to the coastal region. Good weekend for it.
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I live in high elevation interior. As ive said before. No maple. No juniper. No nothing. Willow, very rare birch, even more rare ash, and then spruce, pine, fir and small shrubby saskatoon. Thats it unless i am not seeing the others. But hats all ive come across in my area. I could get nice ash and apple..... but id have to steal them from the subdivisions in town xD
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As for native biws, i have come to my ameture conclusion that they must have traded them
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Your up near 100 mile house right? You may have to drive an hour or 2 or 3, but there's plenty of good bow wood up there. i cut all my juniper near Kamloops.
Lots of fruit trees up there too.
Interior natives used Rocky mountain juniper, Douglas maple, choke cherry, and yew, both backed and unbacked, and both short and long.
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Seriously though, you live a day's drive to yew paradise, in a few directions. How many guys here would jump at that chance?
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I have no car. Or money. A three hour drive is out of the question for me at the moment xD where is yew???
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Baby steps I guess, first get money, then get a car, THEN go cut some yew :laugh:
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To answer you first question, willow will make a bow. An awesome bow? Probably not. I recall seeing some deflexed tip willow bows in the encyclopedia. South west tribes
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Just use the willow. Mikke made an 80#+ bow from willow a while back. Took some set but looked beautiful.
If you have enough of it, you can become very experienced in using a wood species that not many bother with. It clearly works as bow wood, it just requires a different approach to normal.
Get various lengths and experiment with widths and profiles until you find one that works, and you're away.
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I think I read that Saxton Pope tested a willow bow made by one of the southwest tribes. As I recall his comment was something like 'flabby cast'; also if I recall correctly the furthest it shot was around 120 yards.
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Ok, so I've been chatting to Mikke, and this is what he said about the willow bow that he made:
"It was an experiment that should not have perform so damn well. If he want's the willow to get as strong as possible it's good to leave the bow's width a little more than usual.
No has heat treatment on the belly. But it would definitely be good to get more lb.
The bow is 202cm and last pull was 86lb at 32½" total sett was only 6cm."
The dimensions are 36mm wide and 33mm deep in the centre, with an even taper n both width and depth towards 14mm tips.
I'd say go ahead and use willow to make a bow. The worst that can happen is that you don't end up with a bow, and the best that can happen is you become something of an expert in a bow wood that many consider pointless. Mikke was certainly very happy with it, and that's a guy who really, REALLY knows his obscure bow woods.
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The Copper River bands, and the Kutchin native americans used willow. Some in the National Museum are weak based on their thin cotton stings, but others (majority) are strong enough to require raw-hide strings of robust proportions. I believe if you research that area of Native American activity there will be lots of examples......Most I believe came from the Puget Sound area and Copper River.
rich
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I now stand corrected. I found another uncommon wood in my area.... too bad its mountain alder. Haha
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don't overlook alder either. I recently inspected an alder bow that was reported to draw 100#+ and was only 66" long and 1.5 inches wide. (it was also showing a lot of set).
The bowyer prefers alder over birch, and birch over willow. I have an alder in the works, but it needs some more drying before I draw it and finish tillering.
wills- what kind of limb crossection was the bow Mikke made? elb? flatbow? any links?
willie
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I can get some pics, but its a longbow more or less.
Edit: few pics of the willow bow
(http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb363/Will_Sherman/received_10206673305217970_zpsar1jep6d.jpeg) (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/Will_Sherman/media/received_10206673305217970_zpsar1jep6d.jpeg.html)
(http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb363/Will_Sherman/received_10206673305337973_zpsyhmwxnmx.jpeg) (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/Will_Sherman/media/received_10206673305337973_zpsyhmwxnmx.jpeg.html)
(http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb363/Will_Sherman/received_10206673305497977_zpscedwp7jm.jpeg) (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/Will_Sherman/media/received_10206673305497977_zpscedwp7jm.jpeg.html)
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With these would u expect a narrower thicker limb or a wider thinner limb would work best?
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That looks like a monster bow!
What are the dimensions and draw#?
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That's a nice looking bow! What species of Willow? In my area, we have weeping willow and black willow, neither of which are good bow woods from what I hear although I haven't tried.
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I mentioned the details a few posts up, but it's 86#, 36mm x 33mm.
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Great tiller and proof that willow can make a heavy bow.
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He's a genius, that guy.
There's also a record amongst the Mary Rose ordnance of a potential longbow (incomplete) made of willow. Mikke is doing some more research on it now, but if it is a bow it would be around 120# as that's the minimum weight of the MR bows.
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Ok. So what would the imaginary specs on an american bow