This is the making of bow (No. 51).
Some months ago a friend asked wether I would like to have a branch of a juniper which he had to cut away as it was broken down by a storm. And of corse I did. He brought a piece, kinda a quarter of a stave with that broken storm violation on one end. The sap was creamy, the heart wood light brown. I laid it in a corner of my shop to let it season. Some weeks ago it came in my mind again and I examined the piece, thought it looks a lot like ERC. But that color and it was grown in Germany … . I made a fresh cut with my hacksaw and saw the purple color – ERC indeed, German ERC. Unbelievable, it grows here.
Here is the “stave”, about 40” total, last 12” not usable (broken end).
I didn’t know what to do with that weird piece so I bandsawed it in slats about ½” thick, kinda quartersawn.
This is what I got, slats or boards with sap on one half side and heartwood on the other. Beautiful wood with hundreds of pin knots and some larger ones.
Looking at that slats with that nice colors, I decided to combine it opposing
I have bought some boo slats, this should became a backing for my two slats, here is the ‘splice’. I cut away the sap in the handle area in a rectangular shape.
My plan was a diagonal handle, it should look like the heartwood turns over to the other side. Here is the idea marked easily with a 1” wide masking tape
Some curves for a funky transition …
Before cutting out, the back was strengthened with two slats of flooring boo, all glued together with TB 3
And rasped down for a smooth transition
two pics to show the idea of the switching over heartwood
The finished bow can be seen here!
2 Comments
Mind blown. That is a gorgeous work of highly technical art.
Amazing.
I’m looking out for ERC now.
Did you heat treat the limbs to get the colour, or was that just the ERC?
Thanks Thomas,
This is the natural color of Eastern red cedar, a purple heart wood and a yellowish sap wood.
Good luck for your project!