Advice following reflection on info from Bowyers bible.

[Caveman_Sam]

I recently split a 6'4 9/10" diameter Ash log into 4 quarters.  They're pretty big, and I could probably get them smaller with some more experience to draw on.  Although the grain runs very straight i'm scared of taking them down any further. 

I was feeling like making only 4 bows out of these 4 rather massive quarters was a waste, but having just learnt about early and late growth from vol1 of the bowyers bible I realise that the middle rings of this quarter would make the best bow.  Due to the high ratio of late growth to early growth in this section of the (rather massive) Stave. 

In an earlier thread i was told to strip bark and use the first layer of wood as the back of the bow, however there are 5 or 6 rather (3/4 to 1.5") large and raised scars of knots on the back from where the tree had branches removed (assumedly numerous times)  These knotty scars have visibly exposed ridges of rings in their own right and I don't have the experience to know how to tackle them.  (i recently tried to 'limb' a piece of practice wood and took the root of the branch (assumedly the knot) out with the branch.

Taking off three of four layers of rings from above and below the target area high in late growth seems to be a good solution, offering the best composition of bow wood and avoiding my knot problem. 

Advice gratefully received cheers fellas! 

[George Tsoukalas]

Can you post pictures of the problem areas? Jawge

[Thesquirrelslinger]

Back it
If you are careful on the knots, would it work? Someone more expecianced please comment.
IMO, if you leave the entire grain of the wood intact, so that it is undamaged, since the wood grain flows around the knots(probably) it should work. Now if you work the back down a few layers, you may find that those knots go pretty deep...

I have done this with an elm stave, but the knots were smaller, evenly spaced, and elm is much stronger in tension.
I don't have a lot of experiance with ash. Locust and Elm are what I use for log staves, RO for boards.

[Buckeye Guy]

Ash splits easy
Split off the top down to were you want to be !
Use thin wedges for thin splits so you don't pry it so hard that you break it out !
Have fun !

[aaron]

i see no problem with your plan, but don't assume there are no knots in the layer you choose- the tree had limbs back then too. good luck!

[Pat B]

My thoughts too, Aaron. You don't know what on the next ring until you expose it.
  Pics will help us help you.

[Caveman_Sam]

Hey hey not sure how to upload photos in imbed them in a post.  Uploaded photos to photo bucket.. 

I hope this helps. 

http://s1328.photobucket.com/user/Caveman_Sam/library/?sort=3&page=1

[Marks]

use the IMG link next time. it will embed it.

[ssgtchad]

 using a machette or ax and a hammer. Cut a guide line down the middle of the stave. Make it about a 1/4" deep then split as normal. I've found that the split will follow the line of weakness...most of the time. Good luck!

[ssgtchad]

As for the knots.....try working around the knot on one of the staves maybe the worst just to get some practice might as well lesrn how to tackle a knot sooner than later, imho

[Caveman_Sam]

Ok so the bowyers bible is telling me to go down to the layers with more late growth.   In a previous post I was advised to make the first layer of wood the back of the bow.  Does your opinion change seeing now that the rings are better in the middle of the stave?

[mikekeswick]

Just take the bark and cambium off and use the outer ring forthe back. There is nothing wrong with those outer rings and little point in chasing. The reason people suggest using the untouched outer ring for the back is because it gives you unbroken fibers from end to end. Where the knots are just be careful and go slowly.

[DarkSoul]

Nothing wrong with those outer rings. Don't overcomplicate things. Remove the bark carefully as to not damage the wood underneath, and there's the back of the bow!

Those knots appear pretty small. Most will be bark bulges. Furthermore, such knots will run from the pith of the tree all the way to the outside. You can't remove them by ring chasing a few rings down. Just deal with them by leaving the bow lay out slightly wider at that point. Remove the entire bark first, and see what wood you're left with.

[Caveman_Sam]

Where ive scraped off the cambium I think I might have damaged the first layer a bit.. :/  ive got varying degrees of roughness (very small chunks taken out of it I guess..) will this be ok if I sand it?

[DarkSoul]

In none of the pictures you've shown, you've scraped away all the bark. I can see where you scraped some bark off, but the majority of the bark is still there. None of the cambium (a very thin layer between the outer bark and the wood) is showing yet. You just didn't scrape through the entire thickness of the bark yet. Did you remove more bark since posting those pics? If so, please post a pic of the area where you think you damaged the first layer a bit.
IF (but I doubt it) you indeed damaged the first layer of wood underneath the bark, that does not necessarily pose a problem. You can indeed sand that nicked area, as long as you stay within that one ring. If you sand through one ring, exposing the next ring underneath it, you might need to chase one ring down the entire stave. But perhaps that nicked area is near the edge of the stave that will fall off once the stave is brought down to final width layout?