Need some Advice on board wood please

[Draffish]

Hi guys I'm hoping to get down my local lumber merchant this weekend and was wondering if anyone can help me out on choosing the right woods. I'm oing for a backed bow with a power lam 68"n to n draw weight 45-50# @30"

This is a link to the woods available I alo see they do ipe but scared of the reaction  http://www.sykestimber.co.uk/hardwood.html
I was going to go red oak belly maple back then I saw wenge and zebrano any advice most welcome thanks all

[LESKEN2011]

Out of the woods listed, I like white oak more than red oak. If the maple listed is hard maple, it makes a sweet bow. You might try a white oak backed hard maple or the other way around. At that length, you should still be able to get that draw length with a stiff handle.

[John Scifres]

30" draw, red oak, 68".  I wouldn't try it.  I've made several red oak selfbows and even at 72" NTN, 2" wide, and a 27" draw, I was never able to get less than 2" of set and a dog shooter.

Is this your first bow?  If so, I'd lean towards making a red oak selfbow or two.  Learn how to tiller.  Then buy some real bow wood from a real bow wood seller and honor your craft.

[Draffish]

thanks guys for advice will look at moving away from red oak as i wanted to cut a shelf in as well. would have loved to be able to use osage but not native over here.(i am going to buy some young ones to grow on for later)
John it is my first proper bow i have made but unfortunately i live by the moto do it once do it properly

would any of the other woods on the link be any good  or should i go about finding some in the wild as there seems to be no bowyer shops in uk unless you want a new bow.
thanks again

[LittleBen]

Of the woods you have available, White oak is probably the best for a backing. If the maple is hard maple that can work also.

As for belly woods, I'd recommend going with the more dense tropical offerings: Zebrano (zebrawood), bubinga, and wenge. They will definately cost more though. Sometimes big lumber yards will sell you "scraps" for alot less than retail. Scraps to them might be a 1.5" wide 6 ft long piece of bubinga for example. That would be bow size material.
I've never used zebrano or bubinga, and I'm in the process of gluing up a hickory backed wenge. but I've heard webrano works, and I don't see why bubinga wouldnt work as well (very dense and hard).

Coconut has been used as a belly material at least once (that I could find online) with a backing.

As far as the domestics, I'd probably go with white oak backed white oak. Or just a simple white oak board bow.

Do you have a way to resaw?

[John Scifres]

Just saying that your first one will likely not be great, or even good.  Doing it properly is different than doing it perfectly.  This is a process not a product.  You will make mistakes and your bows will get better over time.  There is no instant gratification here.

I have made bows from ash, elm and oak from the list in the link.  Most were stave bows but I have made board bows from oak that were passable.  In my experience, good ash is the best.  Elm is second.  Oak is last.  The quality of the individual piece is most important though as they all have great variability in density and quality.

All that said, I prefer to cut my own so that is what I would do.

Personally, I would not spend my time and money making a composite bow from any of them.  But I have lots of good bow wood from all the years and effort I have put into harvesting it myself.

If you are going to make good bows, you need good bow wood.  You can find, cut, and process it yourself or buy it from someone who has done it for you.

[Draffish]

thanks guys thats brilliant advice i know im on the first rung of a long ladder and that my bows will hopefully get better with experience.
the problem we have here is landowners wont let you on to harvest wood and any thing that was once used for bows have been replaced with quick growing soft woods.
unfortunately the art of making bows here is disapearing due to fire arms been the only hunting weapon legally used so im trying to also learn a dying craft.

thanks again for all the advice
 i have just ordered 2 osage plants for harvesting wood in years to come.

[John Scifres]

That's the spirit!  Also, don't take this all too seriously.  We're supposed to be having fun.  I still peruse the racks of red oak and every once in a while bring one home and make a bow from it.  A local woodworking store has a nice sale on white oak right now and I am probably gonna take a look and see if there is any bow wood in there.

[Draffish]

thanks john i think im going to head down there this week and see if there is something with a good grain and just give it a go.
will have to look for some miracle grow to get these osage growing quicker  

[Pat B]

I've been building all wood bows for almost 30 years and have seen very few folks build only one bow properly. I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Do as John suggests and learn to tiller properly first then you can build any type of bow you want. You have to crawl before you learn to walk.

[Draffish]

thanks pat planning on taking it slowly and learning from mistakes so that one day i will be able to make some good bows at the very least problem we have here is getting the wood lots of international woods get used nowadays but not much native wood due to lack of interest / hunting laws
on the plus side i might have found some field maple which needs a bit of a trim once i can get in there to look at it
again thanks for all the advice

[George Tsoukalas]

Draffish, check my site for info. How do you know your draw length is 30" ? What kind of bow did you use to measure it? Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

[Draffish]

hi jawge thanks for link to your site willl be checking it out i haven't used a bow to measure my length just a tape measure i have remeasured and think im 29.5" i am 6 ft 3" so was expecting it to be high is there another way i can measure i stood in a draw position held tape in hand and drew back to chin (dont like shooting to the eye its scary)
many thanks again for all the help

[Draffish]

quick question for you jawge where about in nh are you based only asking because i worked in waterville valley for a couple years ski instructing was thinking you looked familiar so didnt know if you were in that part of the woods?
started looking through your site looks very helpful thankyou

[George Tsoukalas]

I am in S NH. Waterville Valley is a nice area.  You are probably right on your draw. Hard to say. I'd go with the 29". I go through bard choice in some detail on my site. The oaks (white and red) are good choices as is hickory. I'd go with the bend in the handle design. 1 3/8" will get yoi 45-50# which is a good start. Now glued on pieces. Check the red oak buildalong on my site. Jawge

[Draffish]

thanks jawge have some time this weekend to look properly at your site and be able to take notes on all the good advice many thanks again