elm types and use

[wundabred]

Today i finally found a source for elm.  I bought a rough-sawn split which was essentially a 2/x6.  They had two types of elm:  red elm and elm.  I  bought the elm.  Sawed it into 4 blanks and of course only the outermost one has a continuous ring.   Can elm bows be made with grain run outs, like hickory, or should i throw a rawhide backing on top? 

[adb]

Any board, regardless of species, gets a backing of some sort if it has a lot of grain run off... ok, any grain run off. It's a weak spot and stress will be concentrated there, leading to possible failure. I'm sure someone will pipe up to the contrary, but in my experience, the board with grain run off will more likely remain a bow if it's backed with something.

[wundabred]

fair enough.  i have had success with crazy runoffs on hickory, but those were 72" bows.  i have always heard such great things about elm, it sounds indestructible. 

i have some sinew (10 backstraps worth), and i have a bunch of pairs of goat rawhide strips.  I think i'll save the sinew for some juniper i also have, and use the rawhide for the 2 elm selfbows i plan to make.   With the other 2 1x3's i have, i plan to saw up some slats and laminate them together into cool forms. 

i am stoked.  That supplier i found today also had osage orange lumber, huge surprise.  they had some yew, ipe, hickory, these elm, and many other cool types of wood.  i'm thinking about elm backed osage, elm backed ipe...

[adb]

Sounds like you're on the right path...

[wodpow]

the Osage bamboo backed bow some one bought me was made from some south American  wood that was hard and yellow so they called it Osage