Hi Guy n Gals,

I retired and relocated from British Columbia Canada to central Mexico to the state of Jalisco. I've now got the time to try my hand at bow making but seems I run into a brick wall every time I try to find what used to be common hardwoods. The standard bow woods which are the most common seem to be non existent here with the exception of board woods from the local lumber yard. Oak does exist but it is illegal to cut. I'm hoping to find stave wood so I can do the splitting and curing myself. So here I am in a new country with all new types of trees with no idea which would be good to used for bow making.

One wood that is very common here is Jacaranda, can anyone tell me if it can be used to build a decent bow? Thanks

I don't know of any NM woods that make a good bow. Not saying there aren't any, I just don't know of any. I will list a handful below I know work well, but doubt they grow in your new home. Still, a good target for you to find on-line.

Osage yew juniper - the real deal - not eastern red cedar hop hornbeam hickory elm flowering dogwood hackberry ocean spray vine maple white ash black locust Most oaks, with white oak being the best of the batch Black walnut apple pear crabapple Ive seen a FEW from Russian olive, very few.

It never posts like I format it when typing. Sorry for the garbled up mess.

Jacaranda is a name that is used for a bunch of different species of wood in Mexico and Central/South America. True Jacaranda should have purple flowers all over and would be a medium to small tree with a rounded shape. Because of the group it is from, I would consider all parts of the tree to be poisonous and with cardiac effects. Because of the size of the tree and limbs, there is little known about the properties. Ask about "iron wood" locally. Should be some in that part of Mexico. Also, pecan is found in that area and is good for self bows.

We live in a gated rural community that has lots of old growth trees in it. The maintenance crews are always doing trim jobs on the limbs that start overhanging the streets. As it is illegal to cut down trees of any kind in Mexico without a permit, getting wood from the maintenance crews was my main hope for staves. Otherwise I'll have to resort to board building. The wood you get from a lumber yard here is NOT kiln dried and you take your chances with it when building something only to find later that that nice work bench you built has legs that are all curling up once they have a chance to dry more.

I can't remember where it was that I read it, it could have been in The Traditional Boyer's Bible or The Bent Stick under the topic of rapid seasoning of wood. I remember the author talking about taking a stave and removing the bark and roughing out a bow blank to shape and leaving a little extra material intact to account for shrinkage, then sticking it in a car for a couple weeks while the car was parked in the sun. I wonder if such a method could be utilized for the non kiln dried lumber here in the stores? Red Oak is sold here, all I'd have to do is find a suitable board.

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