Archer bowyer

Hi All,
I've dabbled in and out of wood most of my life, nothing grand to speak of. Occasional table, or cupboard, jig or tool, even a drum. I do a bit of everything and truly a master of none. I also loose arrows and tis that what leads me here. Making a bow is not just chopping up a piece of wood to look like a bow. You have to get the grain right etc. So lots to learn and Im on bowyers forums to do so .

But what I lack mostly and having the most difficulty solving is access to wood!

Now I'm currently looking at take down recurves. This means I need wood for the "riser" or handle.Which is about a 500mmx80x50. these "blocks" are either solid or often laminated from exotic woods so when shaped they are glorious waves of grain and colour.

Exotic woods? ok things like Bubinga, Purpleheart, Walnut, Cherry, Maple, to mention a few...im still learning what I can and cant use and which looks good. Most info of course is pro American woods so Im sure there are Ozzie counterparts.

So if anyone knows where I can get blocks this large or boards/offcuts I can laminate in and around Melbourne I would be much appreciative.

Also they use coloured Phenolic to add "accents" or stripes thru the wood. I need to find some of that too :)

I have some tools a shed (ok that needs clearing a bit) and little bit of knowhow. All I need is some wood (other than pine) to play with :)

Welcome xgrain,
Just about any of the Aussie hard woods will make a nice riser. The Yanks only use the Bubinga, Zebrawood etc because they can. It's when you start laminating the limbs that your choice of wood is critical.
If you are not on there already I suggest you have a look at Ozbow - Australian Traditional Bowhunting Forums.
Some very talented bowyers over there. A few of them drop in here occasionally.

Hi xgrain,
Welcome to the site. Good to see some bowyers around. There are plenty of aus woods that will make a riser and the fact that most of them are heavy is a good point as the weight in the riser gives stability and soaks up vibration. I have mostly made one piece longbows but the one td bow I made had a laminated riser made from bluegum and some lighter coloured bits from my firewood pile. It was a bit plain looking compared with some of the flash offerings around but the bow workrd fine. For wood with looks the Tasmanian woods have some fine offerings so a riser of mirtle and sassafras would be ok to be seen out with. Blackwood is another looker. The tas woods have less movement due to moisture than most of the eucalypts also. The americian woods like maple,oak,osage and others can sometimes be found here in aus if you spend a bit of time searching and scrounging. The things tree loppers put through the shreadder would make you cry some days. Sorry I cant help with where to look in Melbourne as I am too far away buy there is wood out there.
As NCArcher has pointed out Ozbow is the site to check out and a lot of these guys are on the sniff for bow wood and can point you in the right direction.
Regards
John

Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the replies. Im on ozbow and most are either interstate or deep in the outblocks of vic. So far there is little more than "try the local timbre shop". and unless I want pine, or pine or maybe just occasionally some ..pine I have had little luck. No doubt if I did so often enough something would turn up. But I dont seem to get lucky.

As a recurve riser is small in comparison (like12-24" x 3" x3 " ) to a full bow and often laminated from thinner pieces. I had hoped I could find a woodturners supplier. Plenty of pen blanks or bowl squares around ":) but nothing bigger:(

The tassie woods do look nice Mytrle and sass would do me well as wood a slice of She oak.
I dont have much time off work to go traipsing around the yards and was hoping to narrow it down to a known good supplier but it looks like im down to doing it the hard way.

Another option is a recycled building materials yard. They would have some nicely seasoned hard woods in the form of floor boards, doors, windows etc. Should be a few in the yellow pages.

Welcome to the forum.

xgrain,
It is a bit daunting at first but there must be a good supplier of exotic timbers in Melbourne (help him out please the Melbourne croud).
As it is only a riser you want to make the wood is not too critical as it only has to take the strain but not bend as in wood for the limbs. As I said my riser came from the firewood pile. You have to scrounge to be a bowyer. True all the written stuff is mostly American and I have been down that road and ordered wood from the US and Canada but good woods are in Aus too. It does not all come from suppliers either. Hard rubbish days are a source. All sorts of exotics in old furnature. Tree loppers come on all sorts of great bow wood and it mostly goes through the shredder unless you get there in time. I got a ute load of camphor for turning from a lopper and during the chat he said that the week before he had fed a large yew tree through the shredder. Being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with it.
If all else fails get down to bunnings and check out the decking - flooring woods.
Should be able to find a few bits that can be glued up to make a riser
If you ask the question on ozbow like what can you make a riser from I am sure they will be as helpful as the people on here.
The phenolic is not a must have. Accent stripes can be made of timber. It is a left over from the 50tes and 60tes and if you can find it at all it was used for electrical boards and in old phone exchange boards. It is linen thread set in a resin.
Finding wood is one of the chalenges of bow making. For risers if they are laminated then most woods will do (apart from pine and within reason) it just depends how pretty you want it to look.
Hope this helps
Regards
John

thanks for the info on the Phenolic, I would much rather prefer to use thin wood strips for this anyway so Ill cross Phenolic off the list of things to find/learn about :)
This indeed helps, "daunting" as you put it is a good word. Im sure woodworkers can recall their beginnings, when they were trying to come to grips with what wood is what and will it do for my project. For example I read that Purple heart, while it looks nice, its hard on tools. To me that reads not a good beginners wood :) Some woods are naturally oily and maybe not good for gluing. I recall some , ok many, years back the woodshow would have bins of wood blocks of all sorts, I think I recall carbatec even having a spot in the corner filled with such goodies. Better days? See if you know your wood you can find it anywhere, as suggested, hard waste(which we are no longer allowed to touch :( , reused timber yards, tree loppers(in the suburbs? not much chance there) etc but if you dont and adding all the above to it, the learning curve is steep indeed.:C
But not insurmountable.:2tsup:
I have checked the local bunnings, seems it depends on where you are, not much in the way of floor boards in mine. I cant even find bamboo here which is a common bow wood, especially in QLD. Tried capet and flooring places , "yes" if you want a pallet load :(

Ok enough of the grief lets think positive:q.

Hi xgrain,
A bit of light reading for you
Bow Building-3Rivers Archery Equipment, Traditional Youth Archery Bows and Arrows, and Long Bow Hunting

Frequently Asked Questions About Bows - Tips and Tricks for Making Custom Bows

Ausbow Industries & River Dolls of Goolwa, South Australia

This should give an idea of what is available as kits and from there you figure out what you can source locally. I would ring up John Clark at Ausbow for a chat and at the least get his plans for recurve bows. (20 bucks or thereabout for plan)With a plan and the right epoxy glue you are on the way.
Mathews Timber in Vermont 3133 VIC - Get a Quote for Product & Material Supplies
All the best with it.
John

cheers will look into them

HI I would think any piece of hardwood with a good straignht grain would be idea as a riser.
The layers in the limbs are usually fibreglass or these days carbon composite to increase limb speed,
A few years ago someone at my archery club was using a Hoyt recurve with some expensive limbs that had a foam type material laminated in the limbs and whilst at full draw on of the limbs decides to fall part...ouch !
I always shot compound bows anyway.

Picked up some bits of Sass blackheart, myrtle and elm to have a play with. Not ideal but will get me in the swing of things.

As an archer and hack of a woodworker I admire your talent and tenacity to building yr own bow.

I am a completely instinctive archer and will only shoot one bow at a time, and only get good after a while of using and getting to know a bow. Kinda Zen thing for me, getting to know and dare I say become one with the bow.

So I can only imagine the satisfaction of building and using a bow you've built.

Thanks James.I know what you mean. I like to use all my own gear. I make my own arrows, have made a bow b4 but so far not a laminated one. Instinctive is the only way to go and I find swapping bows messes wid my brain a little but like jumping into a different car after a few shots it normally comes around.
To me there is nothing like the experience, out in the shed, scraping a bow into existence. :U oo apart from launching a 1000grain arra 150m+ down range. Watching it soar thru the air catch the sun on its shaft as it reaches apogee then hurtle downwards towards its mark.