Tough Ring Chasing...

[Christian Soldier]

I've chased rings once an on osage bow but it was pretty straight and with osage, the rings are quite evident between the early and late wood.

Now I'm working on a Black Walnut stave, and the difference between the rings are almost invisible.

How do you guys chase these rings and keep them equal?

[PEARL DRUMS]

Chasing walnut isnt something I would do. Shouldnt have to if the wood was harvested and stored properly.

[Sidewinder]

Pearlies response brings up a question I've never asked. So how do you handle walnut once its cut other than splittiing and sealing the ends which is standard procedure for all wood?   Danny

[PEARL DRUMS]

Just like ALL whitewoods. Cut when the sap is up, peel the bark and cambuim right off in the woods and then seal the back and ends. Wait 6 months and build bows.

[Pappy]

Debark right away if cut in late spring or early summer and there is your back,then seal it. Carefully remove the bark if cut in winter and there is you back,also a good idea to seal it. :)If you are going to use the heart wood I would suggest backing it.
   Pappy

[Sidewinder]

So leaving the sapwood on walnut is a good idea then? Ok. Gotcha, thanks   Danny

[PEARL DRUMS]

Its a great idea to leave whitewood sap/heart wood intact. Never take the sapwood off unless you have to, and I still wouldnt.

[Christian Soldier]

If I left the sapwood on, I wouldn't get the heart wood and the awesome transition appearance.

Plus the TBB 4 (P.54), says that " Bows can be all sapwood, or all heartwood, or mixed, sapwood taking a bit more set in compression. The off white sapwood can be worked down to 25% of limb thckness creating apealing contrast with the almost black belly"

Also "If a thin layer of off white sapwood is left on the back, such bows are not just beautifull, but strikingly beautiful"

So, its been done, and it seems as though that's the recomended approach with BW.
I have a sister stave that I'll probably make from just sapwood but I wanted to try this out and see how it works. I'm thinking about staining the back so the grain comes out so I can see the rings better IDK.

If I just can't get a single layer of white sapwood, I'll just work down all the way to the heartwood, which is easily seen in stark contrasts to the heart wood.
 

[PEARL DRUMS]

You may want to check into the species of wood they are referring to. My guess is yew, osage or locust.

[turtle]

I have no experience chasing rings on walnut but i remembet seeing a post that said to work in realy good light and keep wiping with a wet rag to make the rings more visable.

Pearl.....the quote from TTB 4 is about black walnut.

[Christian Soldier]

That's what I thought the first time I read it too but I'm 100% postive they are talking about BW.

The rest of the 2nd quote from page 55 is: "Black walnut is an all-round near perfect wood for midweight bows. It's espicially attractive and works even more easily than yew. It can yield chrachter bows with the best of the,. back and belly, as shown above. Due to its low SG, normal dimension outer limbs release with a pleasent absence of hand shock. If a thin layer of sapwood is left on the back, such bows are not only beautifull, but strikingly beautiful."


This is my first BW bow and I owe the majority of what I know to others. I'm pretty commited now to chaing rings. Your insight is appreciated, I'll do that with my next bow, but if you specifically have any advice for chasing rings that are difficult to see, it would be fantastic.

Thanks guys. 

Edit: Thanks turtle, I'll try the rag thing today. 

[k-hat]

Someone else on here would rub some stain on the bow as they worked it to see the rings better, so you're on the right track as far as that goes (just watch the fumes )

[PEARL DRUMS]

The anlge of the light hitting the back can make all the difference. Move the stave around in your work area until you find the best light.

[simson]

Pearlie is right! the right light makes enormous difference

[tom sawyer]

Black walnut is semi-ring porous which means there isn't a nice spring ring to locate the edge of an annual ring.  This makes it really difficult to see rings to chase.

On top of that from what I've seen the heartwood isn't delineated by a particular ring, its more like the purplish brown "dye" diffuses out from the center of the log.

For this reason I've only ever (1) made a BW bow using sapwood as back, in which case you only get heartwood in the handle, or (2) used heartwood and backed it with hickory.