Anyone make a bow from them?
I'm kicking myself.
I do trees as a hobby business. We removed a bunch of these guys along a fenceline. Several 8 inches or more, and planted a couple feet apart so there were sides with no real branches. I remember thinking they were tough as iron, and might make a good bow wood. But I didn't say anything to the crew, and when I walked back around they were already being bucked up. There are a few lengths that someone took for a garden project, I want to look through those and see if there is anything that seems salvagable. But the clearest parts are now firewood.
Today I looked up the wood to learn more about it, and sure enough - it shows up as a great bow wood for sinew backing. Darn it....
:knothead:
my new lesson after watching the guys cut down a 60ft hickory in my in-laws front yard : every tree can be utilized in some way.
keep some of that juniper even if its for overlays and risers. you never know...
-hov
I use juniper for veneers and so have others on here. They are real nice under glass.
Shawn
Juniper virginiana is Eastern Red Cedar and can make a very good bow. Try to find a piece with as few knots as possible. Knots can be the Achiles heal of an ERC bow. You can use just the heartwood, a combo or heart and sap wood or just the sapwood alone if it is un-diseased.
ERC can be VERY EXCITING when it blows!
QuoteOriginally posted by Pat B:
Juniper virginiana is Eastern Red Cedar and can make a very good bow. Try to find a piece with as few knots as possible. Knots can be the Achiles heal of an ERC bow. You can use just the heartwood, a combo or heart and sap wood or just the sapwood alone if it is un-diseased.
ERC can be VERY EXCITING when it blows!
Wow, I'm all for VERY EXCITING.
I think I found a log that was saved that a couple of knot free bows could be pulled out of. However, I think we're talking an all sapwood bow as the sapwood is half the diameter and the heartwood has more knots. But we'll see. I'll give it a shot. I was reading that it goes well with sinew backing, maybe that'll be my first foray into sinew.
The all sapwood bow I saw and shot was an ELB style bow pulling 45# to 50#. Shot very well and the bow had very little set.
ERC should be a very good candidate for sinew backing. I have a 49" ERC bow blank, 50/50 sapwood/heartwood that I plan to sinew back.
Great. I'm going to see if I can split a couple decent staves out of what's left. Make sure you post when you start working on yours.
-Dave