juniper questions

[okie64]

A friend of mine sent me some juniper staves from Idaho.  I've never worked with juniper before so I was wandering what would be the best style of bow to make from them. They're all 70" long and have a few knots in them. Do they need to be backed with sinew or rawhide or will they hold up in tension unbacked? The bark peeled off pretty easy since they're pretty green. Can the sapwood under the bark be the back or do I need to work it down closer to the heartwood?  Any input is appreciated. The three long ones in the middle are the  juniper.

[sailordad]

ive seen some NA artifact bows in a museum
these were all of juniper and paddle style
all had a couple layers of sinew
curator said they had no more than 2 layers each

[JackCrafty]

Juniper works great as a self bow.  It's much better in compression than tension so it lends itself to a rounded belly longbow design, like yew.  When finished, it will look thicker than it needs to be so make sure you don't remove too much wood in the beginning.

You can use the wood just under the bark for the back or you can decrown it.  Works fine either way. If you flip it around and use the heart wood for the back you will need to back it with something.

[okie64]

I would rather make an elb style bow with it but I didnt know if it would work very good in that design. I've been searching but it seems that everyone uses it in short sinew or rawhide backed designs. I  prefer longer bows myself.

[JackCrafty]

I have a 72" long, juniper, pyramid style bow and it works great.  I've been wanting to make a juniper long bow for years...just haven't gotten to it yet.

[Keenan]

Ive made a few elb style junipers and they were slow very sluggish bows, All the shorter 48-60? bows that Ive made have been great shooters, One of the best woods for sinew and flat bow design, Hands down.

[PaulN/KS]

Got a question... I have some juniper staves but the sapwood id pretty thick. Also, didn't peel the bark right away so it got buggy. Since folks say "treat it like yew" does that mean you don't chase a ring?  And is more or less sapwood the best way to go. These are pretty clean staves and about 6' long...

[blackhawk]

If you want a longer bow you could plane down thru some of the sapwood to get a 1/3 sapwood and 2/3 heartwood belly and back it with a real thin piece of bamboo or an 1/8" piece of hickory.

But id flip the tips 45 degrees or so and sinew back those babies and make em under 60" long and bend thru the handle. That would still be a smooth pulling bow IMO.

[okie64]

Keenan, I've seen some of your bows and you seem like you know your way around a juniper stave so I'm takin your word on this one. I dont really understand why it would act sluggish though in an elb style if it was skinny enough. I read in tbb4 where Tim Baker said it was the only wood that would make a skinnier, thicker longbow than yew. That made me think it would make a great elb. Oh well, I'm not against making a short bow so I guess I'll see what happens.

[juniper junkie]

like keenan, I have made some longer bows from juniper and was not impressed with the performance. I made a holmegard style bow that is 64" long and sinew backed which shoots great and has taken no set in 3 years of shooting and hunting. the sapwood has very little strength by itself. I go down to less than 1/2" sapwood and then heartwood. no need to chase  a ring. soak the knots with superglue and keep the limbs kind of wide at least in the mid limb area and start the bow out thicker than with other woods. juniper is suprisingly elastic and offers a smooth draw. it loses moisture really fast and lends itself to checking, be sure to seal the ends.

[rileyconcrete]

Okie,

what part of Idaho did the staves come from?  I am in Idaho and have some juniper that looks just like that.  Curious as to where the person got it.  Also do they build bows?

thanks 

Tell

[okie64]

Hey Riley, the guy who sent these to me lives in Malad City, Idaho. I think he said its utah juniper and yes he does build bows. Shoot me a pm if you need any more info.