lets see some sapling bow pix

[crgibson]

I have a Mock Orange or Syringe sapling stick its 60" a little short but still think i'll give it a go. Rock hard I'v had it 3 years was going to be a hiking stick. Any advice? Thanks Crg

[Lee Slikkers]

Good question...one I've started to wonder about the more I see folk's sharing pics of their great looking Sapling bows.  On my way to and from work I am constantly scanning the median, the ditches and field rows looking for possible candidates but I have no clue on how to process, layout or tiller some as simple as a sapling.  I have a ton of local Russian Olive that I think I'd like to try this type of bow on...but will likely wait until I can pack away a bit more information on the subject.

[crgibson]

58" Rawhide Backed Hawthorn sapling 35# @ 27"          
Thanks, Crg

[crgibson]

Sorry  

Crg

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Crg, That is a fine looking stick flinger right there!

[Aznboi3644]

I'd try to make a bow from it.

I've made a sapling bow from a little 3/4" diameter crooked but knotless 50" stick of an unknown tree...wood seemed decently hard.

Pulled around 20lb at 24" and took very little set...less than 1"

[crgibson]

Thanks guys for the reply,
 I was starting think I posted a dud and sapling bows were for kids and folk art.
So whats the difference between a sapling bow and a self bow? is a sapling bow just a stick with a string and a little tillering? or is it cause its not a split stave? when does a sapling turn into a tree?
 I did start the syringe stick, and all ready kicking myself for not making a bend through the handle type, the limbs are starting to get a little thin after I got under the pithy center..
 
   Thanks again ,The Big Kid me Crg.. ha, ha   GO CANUCKS!!

[Aznboi3644]

saplings can make 100 plus pound draw bows.  There is nothing childish about them.

[Lee Slikkers]

Great pics!  So is the process for making a Sapling bow different than from a stave bow?  I assume you'd remove some of the crown from the back but that may be a wrong assumption?

[crgibson]

Thanks Aznboi,
Boy I hope I dont get people all fuzzed up I just thought more folks might be making sapling bows.  
 Man, I wish I would have made more of a D belly ELB  style think I could have gotten a lot more pounds out of this stick  I cant believe how rock hard dry Mock Orange is.

Crg

[Dan Landis]

I made a black locust sapling bow several years ago that turned out pretty good, took about 2-1/2" of set though.  I just peeled the bark and shaped the limbs by removing wood from the belly side only, and left the limbs full width to the tips.  The sapling was about 1-1/4" after the bark was removed.  I sealed the back and ends and left it dry for a few months in my attic, then finished shaping the width of the limbs and tillered to my draw length and weight.  It came out to 60# @28".  I'll try to post a pic when I get home on Monday.....Dan

[crgibson]

Hi Lee, I almost de-crowned the back on this syringe but didnt The Hawthorn I also left the crown on the back it has a flat belly w/ very slight crown, it seemed like it only took a few swipes with the draw-knife and a little scrapping . The lower limb is bending a bit more then the top. I mostly did this build to practice trilling and rawhiding the back. Hope I can save the syringe.  Id say Lee get your roadside sapling and knife and make a bow..Have fun, Crg

[Lee Slikkers]

Thanks Crg, I think I will give that a try.  I know my two boys would love to have anything that resembles a bow so even if I missed my weight or draw the sapling could be put to great use.

Regards

[PEARL DRUMS]

What size constitutes a sapling? Or is it a matter of using the whole tree rather than split staves from a larger diamtere?

[Living_waters]

I always thought it was no larger than a half split. My uncle showed me how to make a bow from a hickory sapling when I was about 8 or 9, it was a half split. Shot it for several years until I got my first Shakespeare bow for christmas. That is the moment in life that ruined me, from there it was almost down hill if it wasn't for deer season after my 16th birthday when I traded for a 1965 Kodiak magnum ( which I have found and in the process of trying to acquire)But I traded it for a martin and for the next 20 years I was blinded and deceived into believing one had to have training wheels.

[Lee Slikkers]

Hey LW, I believe there is a verse in the Bible which says something to the effect of...

Raise up a child in His way and he shall not depart from it.

Seems you've rediscover yourself and your roots.