? for New England bowyers, or any who might know.

[Denham Archer]

I will need to have a maple tree taken down that is hanging over my garage.  It is about 18" thick.  Every autumn the leaves change to yellow (mostly), some orange also, no red.  Would this type of maple be sturdy enough to make bows with?  I don't know what kind of maple tree it is.

Any help about what kind of maple it could be would be appreciated.  I live in south eastern Massachusetts, if that helps.   

[NTProf]

I live in Merrimac, MA, near Amesbury. Can you post a picture of the leaves? If it is sugar maple it would be great wood for making a bow.

[Denham Archer]

I live in Merrimac, MA, near Amesbury. Can you post a picture of the leaves? If it is sugar maple it would be great wood for making a bow.

Thanks for the reply.  I'll try to get a picture posted tomorrow.

[sailordad]

from the sounds of it, it is probably sugar maple. i say this as im looking at my neighbors sugar maple,with leaves that are changing
to yellow and yes the occasional orange thrown in too.

ifn it is sugar maple, it will make some fine bows

 
                                                                                       tim

[Ryano]

A picture of the bark as well as the leaves would be helpful. Any kind of hard maple will make a decent bow as long as its not soft maple you should be ok.

[JW_Halverson]

I just happen to have a piece of fiercely curled maple sitting int the corner of the shop.  Anyone ever make a backed board bow out of curly maple?  I have resisted this temptation because something tells me the curls would not structurally support the compression.

-John

[DanaM]

I believe El Destructo has a birdseye maple backed bow. Drop him a line and ask.

[ballista]

 are sugar maple and silver maple similar? my neighbor had his tree trimmed, i snagged a 13 foot log of it, maybe 5 or 6 inches long, im pretty sure it could yeild a few bows, not totally sure though