-
-
“Dad, we are having a hardwood tree cut down. Want some firewood?” I told her I’d take a look. Nothing pains a selfbowyer more than to walk by a stack of beautiful bow wood stacked and waiting for the stove. I was looking for bow wood.
New England is hardwood heaven. Now don’t misunderstand me I love osage but there are just so many choices for bow wood including oak, hickory, hop hornbeam, elm, maple and more.
This tree was a giant. I didn’t measure it but it looked to be 24-30 inches at the base. I chose a 6 ft section near the top. That was close to a foot in diameter.
I split that 6 ft section into staves, took them home and sealed the ends with polyacrylic. Tough work for an old timer but I’m young at heart.
After a few days I pried off the bark with a drawknife. The bark of hardwoods cut during the growing season can be removed easily. If not done pronto, it will cement itself to the back of the stave. With the hardwoods I mentioned above remove the bark and there is the back of the potential bow.
Here are 6 nice red oak staves I’ll use to teach bow making or to start others shooting.
Consider using other choices for bows. There’s a world of woods out there.
If you are contemplating making shavings here’s my site to help you get started.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.