Red cedar branch

[BowEd]

Ok juniper gurus.....Is this one trouble?It is for me.I confiscated it back in december of 2012.Last time I tried red cedar it was from a trunk.Nice clean piece.D/R 62" sinewed reversed braced to 6" reflex.Tillered out nicely to about 22" then at 24" I noticed the weight gain margin lowered.Hmmmmm I thought.Lets try it to 26" then.I'm not to my draw weight yet......lol.Kaboom!!!!! Damn near went through the ceiling of my tractor shed.The sinew ripped the lamination right off the top of the bow with the sinew intact.I don't have pics,but it made me jump....lol.I forgot my helmet too yet.
Ok that's enough fun for one afternoon.Is this one worth my trouble?Not much heartwood to be pretty....lol.6" of reflex.I think I'd have to reduce it deflex it in the center quite a bit to make a lesser stressed bow and for it to work.It's 64.5" long overall and a good 3" wide.Here's some pics.

[BowEd]

It's 66.5" long.

[Pappy]

All I can say is the only successful ERC I have made have been if not all mostly sap wood. I think the Bad Chris made a nice one, so it can be done for sure, just be sure to wear eye guards and a helmet. 
 Pappy

[wizardgoat]

The tips look like they line up, sort of, I would probably mess with it.
I've only made 3 sinew juniper bows, but none from ERC.
It's a juniper, but for some reason it seems like it's the least favourite of all the junipers.
I would try to get it to brace before backing it, keep the reflex

[BowEd]

Thanks for commenting.I think the belly would have to be rounded to a shallow D to balance with the crowned back & keep it as wide as possible.Other than that glad to hear the sapwood makes good serviceable bows,and that I should keep the reflex.The longer the back the more wood that can stretch & probably having to go with a bendy handle bow.The tip alignment should'nt be a problem getting that corrected.

[SeanStuart]

I would try to get it to brace before backing it, keep the reflex

Why would you get it to brace before backing? I am not questioning the wisdom, just asking what this accomplishes. Thanks.

[blackhawk]

Are you planning on sinewing this ed? Im assuming so? Either way it needs to be decrowned/planed down as thats too high of a crown for erc imo...especially with that much reflex. If i was to atempt it i wood decrown it down flatter,steam a deflex kink in the center of the handle,n then back it with something like rawhide,sinew,or another piece of wood n make a r/d bow out of it. Good luck n take her nice n slow during tillering (slower n more exercising than you wood normally do for other woods)

[Chief RID]

I am very interested with this limb bow. Thanks for the great pics and taking along on your build.

[BowEd]

Chris....Yea it did make me shiver to try to bend that with that high of a crown.Did'nt think of decrowning it.Never done that.Got some thicker sturgeon skins here that might hold splinters down....lol.Without any sinew....lol.Deflexing the center I thought would help too.
Chief RID....Thanks for the push to build this right away,but it just plain scares me.....lol.I'm committed to make my little woman a brain tan dress here too.Got too many projects going on....lol.

[wizardgoat]

I would try to get it to brace before backing it, keep the reflex

Why would you get it to brace before backing? I am not questioning the wisdom, just asking what this accomplishes. Thanks.

I like to get my bows to brace before backing, so I can deal with any allignment issues first. While you can make small heat bends with a backing glued on its much easier and less risky in my experiences to do it before.

[bradsmith2010]

I had a pecan stave that I de crowned and it worked just fine,, I kept thinking it was going to explode,, but still shooting fine,, I didnt put that much sinew on it either,, I agree that if you de crown and dont try to put too much reflex you can get a bow,, if you had a prefect piece of wood try for a rocket launcher, but making one that shoots well seems reasonable for that stave,,,,

[BowEd]

I agree that just getting a bow from this would be an accomplishment for me.
I see your point about alignment issues too wizardgoat and agree.If any backing like rawhide etc, were put on it would'nt go all the way to the tips.Maybe 8" to 10" from them.Leaving me enough bare wood to correct alignment.I have corrected prop in limbs a bit with sinew and I had to go a little bit farther past what I wanted to get them out I think because of the sinew.Going slow and easy with that too.All in all it's touchy tedious piece of wood to deal with.Lucky it's a replenishable resource....lol.

[LittleBen]

This can be a bow. I would not skimp on sinew, and I would not pish the limits of draw weight.

1. Decrowning the stave. I would get the back flat, then kind of narrow the flattened back portion by rounding THOROUGHLY or even beveling off the side of the back to reintroduce a slight crown. Make sure that sinew is going to work!
2. Roughing out the front profile
3. Get it to floor tiller .... Don't even think about trying to get it braced, we're just talking bending a couple inches and evenly. Basically just establish your thickness taper.
4. Do all your steam bending to straighten at thing out. Clamp it to something and let it dry ..... For a long time. I find ERC wants to wander on me when drying.

5. Sinew that thing and don't be stingy. I would get two good courses on there, making sure to cover the whole back, and also introduce a slight crown with the sinew. ERC is quite brittle so again, make sure you at least cover the whole back. Even if most of the sinew is in the center of the limb.

6. Dry that thing out again. Don't rush. If you're not sure, wait longer.
7. Buy helmet and beer.
8. Tiller.

That's the long and the short of it in my opinion.

[BowEd]

Yea pretty much heh....lol.Thank you for the insight.I appreciate it.Most wood other than osage,hickory,or elm needs some help seems like to get the poundage I want.No intentions of opening a can of worms on that subject.Those are just the only other woods I've made bows out of on a regular basis.Got some experience sinewing and crowning etc,and am used to the waiting game.A good 1/8" thick on that long of a bow will take close to 1200 grains and then the poundage that puts on the bow will be substantial.

[LittleBen]

You can leave the tips stiff and they won't need sinew. Also keeping the bow reasonably narrow will help keep weight down. I would definately do a stiff handle to reduce the limb length and thereby limb inertia. Also ERC is light so I wouldn't sweat the weight too much.

If the poundage gets too high, just tiller down to the weight you want.

Don't think yourself into inaction. Just bust out the rasps and start working.