Are these staves too knotty?

[Michaeljlewis46]

Hey guys, I'm brand new to this forum and very new to bow making. To date, all I have made are a couple of board bows out of Ash which taught me a lot!

I live in New Zealand and got a couple of pieces of a tree called manuka which a number of people seem to be making bows out of, and split one log into 3 staves all 2000mm long with a bit of twist to them, and another sapling about 1800mm.

My issue is around the gnarliness of the big knots all through the longer pieces.

Are these too severe to get a bow out of? They seem pretty full on compared to a lot of what I've seen in my research.

I am open to size and design, but would like to get a hunting weight bow above 45lb @ 30'

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

[Eric Krewson]

That is pretty rough stuff, you could always cut the best end out of a couple of pieces and splice them in the handle to make a good stave.

[Mad Max]

For your FIRST selfbow I would say NO.

[Pat B]

There are bows in that wood but not for your first bow.Save them until you have more experience.
Also, I'm not familiar with the characteristics of that wood so a design could be tricky. For your long draw I'd suggest at least 68" long bow, slightly over built like 2" at the fades, out 6" to 8" and a straight taper to 1/2" tips.  I'd make the bow symmetrical with the center of the handle being the center of the bow, a 4" handle and 2" to 3" fades. Keep your handle area wide and your tips wide until you get to first brace so you see how the string tracks under tension. At that point you can move the handle to one side or the other by removing wood from the off side and same with the tips. 

[turmoiler]

I got enthusiastic when I saw the challenge of those staves. I need to work with wood soon. There are some bows there for sure but as the other pals say I also think you need some experience to work with such staves. Btw I searched for some info of the wood and it seems a good candidate for bow wood https://dermnetnz.org/topics/manuka/ read the info, they say that the wood has not been tested for toxicity so take care and seal the ends