This may be a silly question, but why do bowers not use more Cedar for lams. than they do?
My reason for this question is as follows.....
Ive got a Hill Panther with Red Cedar lams. first bow ive ever owned with Cedar, its smooth, very quick, light, and under clear glass very appealing to look at.
Why the lack of popularity, for a limb lamination that performs and looks so well?

I don't know either, Mole.  It is probably my favorite.

It may be because it is hard to find clear wood without knots that would weaken the limbs.  It sure makes a light fast bow.

QuoteOriginally posted by Gordon Jabben:
It may be because it is hard to find clear wood without knots that would weaken the limbs.  It sure makes a light fast bow.

He said it all right there.  I have my bowyer looking for some, if he finds some without a bunch of knots, he gets another order from me.

You aint kiddin guys, as far as wood lams. go, its as quick, if not quicker than any other lam. ive shot. Seems that it doesnt get the credit it deserves for making a fine bow.

I ordered a Dave Johnson Longbow about a month ago.  That's all he uses.  I believe Gorden is correct.  It is difficult to find clear cedar without knots.  Never had a cedar bow.  Hope it is a good one.  I like bamboo.  I liked the cedar as it gives the bow a different look.  There is only so much you can do with a Hill style bow.

Brazos, if you like Bamboo, i think your gonna love Cedar. If you would, post pics. when you get it, we would love to see it.
Congrats on a fine bow.

Paul- from what I've been told it is very dfficult to get enough clear runs of cedar to make laminations. There ends up being quite a bit of waste so it isnt very cost effective.

That is one of the major reasons I had Mike Ballenger of 7 Lakes Longbows build my Short Night. He happily made my limbs out of cedar and he loves working with it. I've fallen in love with cedar as a limb material. Quick, smooth, light. Everyone else can have the bamboo...that just leaves more cedar for me & my bows!

Are other cedar as good as red cedar( do they use western or eastern red cedar?) I wonder if yellow cedar, would work, it is easy to find in clear, long stock.... Same with sitka spruce...

One day I will try making a bow using these woods.

Been looking at them for a long time, and my HH Cheetah should be here next week. Few woods are as good looking as cedar; I'm looking forward to see how it shoots.

Brazos, I think you will really like your Dave Johnson bow.  I think the first thing you will notice is how light it is.  For some reason, his cedar bows remind me of a fine light weight flyrod.  They are just a joy to handle.

*Edited to correct lams to... veneers*

Chad Holm has has some of the prettiest clear Red Cedar veneers I've ever seen. I think (but don't quote me) he told me he harvested the cedar tree himself and ground the veneers.

Here he is holding one of his Osprey longbows with clear red cedar veneers:

     

Dave Johnson's Red Cedar Laminated Hill Style bows are the very finest. Smooth, accurate, great cast, light in the hand.

Alan

Are you guys talking about the veneers for looks or the actual lams?  I thought cedar wasn't strong enough to use for the lams.

Veneers I use , Lams I do not. too much resin that in heat situations could cause delamination of the bow. When I do cedar veneers I make them so thin that the glue completely penetrates the laminations.
Anyway that Is the answer for me and I suspect many other bowyers that do not care to have a bow blow up in someones hands; This is of course less likely to happen in some designs such as longbows with long working areas than in high performance limbs utilizing shorter working area of limb;

God bless you all, Steve

The lams in a Howard Hill style bow.  I never thought about it but Steve is probably right, it might not be a good choice for a short bow.  Don't know.

Here's one I got done today.  

I agree that Eastern Red Cedar and Juniper with a nic emixture of hear and sapwood make beautiful veneers. I may misunderstand the function of the lams but in some discussions with some bowyers when ordering bows I thought I was informed that the veneers are so thin they have little to do with bow performance.  They are primarily for appearance and it is the glass (or carbon) that get's er dun.

Of course I'm only talking about curves. I can't even spell Longbow.

Check out this video about Dave Johnson's use of Red Cedar for laminations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXl3z2DkBGU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Alan

Cedar doesn't have the stength characteristics necessary for a lot of bow designs. Use yew, it is a superior lam wood that is light and mechanically stronger.