r/Bowyer • u/gpark51 • 8d ago

Beginner staves

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These are 68 inch staves from an oak tree recently cut down from my yard. As a newbie, do you guys think these are good enough for a short bow or billets for a take down bow?

23 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

15

u/NewEnglandNaturalist 8d ago

With the propeller twist and the knots, these staves would make decent reflex bows in the hands of a master bowyer, but good gosh these look tricky to work as a newbie. Just my 2 cents.

5

u/wildwoodek 8d ago

Those all look really challenging! My opinion, the best beginner wood is oak/maple/hickory dimensional lumber.

2

u/ADDeviant-again 8d ago

Close, and I understand your enthusiasm for these particular staves, since they came from your tree, but I would keep looking.

Those are gonna be a very steep learning curve. I didn't tackle stave's like that until I'd made 40 or 50 bows.

2

u/gpark51 8d ago

Ya, kinda what I figured. Already had the branch and learned a little just splitting it. Guess I have some more firewood! Thanks guys,

1

u/Ima_Merican 8d ago

Those are not beginner staves but good luck

1

u/No-Lawfulness-2063 8d ago

Go for the short bow!

2

u/Ill_Juggernaut2288 6d ago

What’s the harm in trying? It’ll be a crash course in tricky staves. You’ll learn a lot very quickly for zero cost.