Locust sapling bow

[DirtyDan]

I cut this locust sapling near the railroad tracks, took it home, cut it in half, tillered it, glued a piece of it on for a handle and it came out a real shooter.  64" long, 54# @ 26".  This shows that the sap wood makes a good backing for the core wood.

Dan Spier

[Pat B]

Excellent!!!  Dan thats a great little bow. Right up my alley! I see one in my near future.      Pat

[Jim now in Kentucky]

Haven't left sapwood on a locust bow yet, but I have made one from a sapling. It took a lot of abuse and kept a 3" reflex. Chrysalled from end to end and kept right on shooting.

Jim

[onemississipp]

Great bow....I like the looks of locust.

[Dano]

I LIKE IT!!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

way kool....

[Pat B]

Dan, What was your time frame from cut to finished bow?    Pat

[JEFF B]

real nice dan!!  

[DirtyDan]

Pat, I cut it down while a mechanic was working on my truck across the street from the tracks.  I took a broken bottle and de-barked it, took it home and cut off one end for the handle, cut it in two on the band saw.  I glued the handle on it that night and finished tillering and sanding the next day.  About five hours, I guess.  Thanks, everyone for the kind words. Isn't this a cool site?
Dan

[Jim now in Kentucky]

Some of us are wondering about drying time????

[Pat B]

So its still green?

[George Tsoukalas]

Nice job, Dan. Sweet tiller. On BL the closer to the heartwood the stringer the sapwood. My first shooter was made from a  sapling BL. Still have it. Jawge

[DirtyDan]

Woops, sorry.  Yes, I did let it dry out after I took the bark off.  I shellaced it and set it aside for awhile--I'm not sure how long--a week or two perhaps, but saplings dry out very quickly.  You can floor tiller them and clamp them into some reflex or reflex-deflex and let them dry out that way.

[Arrowslinger]

Nice bow Dan.  Hope to see you Saturday.

[Big Dave]

I like it. David  

[aprice555]

That looks great. I really like the looks of this bow.  Great job!
Anthony

[DirtyDan]

Thanks, everyone.

Dan

[Pat B]

Hey Dan, show this bow off over at PA. Someone was asking about locust sapwood and bows.     Pat

[DirtyDan]

Okay, Pat, I will.  Do you think we should tell the guys on PA about this site?  What do you think?

Dan

[Pat B]

I mentioned it the other day. Its OK as long as you don't add the link. Just like on here. I mention TradGang quite a bit on PA.
  They will love this bow and I like the fact that you used a wood that "can't" make a bow to make an excellent bow!     Pat