What about dead standing?

[Steve Milbocker]

Has any body here tried to make a bow out of dead standing timber? Some of it seems like it is very sound yet and with no staves seasoned I was wondering if this could possibly be a short cut.

[HoBow]

Probably not a good idea as the wood may have fungus in it

[koan]

Definately a NO with white wood... Osage you could prolly still get some good staves, and possably mullberry

[sonny]

PatB sent me a couple of osage billets in a trade some time back that were from a dead standing tree.
I ended up sending them to Marc who told me that they made a nice bow.

[Pat B]

Like said above. I would consider osage and maybe a few others(very few) but definitely not anything considered a whitewood by wood bowyers. As a wood bowyer I want the healthiest wood I can get to build bows. If I have to wait for it to cure properly than I consider that a lesson in patience that I also consider one of the most important tools in wood bow making.  
  In the mean time go to Home Depot, Lowe's or your local lumber yard and buy an appropriate piece of wood to build a bow. Many of the fine bows submitted here on PA were once a board from one of these retailers.

[Pat B]

Brian, bend it through the handle and make sure the belly is flat. 

[koan]

Sorry, posted that in the wrong thread, lol.. i cant multi-task.. Menards is my goto now for hardwood boards tho... great selection and prices...

[Steve Milbocker]

Thanks for the advice all. Speaking of dead osage,last Spring I dug a piece of osage out of a ditch that had been covered by mud a vegetation for Lord knows how long. I took it back to the shop and power washed it off and let it dry. It is fairly straight, about 8' long and 6''-8'' in dia. and loaded with pin knots. Last Thurs I cut about 8-10'' off the ends and inside was the richest most beautiful dark burned yellow-orange I have ever seen. I cut a piece on the diagonal and drilled some holes in for pens on my desk. There may be a bow or two in that log but at this point in my bow building I'm probably not capable of it. Maybe some day, or I'll find somebody that has the skill to do it.

[Pat B]

Go ahead and split the osage log into staves and seal the ends and back. When you are ready to tackle a selfbow it will be ready for you! 

[AncientArcher76]

As mentioned most wood speciesaround where I live that are dead standing most of the time its punkie or rotten,  but osage if sound give it a shot if anything sometimes the old wood can be slabbed up to make handles or making some great frames for diplay case boxes... they often have some crazy patterns in the grain that makes them all unique.. good luck on ur quest.

AncientArcher

[Marc St Louis]

PatB sent me a couple of osage billets in a trade some time back that were from a dead standing tree.
I ended up sending them to Marc who told me that they made a nice bow.

So that's where that Osage came from.  That wood was low density for Osage but very elastic.

I came across a dead HHB a long time ago that was hung up off the ground, it was a good size tree of maybe 8" in diameter.  All the bark as gone but the wood was still fairly solid and it had virtually no twist.  I cut a 6' log from it to see if there was a bow still in there.  Most of it had some rot but I did find one bow, I still have it.  One of these days I'll post a picture of it

[Del the cat]

I've had Maple which was dead standing, it was ok once you took off quarter of an inch of wood.
I've even used Hazel which was starting to discolour, just for a try out (1 hour bow) and it worked... it wood have kept the zombies away from the cabin for a while.
The bottom line is, cut into it and see. Face it you can cut live wood and find it's no good...you have to expend some energy to find out if stuff is good, try making a quick test bow out of it.
It's how we all learn.
Del

[Eric Krewson]

I cut up a downed ERC a year ago, real pretty clear wood on one side. I am thinking about making a hickory backed ELB out of it but can't make up my mine if it would be worth the effort. I bet the tree was on the ground for almost twenty years.

[JackCrafty]

As already mentioned, you have to try and see if the dead wood is sound enough for a bow.  There may be good wood in the interior of the tree, but it has been my experience that dead standing wood is not worth the effort.  Around here, a dead standing juniper is trash...and most likely cedar elm and mulberry will be worthless too.