crepe myrtle

[troutremble]

I just cut down a trunk from a crepe myrtle I found while hunting. I got two sections, each about 68" long and the thickness of my wrist. Both are strait with no branches coming off at all. I've never worked with this wood and was wondering if others have. It seems to be very heavy, dense wood and I am hoping it makes for good bow material. Any ideas?

[Pat B]

I've never worked crepe myrtle but a guy on PA a few years ago was building heavy bows(80# to 100# if I remember corectly)with it. Seems he was building deep ELB style bows.

[troutremble]

Thanks, i'll start there, see what happens

[Loren Holland]

I will try to get a picture or two posted of one I made. it was 67" (had to go with what the wood offered), with a 10 inch non-bending handle.  I cut only a small shelf, and then augmented it by glueing on leather, then wrapped a twine and TB3 grip.  the limbs were 2" wide down to a little over 1/2".  I just took off the bark and cambium and then let it set about 3 weeks.  i don't have a moisture meter, and thought it was ready. It tooka  lot of set, so i heated in some reflex. It must have lowered the moisture greatly because it made a huge difference.  The bow still lost all the reflex, and now has about 1 1/2" of set.  It is 45lbs at 27" and shoots quietly and with authority.  I put a camo paint job on it, using  a build along off this site. I used black, OD, brown, and tan in layers with masking tape. (my wife hates it, she says it looks like an argyle sock).

have fun, i did, biggest thing i can say is make sure the moisture is right, and like any white wood the heat treating works well.