Eastern Red Cedar "juneperus virginina" PICS ADDED

[jimsbows]

Recently have been constructing round bellied ELB's from ERC, have taken the precaution of sinew backing and my first one 60# at 27, 70 ntn shoots like a dream and shoots fast enough even with 600 gr arrows to be considered a very good bow.  Could I have some feedback from others who have experienced working with this type of wood, also, is it possible to put reflex into this wood using dry heat and will this wood respond to heat treating?  Thanks for input.

[LittleBen]

Jim, I've made a few ERC bows. All flat bows instead of ELBs. One sinew backed, one totallu unbacked. I have heat reflexed the tips of the sinew backed bow (prior to sinewing obviously) and it worked reasonably well. I suspect with a bit of practice you can add quite a bit of reflex. Haven't really done any heat treating with it. The sinew backed bow is 64"ntn, stiff handled, holds 1+" of reflex unstrung, has been shot a hundred or more times, and it roughly 50lbs at 25". I'll get a picture up soon so you can see. Good luck with ERC, I cant wait to get some more ERC bows going, I cut down an ERC tree last year and I'm currently seasoning several 7' logs between 10" and 5" in diameter.

[LittleBen]

Here are some of the 64" sinewed bow. It was actually steam bent not bent by dry heat, my bad.
 
 
 

[fujimo]

very nice!!
hey, i will swap you some wester red cedar for some easter red cedar  
the western sure makes good kindling!

[PaulRoberts]

I've made some bows from Rocky Mountain juniper, very similar looking wood to ERC, although the trees are much smaller.

I've steam bent some, to correct and to recurve tips, but not tried dry heat on them.

Need to be kept long as juniper is somewhat brittle in tension. Backing is required it seems, for bows of hunting weight. I have a 35#er unbacked that has survived for 8 years now. It looks like she's gonna make it    .

Little Ben, I love that bow of yours. The bark left on, and the knots. Just gorgeous.

[Black Mockingbird]

Heat treating does no good for any of the junipers because it is already fantastic in compression. And in my opinion wood only hurt the wood and make it more finicky than it already is. Use wet heat to shape or correct any of the junipers.

[monterey]

I envy you guys who are surrounded by such great wood selections!

That bow is so pretty, it makes me wonder where I would lay my hands on it in CO?

[LittleBen]

PM sent to you Mike.

[LittleBen]

Jim can we fit some pics please?

[jimsbows]

LittleBen, I am going to post some pictures soon, it is a beauty. I was really surprised with all the small knots it has held up so far for 1000 shots. I have 2 other staves that are very clear as I selected an 8" dia that forked and got 2 staves inside of forks, one especially has only 3 tiny pin knots in back. Tree was over 100 years old, 40 rings to the inch, also; I removed every bit of sapwood from one and the completed bow is all heartwood as well. Am wondering if sapwood would behave similar to yew sapwood for back or if its complete removal is my best bet?  Once again, thanks LittleBen and thank all of you for your input.   Jim

[LittleBen]

Jim,

I'd be very interested to know if sapwood or heartwood makes a better back on an ERC bow. My guess is that the rings are so thin you cant possibly follow a single ring for the backing in the heartwood. For that reason I'd guess it's probably easier if nothing else to strip the cambium and use the outer surface of the sapwood as the back.
I also remember reading (maybe in Traditional Bowyers Bible) that the sapwood dips into and out of the heartoowd quite a bit.
Might be nice to back that heartwood bow with a very thin strip of maple. 1/8" or something like that.

Keep us posted!

[DavidV]

Ryan Gill says the sapwood makes better performing bows but also noted that the heartwood made a prettier bow.

[jimsbows]

Here's a few pics of my bow. Jim
 
 
 
 

[Sharpend60]

The guys on the PA forum like to have both.
Feeling that heart wood is better in compression and sap wood in tension.

[jimsbows]

LitteBen, sorry for the delay but here are pictures of the ERC/ELB I was talking about earlier.  I believe with this SG wood sinew would be the best choice for the back.  I used back sinew and while a bit coarse, it does OK.  I used Titebond rather than hide glue to lessen the effect of humidity on cast.  The rounded belly is my favorite and I left the handle stiff to lessen shock.  72NTN Am keeping my eye peeled for a beaver on the roadside for a tail handle wrap.

[jimsbows]

Pictures added.