Folks,
Last fall I went to a local saw mill and brought home about $100 worth of a red elm. Attached are a few pics of a stave I just started working on tonight. The stave at this point is 1 3/4" wide and 70" long. If I chase the ring I want my final backing will be about 1 1/2" wide and I'm not sure if that's enough or not. I hope you can see the rings I marked.