I was sooo lucky when my father-in-law mentioned how he cut a rock elm that was in his yard and then cut it into boards. I told him how I wished I had one of those boards to back some bows with. Darned if he didn't still have A board that he brought with him in his move from Wisconsin to Oregon 12 years ago. He tells me, "I have a board right out there in that shed you let me build on your property". Well rent for that shed was settled right then and there. So I sawed 1/4" strips out of it and made a nice ipe bow backed with the elm, Sweet! It was my favorite. But when it came to the string it was around 48lbs at my draw which was too light for elk but fine for the blacktail we have here. Quite afew bows later I wanted to build a stronger bow for myself and made this plain Jane ipe bow, thinking I was backing it with hickory. I'm not really organized and later found I used my last peice of rock elm to back it with. This is the sweetest and truly a very fast bow at 64" 65lbs@27draw. I love it! I've been searching the web for more info on rock elm and it seems to be a pretty special wood. I know I am totally impressed with how well it works as a backing. Should you be so lucky to come across some, GO FOR IT!
Topic: Rock elm (Read 849 times)
