Tree ID

[diliviu]

Hello,

Do you know what tree is this?
Did you use it? (How did it work for you?)

Long time ago I used it for two sapling bows: a primitive bow over 60 inches long and a short bow.
The longer one lifted a splinter from a big knot when I drew it after over a year of rest. The bow had been quite heavily used in the past.

Thank you.

[Pat B]

Goldenraintree(Koelreuteria paniculata) and I believe it does make good bows.

[Limbit]

Yeah, that is a Golden Rain Tree. We have loads of it here in Taiwan, but I've never heard of it being used for a bow before. Time to cut some I guess if it works! A lot of trees that grow here make better bow woods when they are grown in colder climates like in North America it seems like. You have pics of your previous bows made from it?

[diliviu]

Pat B, thank you!

Limbit, I have a pic only for the longer bow (about 48 lb at 26; red arrow: point from where bow lifted the splinter):


The bows I made were from thin trunks: a tad under 2 inches for the bow in picture and about 2 inches thick for the shorter bow.
The seasoned wood was really elastic, both in tension and compression. It does not crystallize easily and doesn't take set easily (the stave was deflexed in the handle from the beginning, bow took no set). On the other hand, the saplings I used had a low ratio bending resistance/specific gravity. They were the poorest pieces of wood I used for bows in terms of bending resistance/physical weight.

I found here http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=48616.0 this wood reported as very brittle, but for me it was very elastic. Maybe because I used small saplings. If I use it again, I'll let the knot areas even stiffer than I did.

[Limbit]

Well a bunch blew down after the last category 5 typhoon that rolled through my town, so I'm going to give it a go. Chinaberry all over the place too, but haven't had much luck with that. Thank you for the info, I'll let you know if I make anything worthy out of it.