50" length of ash board ???

[danny f]

hi there i have picked up a nice ash board that could give me 4 nice bows if i splice one. but there is an off-cut that that could probably give me a fifth bow. it is 50" long by 2" wide and an inch thick, the grain is very good (i think)the ring i have marked runs off at 14" from one end, i wouldnt chase a ring i would leave it as a board and maybe back it if i have to. i was just wondering what type of bow would suit this piece and what draw length? and weight would be possible.  i like the idea of building a short bow so will attempt this one first. cheers for any advice.

[adb]

I think you're pretty optomistic thinking you'll get 4-5 bows outta that board. 2 maybe. 50" is very short, unless you leave it wide.

[blackhawk]

I'd be real tempted to chase a ring and turn it back into what it should be.  if not I think you better back it with something.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Since ash needs to be wide, especially at 50" long. I would say you will pushing it to get one bow out of it. You cant split it and make one longbow, 1" is way too narrow for ash most often. Save it until you find another suitable board and make a full length spliced bow. It has nice grain. It would be a shame to waste it trying to get more out of it than it has to offer you.

[danny f]

sorry this board is just the 50" by 2" offcut,  the board i got was 10ft long and 6.5" wide. i got 3 at 68" by 2" and 3 50" lengths this is the centre piece with the best grain the other 2,  50" pieces will be spliced to make one more longer bow. but i want to try a short bow first but dont know what ash will take and what dimensions to make it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That makes more sense....I was wondering what in the heck you where thinking!

[danny f]

i havent chased a ring yet so would be abit nervous of ruining the stave but if i feel brave i might attempt it. would love to get a bow from this piece i dont mind backing it if i have to but i would prefer the natural grain of the wood  if i could get away with it..

[George Tsoukalas]

If you look at the side grain, by the time you chase a ring you won't have any wood left for a bow. The grain is all over the place on the face of the board. You'd have to give it a linen backing or even rawhide. I'd take that back or try to make arrows from it. There's board info on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/shafts.html

[sleek]

I would splice it into another piece to get a longer bow. I dont think the grain is so bad, especially if you put the worst of the grain at the tips where stresses are least and do a tip overlay to strengthen it. Then I would go for around 45 lbs of draw at whatever length you wanted. Just, when you cut the board to make the splice, be sure to make the part that is scrap the part with the worst grain.  As is it would make a real nice kids bow around 20-25 lbs @ 24 inches of draw. Still leave it kinda wide though, ash likes being fat, it hates narrow profiles.

[killir duck]

sinew back it and you could probably get at least 40-45# and 24" i would go about 1 3/4" wide with a slightly narrowed but still bending handle and flip the tips a  little bit

[danny f]

cheers everyone. i have drawn a line from the best ring on both ends and it swerves badly at one end. the 10ft board was straight all the way up till this point. so at least the 68" bows will have good grain. i just thought it would be nice to get a bow from this end too. i will probably have a go at something with it and and back it, i 4 more bows from the wood if this one fails so nothing lost really. heres a pic of how the wood was cut when i bought it im not familiar with the different cuts so if anyone knows? thanks for the advice.

[RyanY]

At that short and with the squirrely grain at the end I probably wouldn't back it. If you really want to get a bow out of it I'd cut off those 14" at the end, chase the ring, and make a native american style bow of a fairly light draw weight. That would leave you with a 36" bow so maybe go for 25#@17". Could make a nice crossbow prod too! 

[blackhawk]

You have a plain sawn board ...bias ringed looks like this ///,and quarter sawn or edge ring will look like this lll . When looking for boards for selfbows and even backed bows I prefer bias or quarter sawn

[danny f]

thanks for telling me the different cuts the only one i knew was edge grained as my first 2 bow were that. i have measured the grain run off and one side runs off at 38" and the other side at 41" so i might cut it off there and try to chase a ring and maybe do a kids bow for the little lad or try a native type bow. if nothing else it will be practice chasing rings lol.

[George Tsoukalas]

Danny, it doesn't matter what kind of board it is-1/4 sawn, rift sawn or plain sawn. Since it is plain sawn the issue is the islands of wood on the face of the board which may pull up a splinter. With a good backing, as I mentioned previously, it may be ok. Bit I would have left that board there. Jawge