Where do you guys get your staves?

[Shiloh]

I didn't feel like cluttering up the boards with another thread, and this seemed like a simple enough question that I felt it would probably fit here. The vine maple I was hoping to cut at a friend's property is about 5" in diameter; do you folks think it would be better to split it with axe/wedge or saw it?

[Weylin]

I'd only split/saw it if you're sure that there are two bows in a particular log. From what I've seen it's a rare piece of vine maple that has two bows in it. Most of the time people use the tension side and discard the bottom side and make one bow from a "log". Pictures might help if there are some that you're not sure about. Most vine maple grows at an angle and the part of the trunk that faces the sky is the 'tension' side and that is what is usually used.

[mullet]

Get in touch with Brian Melton about cutting wood in Washington. He get's permits from the forestry people, I think.

[vinemaplebows]

Thanks Eddie. Yes, I know lots of people that are local here and can give permits....yew is a different story, it really is about who you talk to, and how they "feel" about you personally. You should always come across as a person with a legit "hobby" not for business purposes.... Find local cabinet shops, some of the larger ones will set bundles out in their lots that are garbage to them, but perfect sized for bow making. I just picked up abiout $500 worth of black walnut some with figure...


VMB

[Shiloh]

Thanks everyone, I'll probably just play it safe and go for one bow out of the bigger one, plus I'll see if I can de-crown some of the smaller ones.

mullet- I really appreciate it, I'll see if I can get in touch with him sometime soon. 

Weylin- I'm probably mistaken, but why the tension/upper side of the log versus the lower/bottom? I heard something about gravity naturally pulling the wood fibers closer together on the bottom/underside of the log, making for better fibers and grain pattern, but that was quite a while ago.

[Weylin]

There are people who know more about this than I but as far as i understand Vine maple grows under incredible tension because of the angles that it grows in. The shining quality of vine maple as a bow wood is it's tension strength. The wood on top of the limb/trunk is doing all the tension work for the life of the tree and is thus better suited to be the back of the bow.

[Lemos]

I'm going in with Weylin on this one, its my understanding that the bottom side or the side of vine maple closest to the ground is undesirable  its the top half or tension wood that strains and pulls to hold the tree up or in the case of vine maple horizontal to the ground. The first time I cut a piece I went out and found a piece so straight and horizontal to the ground that I knew it would make a powerful bow, when I split out a stave it was as if some invisible force peeled off the stave for me reaction wood I later learned it was called, well while drying that stave curled in to a backward C which since I wasn't any where near ready to tackle experience wise now resides in my shed waiting for me to gather more skills.

[vinemaplebows]

Not all vine maple grows under tension, I look for tension neutral wood, it generally grows straight up with no leaning.

VMB

[Shiloh]

Ahhh, that makes more sense now. Thanks, all.

vinemaplebows- The stuff I have access to is all pretty "leany" if you want to put it that way.