How does this juniper look?

[GREG IN MALAD]

Since I'm mainly a glass bow builder I was hoping for some opinions on the quality of this juniper. After several hours of hiking through snow and mud this was the best there was. Both staves are 76" long, the bigger piece will split into two, 3" wide staves. The smaller one was a horizontal branch, I was planning on using the top side for an ELB design. I really liked the knot in the upper right corner, I've never built a "hole in the limb" bow. I wanted to hear what you wood bowyers thought before I go cut more.

 

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Well it's sure got some nice rings, I'd say go for it. I've never used juniper myself, but lots of guys here really like it.

[Keenan]

Greg, the juniper looks real good. I've never tried a hole in the limb like that on juniper but think it might work out well.
I have built a few ELB junipers and was fairly disapointed with the results. They just seemed sluggish to me. Yet I have seen others do it and they seemed happy with the results. Personally I think juniper is best as a shorter flat bow with sinew. I think you could reach a 28" draw fairly easy with a mid size, sinew backed juniper, if that is what you are shooting for. Hope that helps and dosen't frustrate your plans.

[GREG IN MALAD]

Keenan,
The thing that has me confused is the bark pattern. It looked really straight before I cut it, but after I peel off a couple layers It looks slightly twisted. Is this normal?
I might take the small stave and decrown it, then add rawhide or sinew. I'm really starting to enjoy building and shooting wood bows, and there is no shortage of juniper here. It's easy to experiment with different designs when the wood is really cheap.

[Keenan]

Juniper is becoming one of my favorites and for the same reason. It is very abundant here. Yes you will often find Juniper twisted. Some areas it is ans some it's not. Generally certain areas will have straight or twisted. Move a few miles and you might find straighter grain. I've found that if I get one twisted grain good chance the rest from that area is the same.