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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: hessian on May 15, 2020, 04:14:01 PM
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Good afternoon,
Would someone be able to help me locate a mulberry stave? I've looked around a bit but am coming up short. I appreciate the help.
Adam
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It's going to be hard to find
http://www.harmanarchery.com/4_supplies.html
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Mulberry is excellent bow wood. Hope you can find some.
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Should not be too hard to find where you live. Just need three items :goldtooth:
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Where mulberry grows it should be everywhere. The birds eat the berries and deposit the seeds along fence rows.
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Thanks guys! I think I’ll try searching the woods, make for a better build experience too if I can harvest it myself.
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Check woods edges and fence rows. Like I said, birds are probably more responsible for spreading mulberry trees.
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Thanks guys! I think I’ll try searching the woods, make for a better build experience too if I can harvest it myself.
You will need to wait about a year for it to be dry enough to make a bow.
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"You will need to wait about a year for it to be dry enough to make a bow."
Not if you do it Tim Baker style. Shape it to rough dimensions and it will dry very fast. You can even clamp to a form to dry, if you are looking for some curvature.
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Here in CA's Central Valley, it grows everywhere in suburban yards. And people cut it back yearly so, in theory, there should be a lot of opportunity. In practice, it's almost impossible to find a good piece before somebody hauls it off. Most of the trimmed branches only have 1-2 year's growth anyway.
One of these days, I'm sure I'll get something worth shaping. Now if I'm a worthy enough bowyer for the task is another matter altogether.
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Where in NJ are you? How far are you willing to travel?