quarter sawn or flat sawn

[DennisM]

First post, but have been lurking, reading and trying to learn for a few months. I am planning my first bow.  Good wood for staves are scarce here in South Florida and I thought a board bow would be a good start for a first bow.  I read an article on the web maybe 12 yrs ago on building Self Bows and thought I would give it a try.  Long story short this led me to how to build a draw knife, which led me into custom knife building and never got back to the bow.
So I'm back where I started. I have read all I can find on the web, TBB2 and the Bent Stick.  A lot of the info I have gathered seems contradictory. I've been looking in local lumber yards and have found a large White Ash board 2"X 8"X 8' flat sawn thru the center of a large log, it looks like you could chase a growth ring from either side.  I have also found some nice straight grained quarter sawn white oak.  If I under stand correctly either could be used but is one type better than the other ie flat sawn vs quarter sawn.
Also thinking of a Meare Heath style 45-50# @29'

Thanks for any and all replies in advance

Dennis

[Badger]

  I sometimes buy flat sawn but as you said you need to chase a growth ring so make sure you will have enough wood to do that. 1/4 sawn is bullet proof if the rings lines are running straight. I would go with the white oak over the ash, sometimes the ash is great but it tends to ne inconsistent. If the ash feels prety dense it should be ok.

[George Tsoukalas]

Look for straight grained board of either of the 3 cuts. Check the face grain for flat and rift sawn. Check the edge grain for 1/4 sawn. I allow 2 run outs (run ups) per limb. My site has info. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[DennisM]

Thanks for the replies

I can understand how the flat sawn and quarter sawn  would work,  but it seems if you used rift sawn the limbs would want to twist when drawn, or am I wrong?
I'm from Kentucky and know all the old timers used White Oak for about everything.
As long as it doesn't contact the ground it will last a long long time. So I'm leaning towards the quarter sawn White Oak.  Cut timber for a few years there mostly White Oak, Beech, and Poplar.  Going back on vacation in July, may try to find some Hickory for staves.

George; Great site, read it all before I ever posted here.

Dennis

[bubby]

white oak quarter sawn is damn near bullitt proof, it's some tuff stuff and I've made good self bows and used it for backing, no failures yet , Bub