My Koperski Stave

[Fred Arnold]

64" x 4 1/4" x 2 1/8" large end and 5" x 1 1/2" small end.  Just cut today and this is the second section from the trunk end. I ended up with 4 from the trunk and think I can squeeze 1 more. This section produced 3 fantastic looking staves and also ended up with very good possibilities from section #3 and one 2 1/2" diameter branch that measures 80+.

The Koperski tree is named after my neighbors 1 mile west of me. When I moved up here I did';t know anyone and they stepped up to the plate and showed me their kindness. A man couldn't ask for better Friends.

This stave after it's worked it's magic is going to be a Christmas present  for daughter Amy. So I'm going to need some help.

I'm figuring a 35#@ 25 should fit her. She's very athletic. Participates in BB, VB, track. She's just a little gal but pretty tough. When her horse threw her last fall and damaged her shoulder she was back on top again before the week was over.

[Del the cat]

Great story, nice lookin bit of timber.
Del

[burchett.donald]

      Is that Black Walnut?

[toomanyknots]

      Is that Black Walnut?

I was thinking that... I did eye that osage in the background,... .

[Fred Arnold]

It is black walnut and the other staves are from a mulberry. I should have taken more pics yesterday but my butt was dragging so I'll snap some more today.

[blackhawk]

Black walnut is my nemesis wood  ....jus sayin ...cus I'm 0 for 2 with it. 

[Fred Arnold]

blackhawk, since you're 0 for 2 and have a lot more experience than this old boy, what can I expect and is there anything in particular I should take into consideration when laying out the bow design?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Long and wide wins the day on wood like walnut.

[blackhawk]

Fred...both were soft in compression,even tho one stave was from pennsylvania and the other from michigan.

Lemme explain what happened to both. And both were long and wide(almost 70" long)and both only tillered to 26".

The first was a stave. I tillered it out perfectly and had 1/4" positive tiller. After two dozen shots the top limb went bannannas and compressed way more than the bottom limb and it turned into 7/8" positive tiller. I then decided to correct it by reducing the bottom limb,and once I had it looking good again,I went and continued to shoot it in again,and low and behold now the bottom limb went bannannas on me. By then it wood have taken off too much weight for me to want it for anything so I said ,eff it.



The second was a hicory backed walnut from an air dried board. I trapped the hickory very narrow,and made the walnut belly wide. Tiller was perfect and I was within reason according to the mass formula(just a tad under target mass,but nothing to worry about). After 50 shots it fretted in one area on the bottom limb. That bow was smokin fast too,I mean fast for my bows.


So my anaylsis so far is its weak compression wood. And I don't want to drag a 70"+ wide paddle bow around. But ,I think I just had some bad luck and maybe not so dense pieces of wood. And I'm not done with it. Ill try it one more time eventually. But,I'm a three strikes and your out person and if it doesn't make it or is just a marginal bow then I won't ever mess with it again. I'm osage n yew rich so why mess with it.

[Fred Arnold]

PD, will 64" be long enough? I can get all the width needed but because of  knots and twist the staves will only produce 64" to 68" in length. I'd like to make at least one for each of my 2 sons and 1 for me and our draw lengths are between 28 and 29 1/2".

Also can I put these inside the building on a rack with the bark on or should I get it off now?

Blackhawk, Your message came in while I was replying to Pearl Drums. Did you heat treat the belly and if not do you know if anyone has had any success with the procedure on walnut?

I'm adding a pick of an end without the sealer on it to see what you guys think.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That high crowned back wont hurt a thing, thats for sure.

[Josh B]

My experiences with walnut are a little different than some.  I have yet to have one hold together  with a high crown when using all heartwood.  Sapwood seems to be a little more forgiving of crown but not much.  As far as heat treating the belly goes, it just makes the wood brittle in my experience.  Josh

[osage outlaw]

That was a sweet little walnut bow you had at the Classic this year Josh.

[Fred Arnold]

So I'm taking that no matter what design used that walnut just isn't deemed by any of you to be good bow making material. Is that right?

[Josh B]

No sir.  You will never hear me say anything to that effect about black walnut.  I absolutely love black walnut as a bow wood.  All I'm saying is that you have to work within its limits.  I guess the same could be said for any bow wood, but you probably get the point.  Black walnut will take a little more set than most woods, however its pretty light and has a pretty low hysteresis level so it will still be quite snappy even with a couple inches of set.  If you want to, you can look up my shorty that I made last fall.  Its in the November bow of the month line up from last year.  That should give you an idea of what walnut is capable of.  That bow is my go to bow for everything and has not lost a bit after thousands of shots.  You have some fine bow wood there sir.  Enjoy it,  Josh