Birch bow

[sound maker]

A friend is cutting some birch down its mostly limbs. My question is can I make a bow with them and can someone give me some safe dimensions so I don't have a limb flying.  They going to be about 6 feet long and going from maybe 1" 3/4" - 2" 1/4". and do I have to remove the bark as soon as I can or can I sit on it for a few weeks???

[sound maker]

that is 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 inch think.

[RobWiden]

    Sound maker. Get the bark off as soon as you can. I left the bark on some birch I cut last summer and when I got to it about Christmas time it was totally useless. I read somewhere that 3 foggy mornings and 1 rainy day will rot any birch you have. Maybe an exageration, but not by much. Birch can make a good bow, but not if you leave the bark on it. Oh yeah, no need to seal the backs of your staves, just the ends IMHO. By the way, the staves I ruined were stored in my heated shop, not outside in the weather.    Rob

[sound maker]

Well I got that bark off and got it almost done (back it with some paper bags since it's my first backing I did myself) but the glue wasn't coming off and ended up a little off so still working. I did a boo boo on the limb that was going to be my bottom and now its real light while the one that was going to be the top is now the bottom. So far it seems ok but I will get some pics of the limbs and it strung on my mobile tree so you guys can point out anything that looks like problems.

[beetlebailey1977]

I the wood ready to work that soon......I have never worked birch so I was wondering if you could work it so soon.

[Slackbunny]

I had a birch stave that I removed the bark, and split it, and it dried down to 12% in less than two months. Granted that was in January, and during that time of the year the air here is very dry, and I had it in a room with a wood stove and a fan. So that is probably ideal conditions for rapid drying.

Birch leaves a lot to be desired as a bow wood, but I've just about finished a 50 pound knotty birch bow, and I have to say I'm really liking it. For dimensions, its 65" long tip to tip, and about 1 3/4 wide at its widest right out of the fades. Only final finishing left, can't wait!!

It's definitely a second tier bow wood but I've got proof out in the shop that it can work. I'll probably have pictures up here soon

[sound maker]

 I got a piece that maybe about 6' - 6' 5" (will check) thats about 2" 1/2" - 3" 1/4" thick (again will have to check) and am going to make that into a flatbow. The way things stand with it though I might make the tips thick and narrow so that I don't have to worry about it breaking so its going to be more dish shape then circle. So far when I work with it its nice and its fun to work with the only thing that would help would be to have some power tools to help with the cutting (only got a hack saw and a pull saw that will work) with the added bonus of you have to shave it move then anything so you don't take too much out cuz that birch cuts nice but does go in chunks if your not watching (thats what I did with the first piece I was working on but its ok since I was aiming for low weight, less then 40# but its like 15#- 25#).

[sound maker]

well got the pics loaded and I think I need to still do some more work on it.

The left side was going to be my bottom limb but removed too much wood so its the top now but when I was shooting some arrows it likes so say no so I flips it over in the way I was aiming to get it to shot as and it does good. So do I just get it so that right side bends more and then narrow the left side's tips?? I left it big cuz I got worry  but should I make it narrower?? Also does anyone think I can shorten it a bit to add so pounds or no??

[Weylin]

It's hard to judge without knowing what your relaxed profile looks like but to me it looks like there is a hinge just out of the fade on the left limb. the rest of the limb doesnt look like it's doing much work. The right limb is bending more evenly but it still looks like it could work more around midlimb. Never worked with birch before but my guess is that you have to get the limbs working as evenly as possible or you'll get compression fractures easily. That's my two cents, I'd wait for others to chime in to see if they see the same thing. Good luck and have fun.

[randman]

I agree with Weylin. Your left limb needs to bend more in the middle and there's a hinge starting at the fade on the left limb. Right limb is better but still needs a tiny bit in the middle. Tips should be as narrow as possible (and still be able to have a nock) to keep tip weight down. They can be thicker but they need to be narrow. Show us a pic of the back profile shape. And a braced and unbraced shot.

[sound maker]

ok will get the pics just need to sun out. and that hinge is where I went a little too deep into the wood and wasn't sure if my eye were right but am going to start on that. By the way I had backed this with some paper sacks. when I get the pics I'll get some measurements ie overall lenght, limb thickness and width, handle lenght too. This is more or less the first bow I'm making stright from the tree.

[sound maker]

heres the pics and I did do some markings. the second pics  is more or less with the back on the ground but didn't have anyhting other then the tillering stick to kept it from falling. The last 3 pics are with the string on.

[RobWiden]

    Sound Maker. I'm not an expert bowyer by any means, but I do know a bit about birch. I've probably made at least 40 birch bows because it is the best wood available in any size where I live. It is weak in compression so it needs to be wide (my preference) or really long. For a hunting weight bow I go about 66" long and about 2 3/4" wide.
    I think you can still make a lightweight bow out of your stave but the first thing I would do now is heat treat it on a form to put a little reflex in it, harden that soft belly, and align the string with the handle at the same time. Leave it for a week or two to rehydrate, then very carefully get rid of the hinge. Try to get as much of the limbs working as possible except for 4-5" at the tips. The more wood you have working, the less likely it is to develope frets in an overworked area.

[randman]

Yeah what RobWiden said. Looks better but that top limb should bend  more in the middle to the end. Then give it a good heat treating. Those tips are really massive (look to be about an inch wide) Taper the last 6 to 8" down to about 1/2 inch wide at the tip (you can keep some of thickness but they need to be narrower from the back profile). With that even width profile along most of the length, you should have more of an elliptical tiller shape at full draw. 

[sound maker]

thanks for the advice.
  Robwiden: I'm not really making this into a hunting bow, more like a target shooter.

 randman: I was thinking that but wasn't sure when to do that. I'll post when I get along to it. Right now I'm in the middle of doing some bows that are hopefully going to shooting in a few week at a campout I'm going to.
here are the lenghts by the way.
 72" long with a 5" handle thats 1" 1/8"  thick with about 1" 1/2" fade.
The narrower limb is about 1" wide all the way and going about 3/4"-5/8" thick.
The wider is 1" 1/4" - 1" 1/2" wide and about 3/4"-1/2" thick.