A buddy of mine got a old Longbow from an Aunt of his and we were wondering how you can tell if its made of Lemon Wood or not..Thanks.
Pull it to full draw one time. Genuine old lemonwood should blow up into about a bazillion pieces.
Other than that the grain will be near impossible to find and most manufactured longbows of the 50"s were made of it.
Any indication of the maker?
Can you post pics of the bow?
There is no Markings of any kind on the bow...pretty straight forward Longbow of yesteryear I guess.
"Pull it to full draw one time. Genuine old lemonwood should blow up into about a bazillion pieces."
Yep Charlie, that's what one of mine did. Picked up a couple of lemonwood school archery bows at a yard sale. Probably had not been strung in 20 years or more. Bought a string for it, drew it one time without warming it up or anything. Instant kindling :)
On the old lemonwood bows you have to re-educate them to bend slowly. With patience you can make them shooters again.
I have a few but rather than shooting them I hang them up and admire them as part of archery history.
I have a lemonwood stave that I plan to back with hickory and make an American style longbow or Hill style bow this winter.
Most of the old wood bows that are still around are lemonwood. Like Charlie said, grain is almost impossible to determine - which is a dead giveaway. However, unlike Charlie, I've had decent luck saving these old shooters. Start by rubbing it down with lemon oil once a day for 3 to 5 days. Then (like Pat said) re-educate them slowly bending just a little at a time until you can get back to full draw. Go slowly and give it as much lemon oil as you can each day. Most were very forgiving and accurate bows.
Thanks guys..I'll pass this on.
This brings back some memories from the 80's... The Lemonwood Longbow (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000076)