Black wattle question

[Scotty]

Gidday Folks, First off Id like to introduces myself my names Scotty I'm a carpenter/carver by trade I'm new to Archery and Bowery. Ive got a question or two,that i'm hoping you can help me with. I've recent got ahold of some Black wattle. I am planning on building a pyramid shaped flat bow design of 68" ntn with about 6" of stiff handle and fade with a final draw weight of 55lb @ 29". I was reading in the TBB Vol 4 that Accacias are not great in tensile strength and they recomend decrowning the stave. Has anyone had any experience doing this and if so how is it best done eg, follow the external surface of the stave or simple flatten it? I only have hand tools available,Hatchet,Drawknife,spokeshave and files.
Also would anyone know of suitable bow wood trees in the northern w.a area as I will be based in Broome for the next 6 months or so.
Any help would be much appreciated cheers Scotty

[Keith Lee]

Welcome to Ausbow Scotty i'can't help with your questions i'am only new to making selfbows i've just made three out of wattle and thy all blow-up.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Welcome to the site Scotty. I'm sure some of the more experienced self bow makers on here will see your post and do up a reply in due course.

Jeff

[Gringa Bows]

Hey hairy person its OZBOW ............Welcome to the site Scotty,ive only used Blackwattle as laminations in a couple of my composite bows,worked well ...

[twisted limb]

Hi Scotty I've made several flat bows using my local accacia " Hickory wattle". Several failures (probably something to do with lack of skill) with my first three bows using heartwood led me try the sap wood which I have found to be excellent.
I have a 68" 50# sudburry bow of hickory wattle sapwood (unbacked) which I"ve been shooting regularly for 6 months no problems.
The main problem with wattle sapwood is borer attack during the drying process.It's the bark that causes the problem,remove it from green staves and seal the back with a coat of something, I use bondcrete. You can leave the bark on to dry your staves through winter but get it off before spring when the beetles seem to start hatching.
Hope this helps
John.

[Steven J]

I have used black wattle for two very successful bows. You could decrown the stave if the tree had a small diameter. My tree was around 200mm diameter so the back was as good as flat anyway. You can see in the picture that the back is virtually flat. The stave here is clamped on a form for steam bending.

Steve

[Scotty]

Gidday Guys , Thanks for the replies,all information is helpful. I've decided to just plough on into it(carefully) and see what happens.i've left the sap wood on and its coming on nicely .hopfully post a pic or two when it's finished.

Cheers Scotty

[roscoe]

Good to here you are having ago at making your own self bow scotty. There is nothing better than shooting a bow that you have made your self & some fellows on this site have taken game with there bows as well. Scotty the pyramid bows are a great design for our Australian timbers, but there is a fair bit of cutting and shaping to them, but tillering is easier. I personally like the longbow shape as there is less cutting and shaping and a rectangular cross section is a good one to start with that bends through the handle. There is a good one for first time bowyers in the back of one of the TBB's. I started with this one and it worked well with the acacias from around here.

You mentioned that you got the timber from someone else, i have found that unless i cut and season the timber myself i haven,t had much success in making self bows from timber given to me, due to it being to dry or small checks in it. I follow TBB,s advise on cutting it green and shaping it and let it dry for a couple of weeks or so, then finish it.

I haven't had much success with the sap wood on the acacias around here. The sap wood doesn't have much spring to it for its weight. I make all of my self bows now from the heart wood and they are all from quarter sawn pieces of the tree.

Scotty have a go and try as many timbers in your area as possible. Trial & error is your best teacher. One of the fellows on this site uses vert. grained bamboo floor boards and there is a youtube video of his bows. I think this is your best bet to learn with as its cheap, its seasoned ready to go, its forgiving and it works well for low poundage bows. good luck roscoe.