vinemaple

[broketooth]

i had, at one time, a vinemaple selfbow. i beleive it was a stave from John Strunk.
a friend had gifted me this bow, i have to say this was one of the most unique selfbows i have ever owned and shot.
one of the most unique atributes of this bow , was , after shooting and unstringing,
you could actually see the bow , go back to its origanl reflexed  profile.. the other atribute that
is memorable, is how it would really zip an arrow, even from a high poundage bow, the one i had was 62#@28.
 im intersted in building one for myself as a personal bow. i would like to see some of your vinemaple bows too.
is there any tips and hints on how to treat this wood or vine as it were? where can i get a stave of it? how does it act as heating for straightening?
thanks for your help. rv

[sadiejane]

sorry-no experience with vine maple

but had a question-you refer to the bow in past tense-did something happen to it ?

[aaron]

Vine maple is pretty easy to work with- I have made several VM bows. Here are some tips:
Find the straightest one you can- cut a few while you're at it.Remove bark carefully and immediately. VM will gain reflex as it dries.
Staves as small as 1 1/2 diameter will make a bow. Small ones like this are good beginner bows, make 'em at least 66 inches long. VM will dry pretty fast, don't seal the ends and reduce to 1 inch thickness, then lash it to a 2x4 to restrain it- dry slowly for the first week (garage), then bring inside for 3 - 5 weeks. I have done straightening with steam. It grows in WA and OR in the coast range. Also grows in the cascades, but not usually big enough.

[coaster500]

I started one last night. Peeled the bark and lay the bow out.

Gordon posted a couple of very sweet short VM bows here and inspired me to give it a shot. I've got two seasoned short (58 and 56") staves I'll see if I can get them to 27"s or so...

Gordons threads...

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,2476.msg32923.html#msg32923

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=25207.0

[Gordon]

The best vine maple is harvested from trees that grow under tension. When I cut vine maple I only use the tension side of the tree and discard the rest. Be careful when harvesting because vine maple under tension can be very dangerous. To minimize accidents I first make a wedge cut in the compression side of the tree and then cut the tension side. While high tension vine maple makes the fastest bows, it can be a bear to work with because of the high degree of reflex that needs to be worked out of the bow during the tillering process. I do not restrain the wood during drying. While that will certainly make tillering easier, you give up performance.  Regarding vine maple from the Cascades. It's true that it is harder to find suitable trees at higher elevations, but in my experience it is well worth the effort to find it. All the vine maples bows that I have made from Cascade wood perform exceptionally well. Here is a link to a thread describing one such bow that I made for a friend. It may not look like much, but it is one of the best bows that I ever made.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,10787.msg153333.html#msg153333

[missilemaster]

Gordon, I saw that sapling bow awhile back and I must say , its one of my favorite bows ever posted! May I ask what type of pen you used for the info on the bow?

                                                                Cody

[Elktracker]

You have got some great advice I agree make sure the back of the bow is made from the tension side of the tree or bush. Vine Maple usually grows in clumps and not straight up but at an angle the tension side will be the side usually faceing up or taking the strain. A smaller diameter tree or sapling with a higher crowned back will usually have a bit more zip from what I have seen and experianced. Also it helps to relieve some of the stress on the belly as Vine Maple isnt as strong in compression as it is in Tension and is prone to crysle if your tiller isnt real close or the back overpowers the belly. Peel the bark right after harvesting and split or cut the stave in half.

Here is one I made for the bow trade last year Tried to load more but wont work

Good luck and post picture Do you have VM in your area?

Josh

[Carson (CMB)]

Like Gordon says, there is some good vine maple in the high cascades.  That is what I made my first bow from.  The only highly reactive VM I tried to work blew up on me, but that was not the fault of the wood .  Here is a link I found helpful on VM tension wood.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,2191.msg28542.html#msg28542

I was wondering if the compression side might be of good utility in a sinew backed paddle bow.  If using a paddle design and a good amount of sinew.  Wouldn't the compression vine maple serve the belly well as long as sinew is adequate to do all of the tension work? I have been meaning to experiment with this approach, but if someone has already done it..

[Bryce]

still havent finished this one havent had time plus its still soaking up moisture after the heat treatment.
but heres the basic profile. oh fyi if people tell you, that you cant Put that sharp a recurve in white wood you tell them to shush it. THIS IS VINE MAPLE FOOL!!!

[broketooth]

well im not from that part of the country , so that would make acquiring vm by mail order only.
sadie, the first one i had blew up, it was a slow painful demise, i tried to repair it twice.its when i finally learned , no matter how pretty
or how much work you put into a selfbow, its just a tool and tools break or give out. wood has a life of its own, and when its ready to give up thats it.
so ya build another one to take its place. that bein said im ready to have another vinemaple bow as a personal bow.
 thanks to everyone for the advice rv

[Carson (CMB)]

Another thing about vinemaple not yet mentioned is that it is usually pretty twisted when you hand split it.  I asked John Strunk about how he finds straight vine maple and he said he band saws it and if it gets too squirrely when drying then he discards it.  I have always hand split mine and it has resulted in a lot being discarded.  I am going to start sawing it.  Let me know if you need a stave, and maybe we can work out a trade.  What part of the country are you from?  I am always trying to add new woods to the stash. 

[Gordon]

May I ask what type of pen you used for the info on the bow?

Cody, I used a caligraphy pen with white India ink on that bow.

[Gordon]

I do it the same way as John.

[broketooth]

cmb, im a coastal nc boy. i live about 4 hrs from mr pat b and robustus. rv