Hophornbeam???

[Kitsu]

i found a BUNCH of HHB in my yard, was wondering... when i split it into staves they do not seem like much of a bow wood,  (not too flexible yet)

it appears denser then any wood ive worked with, although not many woods are hard to work with if u know how, but still was  a pain to split etc, it was about  3.5 inches thick and had a little bend in it, it doesnt feel like much of a bow wood as i said, ifs VERY VERY STIFF To bend and unlike most woods ive seen, if you try to even bend a shaving at all they snap, is this fortelliing the future, is my bow going to snap in my face, i hope not......


Only time will tell,

[sailordad]

if it is hhb its good bow wood

[Kitsu]

i read somewhere that HHB is good when its a smaller sapling but may become brittle as it gets older, and this is going to season a while first, but i have a bad feeling, its WAY different then maple or oak, diff textures and everything,

[sailordad]

i aquired 5 logs of this recently,also was given an hhb bow ffrom the guy.the bow is close to 10 yrs old,pulls heavier now than when it was first tillered.
right now it pulls 63# @ 22"

i wouldnt call that brittle.
and yes it is differant than maple or oak,but thats comparing apples to plums.yes both are a fruit but yet neither are alike.
dont worry about using hhb,if ya dont want it trade it on the trading post,lots of people here would be happy to get some.

[DanaM]

Are you sure its HHB? If so then its good wood

[Pappy]

Love HHB. Are you sure that is what you have got. Show us a picture. If it is, it will make a fine bow.
      Pappy

[Dean Marlow]

If you got Hornbeam you got fantastic bow wood. Just about to finish a hornbeam bow up and it is powerful bow wood. I would like to see a picture of  your logs also. Dean

[George Tsoukalas]

It is good  wood. One of the nest white woods. Jawge

[GregB]

I think I've made four hhb's, and all are good bow's. It's my favorite white wood for bow making. They usually have some character due to their usually not being straight logs and the backs are not as smooth as most white woods. They are a booger to split!

[Marc St Louis]

If the wood snaps then it's not likely you have HHB.  It splinters when bent too far

[Kitsu]

alright, i am 99 percent sure it is HHB, i have had 3 friends all confirm it, the wood had little creases in it like muscles, and it was a beast to split, it split straight but took me about a half an hour, other than that, the wood seems to not want to bend at all, its about 2 inches thick and if i stand on it it will barely bend even when i jump,  however some of the thinner pieces i cut from it dont bend well, they arent as springy

 it MAY be too late for pictures but ill try, if i had a camera i would show you my other bow as well... but unfortunately my mom STILL, hadnt got around to getting me the camera, its kinda getting me mad, well, if my parents are upset that may be the reason for the camera, either way my parents are not AS mad considering they know my grades are better then meets the eye

[sailordad]

did the bark look like this? if so then it is hhb,you dont trust it or want it,send it to me i would be happy to take it

[FlintWalker]

Hawkeyes, wood doesn't have to be easy to bend to be good bow wood.  In fact, flimsy wood is not  what you want. You need stiffness in order to make good draw weight without having so much mass weight.
 The wood you have may be American Hornbeam. It has ripples in it that look like muscles.  Some poeple call it blue beech or musclewood.

[PeteC]

Your correct,that is eastern hophornbeam,and it is a very good bow wood.Make sure it's good and dry before tillering,but,while it's green, you can go ahead and rough out your bow,floor tiller,and clamp it in reflex.Leave it on a simple reflex form for a little over a month,and it will hold most,if not all of the induced reflexAlso,HHB is also greatly improved by heat treating the belly. Hope this helps. God Bless

[Kitsu]

wow, im going to have to go with what saw filer said `````\/

Hawkeyes, wood doesn't have to be easy to bend to be good bow wood.  In fact, flimsy wood is not  what you want. You need stiffness in order to make good draw weight without having so much mass weight.
 The wood you have may be American Hornbeam. It has ripples in it that look like muscles.  Some poeple call it blue beech or musclewood.

hrmm, so its more likely that that HHB, well, thanks,  will it work as well as HHB, because, i dont want to sound like a treehugger... but i cut ALOT of these and cut into staves debarked etc, and if i did for nothing and wasted these, ima be really mad >.<

did the bark look like this? if so then it is hhb,you dont trust it or want it,send it to me i would be happy to take it
(IMAGE REMOVED FOR POST SIZE)

actually this is the picture i used to identify it,

I think I've made four hhb's, and all are good bow's. It's my favorite white wood for bow making. They usually have some character due to their usually not being straight logs and the backs are not as smooth as most white woods. They are a booger to split!

yea, its hard, >.>

i aquired 5 logs of this recently,also was given an hhb bow ffrom the guy.the bow is close to 10 yrs old,pulls heavier now than when it was first tillered.
right now it pulls 63# @ 22"

i wouldnt call that brittle.
and yes it is differant than maple or oak,but thats comparing apples to plums.yes both are a fruit but yet neither are alike.
dont worry about using hhb,if ya dont want it trade it on the trading post,lots of people here would be happy to get some.

i dont know about trading it atm, my parents think im wierd as it is because i make bows, they will prolly think im wierder if i am trading off staves for other staves etc, but thanks for the offer, ill try and convince because i have PLENTY and i ran out of red oak i have a few trees like 3 feet thick and NO WAY am i cuttin those things lol