anyone tried oak?

[stickslinger]

Hey all,

My daughter has been getting the archery bug after watching me shoot a few sticks in the backyard. So on a recent trip to the timber yard i grabbed a bit of American Red Oak. (total cost $10.00!) i got two planks about 50mm x 8mm x 1.5m with the view of making a quick and dirty takedown bow that she could shoot.
5 hours later..to my amazement it worked...not the most beautiful bow ever made but it's tough as nails and it shoots true. (will add pics later)
Anyway I've got the bug to have a proper try at making a longbow, so the question is, has anyone ever used this Oak before and how did you find it?

The takedown bow will happily draw to 28" at about 35-40# (untillered-as i said just planks)

and i could use a glue recommendation too...

now to quit my day job and make bows all day

[bigbob]

Seen quite a few successful board bows made from red oak on the US forums. i only use smooth on which is a bit hard to get here [try jcm] .Hope you post some pics.

[KellyG]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb. ... 122#000000

Here you go this is a very good, build along.

[Roadie]

I Have 2 Bows, both ELB's. American Red OAK & Hickory, sweat, can't fault them, Love EM to Bits. Cheers Roadie.

[stickslinger]

Damn, i'm three for three with oak, two weekends in a row. I've gone to the timber shop, picked out the best plank, carefully roughed it out and glued up a handle. it feels nice and "bendy" then i try to draw it back a little so i can start to tiller it, and....crack three broken planks.

I made one and it worked beautifully for about ten days before it imploded at full draw, the shock of it smacking me in the face scared the hell out of me, and i've decided to stop trying to be a "backyard bowyer" until i've read more on the subject.

Still, the pride of making you own gear can't be beat. i'll be back.

[bigbob]

stickslinger See if Bunnings or the like have some Masserandduba, as I just made a successful bow first attempt albeit relatively lower poundage, but a lovely performing little bow just the same. I grabbed the third plank I picked up and got 2 bows from it.

[stickslinger]

I'll keep an eye out for that, cheers.

[bigbob]

Might just be called red wood , but ask someone at Bunnings and you might be lucky. I just went and got a few more boards at our local one here.