I need some direction. I want attempt to make a bow from one the trees growing on my family property.
We have a typical southern hardwood forest. White oak, red oak, cherry bark oak, Honey locust, hackberry, birch, etc. We don't have any osage orange, at leat none that I have seen.
I am completely new to bow making and would appreciate any help you can provide.
From the woods you have: White oak. But all of those woods make good bows if you match the right design to them.
Hickory is a another good one, but your climate may be a bit too humid to get the most out of a hickory bow.
You might want to pick up a copy of "The Bent Stick" by Paul Comstock.
Also, The Traditional Bowyer's Bible series (volume 1 particularly) would also be good. But "The Bent Stick" will be enough to get you started on a solid footing.
Try to find some osage. You can make a lot of mistakes with osage and still end up with a shootable bow.
Hackberry
I would try to find a piece of hickory or osage. But like the other guys said, any of those woods will make a good bow. Hickory will be the hardest to break but osage will be the most forgiving on the compression side.
mmmm hackberry....that would be nice...
-hov
Where are you in MS.I've got plenty of Osage,some cut and some that can be cut.
HICKORY
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm not sure we have hickory, if so its not abundant.
REB, thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that! I need to acquire some tools!
Whatever wood you can get. Most woods will make a bow if you use the proper design for the wood used.
Most hardwood forests in MS have abundant oak and hickory and there is lots of hackberry around.If your not sure how to identify you can get a field guide.That is what I did several years ago and it really helps.