How's this setup?

[Bryce]

Dmenzies, I figured you'd leave it but now you know lol. The bark will crack if it was harvested in the growing season, the back will not check. If dried slowly you have a better chance of the bark staying adhered. And when hit with steel wool makes a beautiful back.
P.S. your box is about 20deg. Too warm IMHO
OS when dry won't take much set if any. And it's a good idea to heat treat for added performance


Guess, yes always seal the ends. I use glue bc it's a nice thick substance. As for the bark being left on it depends on the species. With ash I THINK it's safe to remove the bark and seal the ends and back.

-Pinecone

[snag]

What I want to know is where in the world did you find ocean spray that BIG?!!! Wow, hope that seasons well for you. It will one tough bow. All the ocean spray I have found is "arrow diameter".

[Bryce]

It's all over the place, like Vinemaple and cascara it's pretty much a weed. I choose stalks that are and 1 1/4" at one end and 3/4"-1" on the other. Easily makes a hunting weight weapon.
The largest ive ever seen OS was 3" I. Diameter.

[sharpend60]

Keep looking Snag.

They do exist!
I have many myself, with out checks... I put glue on the ends and left em be for a year or so now.

[ionicmuffin]

really washington is full of great wood! i havent seen any ocean spray or vine maple. but ive seen that you can make a decent bow from scotch broom! and since the stuff grows EVERYWHERE i think its worth a try. my friend says he has several 4 inch diameter scotch broom that he doesnt need(why would he need it?!) so ill be getting plenty of that too.

[dmenzies1950]

Hey Snag,
When I first moved here from Montana, I couldn't find any. I was expecting to find little stuff like we had in Montana. When I finally found it, it was along a stream that I drove by every day on the way to work. The stuff had obviously been growing there since the highway was built and no one had touched it. Everyone one looks at it as annoying brush. I was looking past it. There is some big stuff there. Some is more than 3 inches in diameter so it is some nice stuff. Most of it is reflexed already.
Where do you live Snag? Dale

[Bryce]

Muffin if you can't find Vinemaple then you might want to see the eye doctor lol
Scotch broom does make a nice bow. But needs to be spliced together.

[ionicmuffin]

I swear everywhere i look i see these giant Big leaf maple trees, ive seen one vine maple i think. its at my friends house and its a decoration... so i cant have it. I suppose when i go hunting for VM i should put my contacts in, might help a bit. Ill find some eventually, it will take some time though. hopefully not too long. Why does scotch broom have to be spliced? cant it make a nice self bow?

[sharpend60]

Scotch broom doesnt usually grow big enough. You need to cut billets.
Big leaf maple and vine maple grow in the same habitat.

OS and vine maple are often found near each other, in the understory beneath Big Leaf Maple.
OS likes a bit more sun. Vine maple leans and has grey or green bark, very distinct.

Vine Maple is my favorite. I might even like it better than OS...

[randman]

Ionic, if you're anywhere near the Gifford Pinchot, Vine maple is all over there but OS is scarce in there (but it's there). Another that's all around the Vine Maple is our native Hazel (no nuts).  I've found OS covering the hillsides in all of the Seattle parks and if you drive along I-90 you will see those white plumes all along the edge where the woods meet the cleared area for the highway. Once you recognize that plume, you'll see it everywhere even in the winter when there are no leaves on it). OS is also all over on the east side of the ridge of Snoqualmie pass (Lake Kachess area). I can testify that Scotch broom makes a great bow and it's everywhere in my area. I've pretty much learned to tiller and practiced a lot on Scotch Broom. I have a few short plains style gullwings from it and I have longer pieces so you can find longer bow size pieces. I haven't yet had to splice SB but I do have some billet size pieces ready to be spliced (just haven't done it yet).

[Bryce]

Scotch broom doesnt usually grow big enough. You need to cut billets.

Exactly

[ionicmuffin]

Like i said, my friend has 20+ acres of land, much of it is scotch broom and fir/pine trees, many huge maples, im sure he has vine maple and maybe even ocean spray. I live in the kitsap area, bremerton, port orchard, silverdale, ect. im sure ill find it eventually i just havent been searching as hard as i could have.  Anyway, his scotch broom is 4 inch diameter and about 5-7 ft for those pieces, its really amazing when its just left there for years.

[Bryce]

I get all my bow wood from my back yard which is also 20+ acres. Filled with alder, cedar, firs ect. Zero big leaf maple. But 90% of the wood on the plot is Vinemaple. And the creek that flows through is surrounded by OS (not saying that it only grows near water source, I've found in on top of dry mountains ) I've collected tons of staves as I needed them never taking more than 6 a year. And I haven't even made a dent in the VM population, and only cutting wood I KNOW will make a bow.

SIDE NOTE: i've seen some ppl just cut and cut and cut, and maybe getting 1 usable bow. Makes me sick.
So please gentlemen when cutting be conservative.

Ionic. Find a logging road (with the proper permits) head up a bit park it and look 2' of the road you'll see the OS and VM I promise
But if your friend has that much land, he for sure has both growing there.

And if yah still can't find any. Come on down and we'll have a VM scavenger hunt.

-Pinecone

[ionicmuffin]

ill have my friend go out and see if he can get anything, maybe he has a ton of it! if he does i am definitely going to ask him to let me have a day trip to cut what i need. More than likely there will be several bows available.

[Zion]

Snag, i found this great place by a lake, (but in the dry mountains,) where i get all my OS. Ha, there's probably miles of it, and in this one place an old road cuts through a huge forest of it, with nice big pieces on either side. It's a really nice place to be 

What i've found, though, is that the bigger OS i've seen grows on hills. Maybe it's my imagination. I actually don't have any bow wood growing on my property which sucks, but i can always get it off other peoples land 

Muffin, you do need to go to doctor, VM grows EVERYWHERE in washington!