Quarter sawn wood

[wvarcher]

Are there any advantages to quartersawn wood as opposed to flatsawn wood?

[Hrothgar]

I'm no expert and I've only done a few board bows. But...this summer I built 2 short pyramid bows out of white hickory--same design, about the same weight, one quarter sawn and the other flat sawn. With  the board that was quarter sawn I had a lot of trouble with the limbs wanting to "propellar". I would get one limb looking pretty good then the other would act up. On the other hand, the board that was flat cut ending up producing a bow with a lot of set in one limb, but I wrote that off to excessive moisture and poor early tillering. Hope this helps.

[wvarcher]

Thanks, Hrothgar.  I've always heard Quartersawn wood is best for making bows.   Don't know how true that is.  It's making me wonder if pulling the bark off of a tree i have cut and using the outside of the tree as the back of my bow is the best option.  Would i have stronger wood if i turned a tree into quartersawn lumber?

[sailordad]

alot of trees,especially whte woods,thats exacltly how you make a bow
cut it,split it,remove bark and cambium and thats the back or of your bow
woods like hickory,elm,hop horn beam,maple etc are all white woods
orthers like osage,black locust, etc are best when chased to the heartwood

[George Tsoukalas]

All the board cuts can make self bows. The straightness of the grain is the thing to look at. 1/4 will not tolerate any run ups or run outs where as plane and rift can tolerate a few per limb depending on the weight you want. 1/4 sawn may be stronger.  I look at the end grain. There are builalongs on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Hrothgar]

"Would i have stronger wood if i turned a tree into quartersawn lumber? "  probably the best immediate answer to that question is yes, especially if you want to back a board with bamboo or a strip of hickory. On the other hand, I'm not sure a sawn board will distribute the stress as evenly throughout when drawn or shot. Like Sailordad said, with a white wood stave just de-bark it and go to work on the dimensions, otherwise if you have to go to the lumberyard or already have sawn stock check out Jawge's site, he'll make easier.

 

[ken75]

do a bend test with both or mill same size boards one 1/4 and one plain and stand on them between two points . the answer will be clear

[George Tsoukalas]

You can do a bend test if you want? LOL. I've made many board bows from all the cuts. Jawge

[Badger]

  Archer if you have access to the whole tree I would say that simply removing the bark and using the whitewood natural back is the preferable option, 1/4 sawn and rift sawn wuld be the next. I don't believe it makes any difference in how much set the bow will take, primarily the integrity of the back would be your main concern. Steve

[wvarcher]

Thanks for your advice Ken, George, Badger,etc..  I have mostly used the surface of the tree as the back of my bow, with good results.   I just wanted to try quarter sawn wood, if for now other reason that it might be all i have to work with.  Ken, looking at the bows you made this year (50 plus) and seeing almost no set in them make me want to emulate what you are doing.  Thanks again, for all your advice.  You should be making and selling bows for a living!  George, Badger, i bet you two can smell good tiller now!

[George Tsoukalas]

wv, 1/4 will work for sure provided you keep the caveats I mentioned above.  After all these years i still love making bows. Jawge

[aznboi3644]

You can pretty much use any side of the stave you want as long as the grain is straight.  Thats what boards are.  I actually make a test bow with an ash stave without using the ring under the bard as the back...Essentially made a "riff sawn" (////) bow.  Worked just fine.

[hillbilly61]

The June/July issue of PA has a very good article on this. The article is "The nearly Perfect Bow Stave OR The joy of Fully Quarter Sawn Wood.

[wvarcher]

The June/July issue of PA has a very good article on this. The article is "The nearly Perfect Bow Stave OR The joy of Fully Quarter Sawn Wood.

   Thanks.  I will have to read that  article again.

[adb]

If I have to make a bow from a board, I look for 1/4 sawn wood. When picking a board, it's ALL about the grain. No run offs, no knots, straight grain from end to end on both surfaces is best.