Eastern red cedar bow?

[smoky#1]

I have been thinking about making a bow out of eastern red cedar. Can it be done? And how do you go about it?

[JW_Halverson]

Youngbowyer made me a shortened English Longbow style from eastern red cedar.  It pulls 62# at 26", 66" tip to tip and about 1 1/4 wide at the handle.  This thing hurls 750 grain ash arrows fast enough to punch thru the door of a refrigerator.  (Man I wish I had thought to shoot photos of that day!)

Long story short (too late), YES!

[smoky#1]

Okay a couple more questions. Which would be better, selfbow, or laminated? And would you use a limb or the trunk?

[JW_Halverson]

I'm partial to selfbows, but that is a personal choice.  I've never made a bow from ERC....yet.  I have some fantastic billets from BeetleBailey that will some day become my new favorite bow.

[ionicmuffin]

If you want performance then a hickory backed ERC would be one way to go. but if you dont mind it being a few fps slower and maybe not having as much cast then self should be fine. A lot of people make lams either because they want greater performance, or because they like the look, or even for the challenge. up to you, both should make wonderful bows. Hickory backed could have a higher chance of survival. Just my opinion.

[smoky#1]

I like selfbows to, but i haven't ever tried a laminate bow. I will however try both the limb and the trunk. Ionicmuffin, I don't have any hickory to back it with. Would there be another possible wood to back it with?

[Weylin]

I've never made a laminate bow so I could be wrong but I'm interested to know why you think a hickory backed ERC would be faster than a self ERC. I agree that it would likely be safer based on the explosive reputation of ERC but I'm not convinced about it being faster.

[ionicmuffin]

Im just basing it on the fact that hickory has an excellent spring to it(maybe im wrong as to it being faster, like i said, just my opinion). As for other wood backings, i dont know about bamboo but its a good backing if you want strong tension, maybe white oak? The other possibility for backing would be sinew for safety and speed.

[PatM]

Maple is likely the best choice for a wood backing.

[ionicmuffin]

i guess this post will apply to me as well. I do want to try for a self ERC warbow, but i also want to do a backed ERC warbow. The other type i plan on, is a sinew backed bow(probably native american style.)

[blackhawk]

Sinew+juniperus species=awesomeness!!!! Its the best backing for it based on my experience's

[DavidV]

Every time I see ERC mentioned it makes me want to cut down a tree at the edge of my property. 14" diamter, stovepipe straight, clean for 7 or 8 feet..... I'm gonna have to buy a bowsaw to get that thing down.

[sweeney3]

There have been a lot of really fine ERC bows made on here.  My favorite bow to date is an ERC I made a couple seasons ago.  It's on here back someplace.  66", D style bendy handle, rawhide backing, about half sap and half heart wood, 50 lbs +/-.  It really shoots.  Killed four deer and assorted other game so far.  Thousands of shots with no signs of trouble yet...

Basically, make an ERC bow either long, wide, or backed with something stretchy, such as sinew or rawhide.  Don't sweat performance too much.  If you get it to the point of being a bow, it's likely to shoot pretty well.  It's light in physical weight and doesn't take much set (before it explodes......), so if you can get a reasonably well designed bow from it, it's likely to shoot pretty well.  Fun wood to work with and really pretty too. 

[BowEd]

I'm in the ERC/sinew boat.....There's a reason that combination has worked so well and so well known.

[RyanY]

I made one fairly recently that was 80# at around 28 inches if I remember correctly. Backed it with rawhide. I narrowed the sapwood down on mine and filled the knots with osage plugs. Similar to making a bow from any other wood. Just be aware of how soft and light it is and account for that in the design. Make sure the tiller is perfect.