Otherwise known as the Butterfly Bush, We pruned one of these back in the autumn of 2014 and there was a nice straight section which I saved to try as a bow wood.I couldn't get any opinion on it other than "try it and see" so here goes. I suspect it may be a bit brittle as the dead wood on the shrub is V brittle, but so far it seems fairly stiff and quite hard, with some attractive colour.
I'll show the first try on the tiller as it is V bad and shows the left limb very stiff, the second shot is after I've done a good bit of work on that left limb and faded it back into the grip more (it will flex in the grip when finished). The stave is only 51" long, with a nice waggle in one end,The bark, which is similar to that of Elder has been left on and is making ominous cracking sounds.
Looks reasonable now, gotta get the grip moving moreand the right outer limb.
I make edit together a video showing how the tiller progresses... we'll see.
I'll probably aim for 40# at 24-25" if it doesn't explode first.
Hi Derek was the buddleia branch any good in the end?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of using a branch from my buddleia bush to make a bow.
It exploded at just about full draw. I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to test yourself!
ReplyDelete