Rock Maple?

[Slackbunny]

So I was roaming my in law's wood lot and found a tree that I liked the look of. I had no idea what species it was but it seemed to have all the proper characteristics. I chopped it down, and it was tough as hell, and superheavy to lug out. My father-in-law identified it as rock maple.

Has anyone worked with this before? What can I expect?

[PatM]

If it really is Rock Maple it's as good as any other top wood, especially in flatbow style.

[DarkSoul]

Rock maple is a hard maple. Good stuff. A flatbow would be best I guess, but even a flattish longbow can be made from it.

[Slackbunny]

Thanks guys. That is good to know. I could tell it was probably good stuff, but its nice to have confirmation.

[Ian.]

It will make a great ELB and a heavy one at that, you don't need to make it especially flat, it really is excellent wood.

[Slackbunny]

Holy crap this stuff is tough as nails. I went to split one of the two logs I cut out, and I ended up giving up. The way I split them is I take a hatchet and hammer it into the end of the log, then I just keep hammering until I've forced the hatchet all the way through. It works pretty good with small to medium logs. I could barely get that hatchet into the end of the log even beating on it with a hammer. Hopefully once it dries a bit, it will become a bit friendlier.

[RBLusthaus]

The more the log dries - that harder it will be to split out.  Use your hatchet and get one or two addl wedges and a sledge or maul.  Start in the (big) end like you did, and then use the wedges in the side of the log and leap them forward as necessary to keep the split moving.  Call for a masseuse for that evening - you will need it. 

Good Luck