Thanks all, it was a pleasure posting this.
LJB was right about that tree, horse chestnut.
My wife liked this bow a lot and since she could get the string on, too, I gifted it to her. It was also her who found it would look better with no handle. More stickish, she said. To give it a little extra feminine touch and some decorative element I felt was still missing, I fittet turquoise pebbles in the tree knotholes using thin leather strips to fix them while allowing for some compression.
The next bow is already in the making, of course, I got plenty of usable woods around here, but none of it dry....
currently, I am at one of the BL heartwood pieces, to get a comparison. It is much more brittle, much harder. Not as pleasant to work with as the sapwood. and lighter, strangely enough. It'll be a simple pyramid this time, my first.
As to the sapwood question, I will not hesitate to use it again. It was a good piece, with almost no earlywood, I think this was important. The first 10 or so years, these trees grow quickly and the rings are fat.
Thanks for watching
