African Bow Woods

[Tommy D]

I have been trying to make a bamboo backed bow for some time now. I live in EAST Africa and I have been struggling to get good wood for the limbs as most timber yards only stock a few species (certainly none of the well known West African Bow woods well documented in bow building circles).

So far I have made one successful bamboo backed bow using a yew left over from a self bow I built and I don t think that my tillering is too bad but so far all my other attempts have failed!

I have had 2 attempts with Eucalyptus chrysal; I have tried a local wood called African Camphor (Ocotea usambarensis) and it chrysalled as well.

The only other woods that are stocked are Cypress (which I am guessing wont be great), African Mahogany and one called Podocarpus spp. which I am told is distantly related to yew?

Does anyone know anything about these woods that I have mentioned and whether they might be suitable for bow building? Or have any other suggestions?

[adb]

Well... you are much like me, and live in a bow wood desert. Unfotunately, if I want to make bows, I have to import my wood.

[orcbow]

I used some american Cypress and its quite a bit like Eastern Red Cedar. It was from a board and backed with canvas. It was okay. If I were you I'd try the African Mahogany. I'd guess it would be a good as Cherry or maybe Ash. Pick a board that's heavy compared to the rest, and probably you'll need back it. Good Luck!

[Far East Archer]

Here in Japan I have used Podocarpus macrophylla with good results.
Not sure about physical properties of your species but it may be similar.....

The wood depends much where it grew, and growing conditions. We have poor soil here where it grows so its usually much denser than ones people grow in garden. Treat similar to juniper or low density yew.

[Tommy D]

The Podocarpus I have is white wood but very knot free. I guess I will try this one if Far East Archer has had some luck with it. Did you have to back it and how did you use the grains. Do you think it is better in tension or compression?

Our mahogany has very course grains and is actually quite soft so I am not so sure about this one. Although I don't live in a bow wood desert most African bows are made from fairly narrow saplings of a few certain species that dont grow big enough to get lumber from.

I read somewhere that Eucalyptus tends to chrysal badly - have other people experienced this?

[Tommy D]

Oh yeah we also have Juniperus procera - East African Pencil Cedar. It is beautiful wood but very brittle so I have been put off trying it. It will split if you tried to nail it. I dont know if this would work with a backing?

[Jesse]

Where in East Africa? I used to live near Nairobi Kenya

[JackCrafty]

Junipers will make a good bow.  After looking at the data sheet, African pencil cedar (Juniperus procera) looks pretty good...so I would recommend that you experiment with the cedar.  It's probably cheap as well.

If you can cut your own cedar, that would be the best choice.  Cedar boards might work but you will probably need to back the bow with rawhide or sinew.

Here is a data sheet on Juniperous procera:

---http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/TechSheets/Chudnoff/African/htmlDocs_africa/Juniperusprocera.html

[Tommy D]

Born just outside of Nairobi but work in Tanzania now Jesse. Thanks for the info Jackcrafty. I will try the cedar.

[Jesse]

Jambo Tommy. Have you heard of an area called South B? That was my neighborhood. 
Wish I could help with the wood but I dont have a clue what you have there

[Far East Archer]

You are lucky to have no knots!
Yes, it is a white color wood, sometimes its look peach color or have different color growth ring, but mostly whitish.

Well, I have try both. Unbacked bow work well if its clean back.
I have backed with bamboo no problem, so from my experience this wood is better in compression than tension, but it can be made unbacked.
You should test some scrap piece before make bow.

[Michael C.]

Have you tried laminating any of the different woods you have together? Just a thought.

[Tommy D]

What would the advantage of this be? What is the advantage of a tri-lam? I know to some this may sound like a silly question but fear that if I can't get it right with bamboo backing it would be even more work to do a tri-lam and break that one!

[Tommy D]

Interesting that the Australian Pine post came up - I didnt realise it until it was mentioned but we have a lot of Casuarina on the East African coast and so I would like to hear more on the subject!

[otis.drum]

I read somewhere that Eucalyptus tends to chrysal badly - have other people experienced this?

eucalyptus is not one tree but a category of trees that produce eucalyptus oil in the leaves. most 'Gum' trees here in oz are eucalypts. some of them are fast growing crap wood, some are slow growing excellent wood (for bows and other uses), further to this the conditions an individual tree grows in will have an impact on it's quality. a tree that has had good contions will not produce a quality wood like a tree that has had harder conditions.

we have a species here called spotted gum. if it grows on one side of the range (sea side) we don't use it, infact it's not even harvested. if it grows on the other side of the range it is harvested and used for all number of building uses and bows.

there is also a lot of african mahogany growing around me. it is apparently no good for bows. the small amounts i'bve used (not for bows or bow limbs) has been hard but brittle and snaps when you look at it.

if i was you i'd be looking for a slow growing tree in hard conditions. find a good branch or trunk for a stave, roughing it out to floor tillered. paint the back and ends to stop it cracking while it drys and chuck it in an air conditioned room for a month or until it stops looing weight and give that a go.