Favorite Wood

[osage2orange]

Anyone who uses a self bow what is your favorite wood. Also what do use for broadheads(I use old spoons beaten flat and ground to shape on a grinding wheel). Last but not least what is your favorite arrow wood.

[woodencanoe]

Osage, Port Oxford Cedar, 160 grain Grizzly 2 blade

[Steve]

So how does one go about picking out a piece of wood and constructing a bow from it? How do you get started?

[Airoh]

Ash is my favorite. It's the bow I used to hunt whitetails with this year.

Steve: www.mvcc.com/bu/gnbco (http://www.mvcc.com/bu/gnbco)

O2O: Would like to read how you make your spoon broadheads sometime. Congrats on the nice buck.

[osage2orange]

Hey Steve,

Here is a short breakdown of what is involved. First you need to find a tree or patch of trees of the wood you like best. Then if its not on your property you need to get permission to cut down the tree you have chosen. I like a tree about 12 inches in diameter (the larger the diameter of the tree the flatter the back of bow will be). Next I check to if the tree has grown straight or if there is twist in the bark. If there is a twist it does'nt mean you can't use it but it will be more difficult to work with. So chose straight if you have a choice. Next check for rotted spots such as old branches that have fallen off you don't want a bunch of rotted area. If it passes all these requirements cut her down. The tree should be cut about 6 inches taller than the person who's bow it will be. The finished bow will be about the height of the person who's bow it will be. As soon as the tree hits the ground you should seal the end with a good wood glue. This keeps the wood from checking or in other words cracking down the lenght of the log. Once the glue drys you need to split the log in halves or quarters depending on the size of the log. The heart wood on osage is darker orange than the pulp wood and since I want heartwood on the back I make sure to measure those rings before I split and make the bow to narrow. Once you done the splitting you can relax because I let my wood dry for 6 months. Make sure to keep the ends glue good so the moisture only escapes out of the area thats been split. This should keep the wood from splitting. When dry you can pick a growth ring in the tree that has the thickest height a thinner growth ring will be weaker. Then you start by taking a draw knife and shaving off the bark and down to the growth ring you have chosen. When you get close to the final ring you have chosen take your time if you go though the ring you will have to pick another growth ring. You see the object is to have the back of the bow from top to bottom the same growth ring. When I get close I use a cabinet scraper because it takes off less wood so a mistake is less likely to happen. I will explain the rest of the procedure later need to go now. Unless someone else wants to pick up where I left off.