The Catskill Mountain Woodsman and JWB Bows split logs to make bow staves and talk about black locust, mulberry, hickory, and general information about trees and wood.
Filed under "learning something new every day". A new use for locus. I have always found locus to be a poor building wood because of its tendency to split easily. Outside of pegs, fence posts and fire wood I never thought very highly of this timber.
I love how people who work with wood talk about wood in a way that people who work with wood understand. That cracking noise, "beautiful". Nice vid my man!
2:30 Hell yes! Mulberry was in fact the favored bow wood of the Apache who would gather it wild in the winter along the Gila and Pecos rivers. It makes a beautiful bow and in fact, one of Geronimo's bows from when he was imprisoned is on display along with the "Quigley Down Under" rifle at Bass Pro Shop's headquarters in Springfield, Missouri near where I live. :)
I realize this is an old post but I had to thank you for this information. I have huge mulberry trees at my place. I like black locust wood (which I've also got a lot of) But never even knew that fact about mulberry. I think I'll try a build one
@@patrickbass3118 You're more than welcome. Is it Asian yellow, similar to Osage Orange? Or is it American red, like the Apache used? Either works extremely well. I have seasoning staves almost eight or nine years old taken from some old Asian mulberry trees a neighbor cut down. Great wood, but do have a good axe and decent drawknife for the older samples.
@@robertcorbell1006 american red - I have used some of the large gnarly limbs and trunks for firewood... Definitely saving some bow wood when I can find a good piece. also the berries are quite tasty
@@patrickbass3118 The Asian ones have tart and dry raspberry-flavored ones while the red American mulberries are sweet. The Asian is better for Mongolian bows while the American is better for an Apache bow. Either way, the gull-wing design is best, particularly on a softly bent log.
you guys have any mulberry or locust staves or logs left ? I've made bows with hudson valley native trees, hickory, maple, ash, beech etc. and I own a mulberry longbow i didn't make and i love it I'd love to get my hands on some mulberry or locust
cutting a BUNCH of pecans out of my yard (sadly,but they're too close to the barn.) Seeing as pecan is sold as hickory,I'm gonna try to make a few longbows outta it. Can't hurt to try,test new skills and learn as I go.
Hey man appreciate this video I’m in the eastern Catskills looking for someone with logs for staves rn very tough to find … very much hoping you could provide contact info IF ☝🏻 you think he’d appreciate the business. In any case thanks again for the vid I’ve got one mulberry stave cut from my land and I’m looking for a few more things that aren’t hickory oak and elm
STOP abusing the Hewing axe. Good old axes like that are near impossible to find in good shape. They are not designed to be pounded on. buy a few wedges.
+Chris Bruinsma SHUT UP!!!! I have Dozens of them! Old axes are abundant! They can be cleaned up and reshaped anyway! And Its a Bow making Vid! Go watch Logging vids. Or Axe restoring!
No craftsman should destroy his tools on purpose , he could have taken a wooden maul or just any piece of wood for that matter and beaten the axe , hitting metal on metal is asking for tool breaking.
Now I know why I find axe heads with poles all bashed and mushroomed. Just use a wooden mallet or beetle! Not powerful enough for you? You can make a large one (10-20lb) very easily from a piece of cord wood and a sapling; just use an auger to make a hole large enough to haft the cord wood head on the sapling handle. Save yourself from flying metal pieces, and save your axes from deformation.
Locust tree's can take over your property in just a few years they grow tall,With that type of wood you have to make the bow at least 1 1/2 inches wide. Any wood can equal osage orange if you make wider limbs. But you can use green wood to make the stave into the shape of a bow close to the spec's if you want an effective bow you must clamp it to hold the bow straight. Or you can clamp recurve in the limbs while its green or you can add reflex while its green, but it must be clamped till its seasoned, If you string it or bend it in the direction its supposed to be drawn while its green you just ruined it. wood takes a set then it becomes compression wood and its only good for knife handles after that. Every state has a tree description site of local trees, If its a invasive specie's that means the govt fears it, because you could potentially make a bow or arrow out of it. EXAMPLE: Honeysuckle,.... they say its a invasive species, cave men made prehistoric arrows out of it and hazel, pine, birch, ash, dogwood, viburnum, alder, larch, willow, and burning bush. Honeysuckle was used in the Neolithic era, I made a quiver out of honeysuckle. Even though honey suckle has 20 limbs per branch you simply cut them off they do not affect the integrity of the shaft, you want a little more diameter and length because they are light and a little more diameter and length in the Neolithic era I believe they were 36-39 inches perhaps because the material was light or perhaps people were 7-12 feet tall then?
Different wood fibers behave differently regardless of density. Different resins different lignin etc... The subjective feel of the wood is a product of many things only one of which is hardness/density.
Son.. I've been working with wood for over 20 years.. I LOVE your work.. I just can't understand why you're working like such a rookie in this particular video.. This is hack work and about as unsafe as it gets.. What are you doing? Dont' get me wrong.. this is how people do it.. but if you're giving any kind of safe youtbe tutorial... so much education, but so little technique. People will only get hurt if they follow these instructions. Other that that... Outstanding.
How do you tell the difference between black locust and honey locust I have several I have been letting grow in my yard my father is a Cherokee indian but refused to teach use the old ways because his father was abusive to him,he didn't like to talk about that ,about the racial biest he was put threw ,along with Vietnam ,so I have been starting to research this myself.Interesting video thanks for posting.
+MrDeathd There is a very good and easy to understand book called "Cherokee Bows and Arrows" by Al Herrin. You may already know this, but I thought you might be interested. You can usually find it online for around $30.
Black locust has small thorns along the limbs, honey locust has very long thorns in clusters all over it, and looks like it came from hell. Black locust is commonly used for fence posts, due to resistance to rot.
his axe bro i wouldnt doit personally but at least he aint doing it edge wise lol. not trying to teach meemaw to suck eggs but wood wedges are simple to make and effective it does take extra time tho although locust is stupid hard and wedges need to be as hard or harder than wood being split east texas has alot of osage and hickory ceder makes a decent bow if light draw srry started rambling...alsoi apologize for my horrific grammar lol
1st 30 seconds of conversation confused the fuck out of me... 🔥 Is bigger better 🔥Smaller is better 🔥How Many inches is it 🔥7 inches i think WTF.....we are talking about splitting wood right????
OK one more comment to those worried about the tools. get over you self or what you think you know. I'll bet those tools built the house in the background with that same "abuse".
scratchman1000 I bet if you have any nice old tools like that, then they are smashed to h*ll. The poll of an axe isn't meant to be hit with any other stricking tool. Unless the poll has been properly hardened. Therefore not only is he ruining his 100+ year old broad axe, he is also risking his eyes and those around him by the potential of shrapnel flying off the poll of that axe. If you want to pound some axes with a hammer, buy a cheapo, and put on some safety glasses!
@@nathanjohnston7187 property hardened? You would not want to hit a hardened steel axe with a hardened steel hammer. Hardening makes the steel brittle and more likely to chip. This is why you aren't supposed to put regular sockets on an impact wrench but people don't all the time and I've never seen hardened steel chip when struck by hardened steel. I've seen it break, but that was right after hardening and hadnt been tempered yet.
And Most Ignorant and Unsafe RU-vid Comment of the Week goes to Scratchman1000. He will automatically be entered for the Darwin Awards for Keyboard Justice Warrior Featherweight Class.
I can't stand to see you beat on those broad axes with a steel hammer. Get some cheap splitting mauls or make some wooden ones. They aren't making 100 to 150 year old broad axes any more. Ouch.
