Day dreamin and bow schemin

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Longtrad
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:26 pm

Day dreamin and bow schemin

#1 Post by Longtrad »

I often find myself lost in my own mind.... thinking about bows I want and the woods I would put on them.

hmm a 59 kodiak ooooo or maybe a big jim 2 piece...ohhhhh..... or a a bigfoot.....ahhhh.. back and forth back and forth most the day.

But the real reason for me creating this thread is to talk about wood combos. Seems a person could get carried away and turn a good looking stick into a gaudy one.

I really like the crazy contrast you are able to find in red cedar and always thought that would make a wonderful limb veneer, The only trouble is I can never decide on riser woods to go with it.


What bows do you guys dream about? What woods? What do you think goes well with red cedar?

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Shadowhntr
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Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#2 Post by Shadowhntr »

Wow.....Red cedar, huh? Thats kinda a tough one for me to figure matching woods with. My imagination has trouble in that department! Off the top of my head, the only thing I can think of is Purpleheart, maybe bubinga or shedua? Idk, I suck at this!

Some of the prettier woods I like in a bow, are black and white ebony, dark woods like ebony or wenge, kingwood, shedua...

Like most people, I like highly figured woods of about any kind.

There is a side to me, that likes the more simple looking woods in bows too though.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Longtrad
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:26 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#3 Post by Longtrad »

haha! finally there is something I can disagree with you on Jase, I like the light woods more than the dark!


Yeah the red cedar has been giving me a hard time, it can have so many different colors too, pink,white,red,orange, purple. We seem to have more purple in our red cedar down here than a lot of folks.

I thought a paddock and osage orange I beam construction riser would look like, but osage changes to brown over time. With the right piece I think purple heart would work well too.

I think a bow made of zebrawood and bocote would be awesome. Trouble is there are more woods I like than there are dollars in my wallet.

Mohawk
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Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 7:24 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#4 Post by Mohawk »

I like that bocote too, and a pile of others as well. Osage orange really has my attention for bow construction since shadow had his maddog built out of it and seeing how it "seasons". My preference is a bow with a strongly contrasting accent stripe.

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Shadowhntr
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Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#5 Post by Shadowhntr »

Well, you will get no argument from me bro. I like light woods too as well as dark. I guess im just not a picky guy, as I seem to find beauty in about all woods. I have a natural maple bow, and Its with brown glass. I love the looks of it. My ol Shakespeare bow. My osage is light-ish for now,,,,but its certainly getting darker. I wish it would reach that deep rust orange color and stop. That color drives me crazy insane with goodness!
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Longtrad
Posts: 1413
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:26 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#6 Post by Longtrad »

A bow out of woods that age would be cool too, cherry and osage or something like that.

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dhaverstick
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Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 3:51 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#7 Post by dhaverstick »

I've seen red cedar limbs and an osage riser that looked pretty cool. Picking out wood combinations is my favorite thing to do when getting a new bow. There are so many to choose from that it is almost impossible for me to make up my mind. For years I've been saying that the next bow I get will have olive ash limbs and then I always get distracted by some other wood. I also like spalted myrtle, koa, and spalted mango.

Darren

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Ole Dave
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Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#8 Post by Ole Dave »

When I was picking our woods for my Bigfoot, I learned a few things but don't remember well enough to share factually...

I like figure/grain and contrast too...

When i mentioned various woods I'd looked at on line, Kirk, being the knowledgeable guy he is, didn't hesitate to illuminate the situation. I learned that some woods that I found pleasing to MY eye were what I think he called "heavy" and as lams, would slow a limb...

So they were illuminated? Which? sorry... that rests with him.

In the end we did Waterfall bubinga I-beam and bocote (gorgeous) riser...I got the wild idea to use one wood on the belly lams and another on the back lam.. Kirk thought that pretty bizarre and said he could thin it enough (either or) to not have the weight slow the limbs....

AS he stewed on it some, he got back with me and said he thought that might be pretty cool...so we went with the belly/back in contrasting woods...

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All we have and call our own, once belonged to someone else, and will again. Our purpose here is not to serve ourselves.

Bigfoot SAS LB (47# LB limbs 38# Semi Static RC limbs)

Couple of old Bear bows

Mohawk
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Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 7:24 pm

Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#9 Post by Mohawk »

Holy smokes what a gorgeous bow! Very unique to say the least.

Big Foot
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Re: Day dreamin and bow schemin

#10 Post by Big Foot »

Red cedar.... specifically eastern red cedar can have some beautiful contrasting colors. You can also find Juniper that is similar in color with much better strength specs for riser wood....Myrtle wood would be another lighter colored wood to consider.

The only warning i'd give regarding using red cedar in limbs is that you keep those veneers very thin because the shear strength is terrible on cedar. If your belly lams are too thick it can delaminate fairly easy..... i'd recommend .015 -.020 maximum veneer thickness and make darn sure your smooth on is warm when you lay it up.... i warm the two parts in a microwave for 10-15 second prior to mixing it and it lays down like glass & soaks into the veneers deeply.... Then i cook my limbs at 160 degrees with heat strips for about 30 minutes.

food for thought.

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