HELP! Suppliers of Unusual wood...

[Scouse]

Does anyone have any idea where I might be able to get hold of Acacia (or possibly Tamarisk as an acceptable substitute)?

The wood would need to be at least 6 foot long by 2 or 3 inches in cross section, preferably with sapwood making up one face.

I have been asked by a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool to advise on the production of archery bows during the Ancient Egyptian period for a recreation of ancient weaponry. I have done some English longbow making in the past but yew and ash are unsuitable for this project as they need historical accuracy.

I now know how those blokes making the Roman Villa on Channel 4 felt! #-o

Thanks in advance!

 

[Alf]

Timberline possibly?

 

[Niall]

I was at Jean Burhouse near Dunkeld on Tuesday and I think they had some.

 

[Scouse]

Tnaks Alf, Timberline bloke was very nice, but very unable to help! I had to leave a message on the answerphone at Burhouse.

Any more suggestions? Please??? [-o<

 

[Kalimna]

+1 for Burhouse. I was there today and they had several planks labelled 'acacia'.
Now, whether it is the same acacia that you are after is an entirely different question! And if it is, then whether those planks are suitable or not is also a different question...

Cheers,
Adam

 

[Scouse]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try Burhouse again, but Northern Scotland maybe a bit of a hike from Liverpool.

Any other ideas?

Cheers.

 

[AndyT]

I was wondering if you might have any big parks or arboretums in reach which sell 'prunings' so I looked up what sort of tree it is... and according to this page http://www.2020site.org/trees/acacia.html acacia is tough but very inelastic - which doesn't sound like something to make a bow from. I guess it's just the usual muddle of naming of widely different trees with the same few names, regardless of how different their timber is. I hope you find the right stuff!

 

[Scouse]

Hi Andy, thanks for that.

I had read something similar about the inelastic nature of acacia, which went against what I know from English bow making, which relies on the compression and tension of the natural spring present in heart and sap wood of yew.

But, apparently this is what they used after horn and sinew in Egypt so the search goes on! :roll: