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Author Topic: Possible bow woods from Haiti?  (Read 4047 times)

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Offline lebhuntfish

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Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« on: July 04, 2016, 01:04:36 am »
Ok,  so without a big long story.  I met a fella that lives a few blocks from me.  He is a missionary and goes to Haiti about once a month. He stopped by Saturday while I was working on my trade bow and we visited for a while. 
He wants to bring me back some kind of "stave" from Haiti.  He said he spend most of his time in the mountainous region. 
I have done some research and found that the Arawak Indians there make their bows with a decrowned back and 6feet long and 1inch wide.  They are not tillered well and if pulled very far they will break.  (pretty much a quote) "They are made of purple heart or letterwood, leperwood, turtle wood. " Google books,  The Central Arawak.

My question to ya'll is,  does anybody have an idea of any kind of bow wood that would come from Haiti's mountainous region? He said that he would bring me what ever I could find that I wanted.

Patrick
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Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!

Missouri, where all the best wood is! Well maybe not the straightest!

Building a bow has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and frustrating things I have ever made with my own two hands!

Offline Dakota Kid

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2016, 01:46:39 am »
I don't know whether these are in the mountains or not but from what I could find on wiki there is: some type of juniper, Brazilian cherry, west indian walnut, mango, Spanish lime, and Spanish cedar. I've heard good things about mango and lime, no idea about the rest.

Here's a web address for a pdf of the important trees of Haiti. This should be far more helpful. 

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnaca072.pdf

on page 183 they have a list of trees and their physical properties that should give you an idea of which ones may make a bow. Good luck and let us know if/what he brings back for you.
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Offline PatM

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2016, 07:46:27 am »
Probably best to  do your token part and leave any trees there alone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Haiti
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2016, 08:38:47 am »
He may not be able to get wood through customs. Maybe he could bring you a bottle of rum instead.
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Offline tallpine

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2016, 12:45:14 pm »
My wife tried to bring me some Guava staves from Honduras. They got confiscated in customs.
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Offline Knotty

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2016, 09:17:29 pm »
I wonder what they do with the staves they confiscate.. Make a bow? 😅
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Offline Dakota Kid

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2016, 11:16:16 pm »
Sadly it probably gets destroyed.

 If it was roughed out and half dried so it looked bow-ish they might let it through if your buddy claimed souvenir. Probably not worth the risk. If there's that much deforestation happening, you could probably find usable wood among the leftover tops and stumps. They leave some pretty useful stuff laying around if all they're after is dimensional lumber.
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I have nothing but scorn for all weird ideas other than my own.
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Offline penderbender

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2016, 11:51:38 pm »
+1 to the slash piles tons of good wood gets burnt when they are done! Cheers- Brendan
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Offline lebhuntfish

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2016, 12:12:11 am »
I'm not sure he would be able to bring it back either. But he said he would see what he could do.

Patrick
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Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!

Missouri, where all the best wood is! Well maybe not the straightest!

Building a bow has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and frustrating things I have ever made with my own two hands!

Offline Mounter

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2016, 01:03:55 am »
I tried to bring back a bunch of wood (red heart) from Cozemel Mexico a few years ago. It had already been split and dried for firewood. The only piece the U.S. customs would let through had no bark on it. One other piece had a 3 X 3 chunk of bark that could have been removed easily, but no dice.. I used that one and only chunk to make accents, tips and overlays for a bow.. Still one of my favorites, because it reminds me of a fun family trip..

  [IMG]http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt61/kevin12306/002
« Last Edit: July 06, 2016, 12:12:57 am by Mounter »
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Offline Dakota Kid

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2016, 01:22:38 am »
Ooooo  pretty.  I bet you could find the qualifications for proper import. I'm guessing barkless and dry is a good start. Email the customs office. I'm sure they'd know if anyone does.
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I have nothing but scorn for all weird ideas other than my own.
~Terrance McKenna

Offline lebhuntfish

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2016, 08:55:36 am »
Sweet looking bow!

Yeah I found out that it has to weigh less than 50lbs,  no bark and less than 6ft.

Patrick
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Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!

Missouri, where all the best wood is! Well maybe not the straightest!

Building a bow has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and frustrating things I have ever made with my own two hands!

Offline sleek

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #12 on: July 05, 2016, 10:33:12 am »
Hey that should be doable! And make it 5'11" and your less than 6 foot. Have a simple carving on the belly for a more convincing claim to souvenir. Hey, if he can Pat, and you dont mind, id sure like a stave of whatever to biild an indigenous style bow too....
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Offline lebhuntfish

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #13 on: July 05, 2016, 11:13:47 am »
Let's just see what he can do first. 

II did some reading and found that the atawak Indians string their bows just like you do sleek.

Patrick
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Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout!

Missouri, where all the best wood is! Well maybe not the straightest!

Building a bow has been the most rewarding, peaceful, and frustrating things I have ever made with my own two hands!

mikekeswick

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Re: Possible bow woods from Haiti?
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2016, 03:31:44 am »
We all know that most trees we cut have a healthy root stock and will therefore sprout new shoots and grow again. Bowmaking has never aided deforestation....go and watch proper loggers and then compare that to selectively cutting a smallish tree by hand....
As for which wood - ask the locals! We are just guessing they KNOW :)
As already mentioned remove all bark and make some tools marks on it to get it through customs. I've brought plenty of olive back from Spain before.
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