Gnarly Dogwood (and now some Black Locust)

[johnston]

Lee , I'm looking out my window at 4 vertical dogwoods that look just like your logs.

'Course I'm way down south...

ChinaBerry!

Lane

[Lee Slikkers]

Well, you all have me totally confused now on the bark thing but that leaf pic I posted is the same leaf of the tree...no confusion about that in my mind.

Here are some shots of it debarked and my "attempt" to split it...wailed on like a 450lb linebacked with 4 wedges and an 8lb sledge and this is as far as I got.  Look at how it spindles and holds together (made all my other Osage splits seem like child's play) so I gave it a rest.  Not sure how I am gonna split these suckers!

[Cacatch]

Lee,

To me that looks a lot like a gum, sweetgum to be exact. Both the bark and the wood, and all the little pin-knots underneath it, PLUS the fact that it is kicking your ash to split it. Sounds like sweetgum to me. On the bright side - if it IS sweetgum, I've heard it will make a decent bow if you can get it split and worked down.

CP

[RidgeRunner]

That is how an Elm likes ( or should I say dislikes) to bust.
Well, Whatever it is it looks as if it will make a bow.
If you can get it busted that it.

David

[Lee Slikkers]

Had my eye on some Black Locust that were growing near an old vehicle repair shop so I pulled in total and asked if they minded me cutting one.  "Huh?" was mostly what I got be when I broke it down to "can I cut one of those smaller trees down" I received a shrugged shoulder and "sure, knock yourself out" so...

I now have 12 nice B. Locust stave split, debarked, sealed and ready to sit in a corner to season for awhile.  I ended up with 4 staves that measure 80" and 8 staves at 68"













Enjoy~

[fusizoli]

HAH

thats elm my friend as I ve told   It looking we have the same kind of forest here.

U have some great bow material there! Just the spliting suc*s  

Seal the back of the lochust too! It will crack without the bark

[RidgeRunner]

Now that is some good looking Black Locust.

SEAL IT,  SEAL IT GOOD, Seal it three four or even five times if you are using poly.

David

[Lee Slikkers]

HAH

thats elm my friend as I ve told   It looking we have the same kind of forest here.

U have some great bow material there! Just the spliting suc*s  

So Elm has those little 'tits" all down the wood?  It is VERY dense stuff, I can only imagine if this stuff that this much effort to split then it HAS to be good bow wood.

Thanks for setting me straight.  Got a pic of an Elm leaf?  Now I'm really confounded about the whole scenario.

Thanks!

[Lee Slikkers]

Now that is some good looking Black Locust.

SEAL IT,  SEAL IT GOOD, Seal it three four or even five times if you are using poly.

David

Thanks David...got 2 coats of shellac on them but I'll add a few more for good measure.  Appreciate the tip.

[Will H]

Good score on the BL man! Looks awesome!

[fusizoli]

Just use google search "elm pic" "elm tree pic"  

Schould close out red elm.

Yes it have those "tits" under the bark ( schould sand tham down rounded) . The bark could pull down in one piece and schould make a nice quiver from.

[blackhawk]

Keep the BL in a moist dark environment for the first few months seeing how you left the sapwood on. And keep an eye on it. It still might want to check even if you coated it. I've done this with BL and it worked out fine,I just had to keep an eye on it and in a high humidity environment for the first couple months.

Man your really stacking up the wood Lee. Keep it up.

And on elm or any other interlocking grain wood I snap a chalkline and kerf cut it with a circular saw to open it up. Just hang on for dear life with both hands and always stand off to the side with both feet. 

[Lee Slikkers]

I actually went back where I cut my "mystery tree" and snipped of a branch with leaves on it.  Boys took my camera and the one they left me seems to have a mind of it's own, shoots 5 pics and if turned off it acts like it had dead batteries (which isn't the case, just put fresh ones in) anyway...I'd like to post those pics of the leave, bud configuration to help get a for sure ID on this sucker.

Blackhawk, I think I did take off all the sapwood, came off with the bark...or is that considered something else?  I have em in the basement as I type this.  Wood is good and more wood is better!  I don't want to be where I am this year (with a BAD bow building bug) and not have cured wood on hand to play with...

[blackhawk]

Looks like you just took the bark and cambium off. I see white sapwood still on them. And the heartwood is the darker brown. Just like Osage. You'll have to remove the sapwood and chase a ring down in the heartwood like Osage.


I haven't finished a bow in awhile because I've been doing the same thing this spring. Collecting wood and prepping it so ill have a good dry stash to work with this winter. I got almost caught up to my dry wood and I was down to like 4 dry staves. I had to take a break from knocking em out to go get more wood while stuff cures. Oh the madness of trying to always have a rotating wood hoard  .   I LOVE IT

[Lee Slikkers]

Blackhawk, gotcha...I was mixed up in what you were asking...yup all the sapwood is on, didn't have anymore "go juice" in me to bother DK'ing off 12 sticks worth of sapwood.

OK, I hate belaboring a point but I finally got the camera working and was able to download the single pic I got before she puked again.  Now, I've looked through every Goggle image page on Elm I can find and none have smooth edged leaves like this stuff.  Not saying it isn't Elm but it sure doesn't seem like the correct leaf nor do they come off in a group like this...



Thanks guys...Just trying to figure this wood out so I know what style/layout this stuff can handle.