lime as bow wood

[elma]

I' have some lime staves 74" long and 3" square. Is lime any good as a bow wood.

Ian

 

[jon r]

I dont know much about bow making but lime is a very soft wood and i can imagine that it wouldnt be any good. I'd wait for an answer from a propper bow maker though!

If all else fails the wood may be excelent for making hearth boards for your bow drill.

 

[chrisanson]

Duno about bows? But the good news is it makes really good shield’s!!

 

[torjusg]

Lime would probably not be any good for bows. The Welsh supposedly used elm, so I guess that's what you are looking for.

 

[Snufkin]

With that length you might be able to get a light draw weight bow out of lime, keep it wide and long.

 

[jojo]

Had a look at the Bowyer's Bible, no mention of lime. I would go as Snufkin said. You could also back the bow. The Bible says you could even use brown paper glued with a good wood glue, or thick nylon fabric (not ripstop) that should help to protect a weak wood

 

[elma]

I can not find any referance to lime in any of my books either but as it was only £3 a stave I thought it good value as a practise wood. I think I'll make a flat bow and back it with rawhide or maybe sinew, besides its the technique of building the bow thats important to me at this stage as my illness makes me physically incapable of drawing a bow of more than 40lbs. once the rain stops I'll give it a go and post my progress

Ian

 

[Snufkin]

I can not find any referance to lime in any of my books either but as it was only £3 a stave I thought it good value as a practise wood. I think I'll make a flat bow and back it with rawhide or maybe sinew, besides its the technique of building the bow thats important to me at this stage as my illness makes me physically incapable of drawing a bow of more than 40lbs. once the rain stops I'll give it a go and post my progress

Ian

Have a look for basswood, that's what it's called in the US I believe.