i did a little light reading today, and think i want to try a mollegabet in the not to distant future. the original was elm... but thats kinda scarce around here.... so... hickory, red or white oak, hornbeam? whats a good canditate i can find growing in Connecticut?
Any of the woods you mentioned should work fine for a Molly. Ash or hackberry too.
Look up "Mollegabet and Osage Question" on the Bowyer's Bench for some super cool looking bows...not exactly what you are asking about, but I think you will get some good ideas from that thread.
HHB is a tough customer for any style bow. Great wood.
I would like to see a HHB molly
Tons of HHB at my parents place but I cant find a straight section to save my life.
i got a little bit of HHB around... but none bigger than 4" diameter or so... have alot of american hornbeam and theres one nice one i stumbled on thats nice and straight and about 6" diameter.
American hornbeams other name is American iron wood. Go for it.
I think i just got sold on osage.... Black mockingbird's work is amazing!
He does ok, wouldn't call it amazing though... :laughing:
Roy it looks like he makes a better bow out of one piece of wood than you can make with three :laughing:
Glue boy Roy!
HHB at 4" round is the best size to cut. It is very strong ni tension, the high crowned back aids the belly. I prefer sapling myself. 2-3" max.
Ola boys ;)
I've made oodles of "lever" bows from countless species of wood...all work well if designed right for the certain species used...I actually prefer lower crowned wood to help reduce the strain because a closer to rectangular cross section promotes the least strain,and spreads the stresses out...and sapling sized trees don't work so well if you are making a shorter working section limb that needs to be say over 2" wide(you won't have enough width due to the high crown)...now if you go longer and less ratio of lever to working limb then a smaller diameter tree can work well,and done in more of a holmgaard style...I've done this as well with saplings that will make an outstanding bow...I guess I would need to know exactly what kind of lever bow you wanted to make? If it has a longer lever and shorter working limbs and overall bow I'd go with osage hands down...although I've made shorty lever bows with whitewood,its also a higher risk in doing so IMHO...
Oh and thanks for the compliments.. ;)
love the two you made with the dead osage tree. thats kind of the design i want to do... but with less character! not ready to tackle something like that. based on most everything i have learned, you should NOT have been able to build a bow out of that wood :thumbsup:
My bows will shoot rings around his molly wolly bows:) :laughing:
Osage is a very elastic wood. Ergo, you'll get a little more bend in the levers then with whitewoods. Best to either heat treat this area good to prevent that, or reflex slightly to compensate. Just my experience.........Art
We'll jus talk around the ole senile man ;) :scared: :thumbsup:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36338.0/nowap.html
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You calling Ole Art senile? LOL
That's alright Roy, I'll forget that remark by tomorrow :wavey: !
Now that's a bow we can all hand our hat(s) on Chris :clapper: ! I'm jealous, and envious of such talent :p !
Oops...sorry Roy...that's a typo..next time I'll say mEn and make that plural :readit: :wavey:
Gee ..thanks Art :thumbsup:
man that bow is nuts! i love it! how narrow can you go on the levers? 1/4"? a hair more? i seen one recently at a shoot that i suspect was way overbuilt... id say 2 1/4" in the working limb, and a fat 1/2" on the levers.
hey, the way the sapwood is left on the levers like that... i imagine that HAS to be non working or it will delaminate?
I use digital calipers to check my thickness and widths on my levers...my standard measurements are .750" at the beginning of the levers... .500" 6" from the nocks...and .300" at the string groove...now I have gone less than that when the wood and bow allows me too... narrowest at the groves I've gone is .243" ..sorry I'm a machinist and speak in decimals and thousands of an inch ... as with any wood bow the thickness is going to vary and never be the same from one bow to the other..but start out with plenty of thickness and width for string tracking adjustments if needed...just leave the thickness alone till you hit full draw and right before you would start shooting the bow...this is when I reduce my levers down...because you won't know how thin the thinnest part of your working limbs will be...I first reduce my width to the standard set of numbers given...and I start out reducing my thickness .200" thicker than the thinnest part of my working limb(which is always at the end of the working limb right before the lever fade area on a well tillered bow)...and that is just a starting point...then its trial and error reducing them wee bits at a time making sure everything is still stable..you want to reduce them down to where right before they start to flex or just barely flex(pending on what the wood tells ya it can be that narrow n flex or not) ...you should barely be able to discern whether or not its slightly flexing or not...its the most critical part of making a lever bow,so at this point go slow and be patient...
And yes the levers have to be static on that bow...some levers can slightly move right at full draw much like a slight bendy handle bow just barely moves and takes stress...but some wood needs to be static like that bow ;) just listen to the wood ;)
I don't think I could build a bow without my little Stanley caliper :readit: :biglaugh: .............. Art
:biglaugh:
calipers?! :scared: Roy you are once again ahead of blackbird on my list :laughing: he uses calipers like those glass bow guys! bet he uses a CNC mill to machine out his risers too! :laughing: