bin it or worth a go. twisted elderberry

[danny f]

hi, i took the dog out tonight and i was planning to cut a large elderberry tree which was about 6-7" diameter and looks  pretty straight fro about 8ft , but i couldnt get through it with the saw i had,  so i cut this as i  thought it maybe worth a go. i got it home and split it straight away,  and it split doing almost a full circle round the stave. it is only 47" long and there are 4 sets of growths down the stave, should i just scrap it or is it worth a shot. the growths bother me more than the twist as im not sure how i would chase a ring with  them there. what do you think.

[TacticalFate]

Make it into a corkscrew for a giant bottle of wine

[twilightandmist]

does it twist completely around?

[RyanY]

If you can make a bow out of that you deserve a medal. 

[danny f]

yes pretty much. the bark looked like it was straight i didnt expect it to split like this thats for sure.

[danny f]

If you can make a bow out of that you deserve a medal. 

i dont think i will be getting any medals lol.

[dwardo]

Looks just like the last bit of elder i split to make a bow. Wouldnt mind but it doesnt even burn that well 
Makes good pipes, flutes and whistles though

[danny f]

Looks just like the last bit of elder i split to make a bow. Wouldnt mind but it doesnt even burn that well 
Makes good pipes, flutes and whistles though

so its a common thing with elder then. i think the smoke is toxic when burned so its not looking to good eh. i will cut the other tree down and see how that one splits and if that does the same i will call it a day lol.

[Zion]

I would chop down each split until i got a pretty good back/belly, then splice them. it's hard to deal with a full log of twist, but half of that would be no problem if you spliced em.

[Bryce]

Would take too much heat (wet or dry) to twist into something workable, the wood cells would be too far damaged IMO.

[Jodocus]

Oh boy...

 

Good splitting Job, though 

[sleek]

I am willing to make a bet that I can make a bow from both, for a total of two different bows, using two different techniques.... one for each bow. Send em this way, and I will be sending you back two bows, so long as the twist is even all the way around. I will even let you have and keep the bows, just send me the staves to have a go at it please! I bet nobody ever finds staves like that again.... Wow, what an opportunity!

[danny f]

hi sleek where abouts are you you? im in the uk. if the postage is not too expensive i will post them to you. they were only cut on the day of the post so they would need seasoning

[Del the cat]

If you wanted to be really bold and experimental, you could try it by having the grip with the cross section of the log like 'D' and then one limb with the bark on the back and t'other with the bark on the belly.
Totally mad of course, but it would be heck a talking point.
Del
(I'm in the UK, where abouts are you? If you are close enough, I'd take it off you hands if you want )

[sleek]

 Del, thats not mad, that was one of the two ways I had planned on doing it. The thinking being the twist would form the handle and fades, one limb would be as if a normal stave, the other as if a perfect board bow.

 The other way I was going to do it was take wood only off on the right hand side of the upper limb and only on the left on the lower to form the profile of a normal looking bow with a D section handle. The limbs would have a beautiful elliptical frontal profile. That would violate the grain on one side of the bow, but who cares, that happens when you taper the limbs anyway. You can actually build a normal bow from those two staves.

The worst part is the length, I am thinking 24-25 inch draw at a low weight, 30-40 lbs max is the most it could take because we cant do a bendy handle.


BWWAAAHAHAHAHA Twisted Sister Bows!!!!!!!!!!

I live in the states, in Tulsa Oklahoma. For a challenge like that, I would be willing to pay shipping. What would be fun is if Del took one and I the other and compare the bows when done. I would send the bow back to the UK when done. I dont mind paying shipping, but it will have to wait untill after January. What do you say Del, would you wanna do something like that?