Eucalyptus anyone?

[kiltedcelt]

So I scored a couple sections of straight-ish eucalyptus from a tree that was cut down at work. One section is about 36" while the other is about 45". I figured at the very least I could split them on the bandsaw and splice or build into takedowns. The tree is in all likelihood Mugga, or Red Ironbark Eucalyptus. I was struck by how HEAVY these two sections of wood were! We're talking INCREDIBLY heavy for the size. I read a little bit on this species and it's listed as one of the few woods that won't float. Anyway, I know some folks have had success with eucalyptus and some haven't. I'm not even sure if I've got Red Ironbark or something else, but the photos on the web showed that the leaves were very similar to the one we cut down, even though this one had a much smaller trunk. The whole tree was only about 30' tall maybe, and it was grown indoors for approximately the 17 years or so of its life span. The thing is, with logs this high-crowned, how would you handle making the bow? Should it be de-crowned, or have the belly scooped out as I've seen with some builds, or perhaps have the split face made into the back and the bark side the belly? How would you build it?

[mikekeswick]

I've never worked with eucalyptus but the crown shouldn't be a problem at all. The vast majority of woods are stronger in tension so a crowned back is generally a good thing. You could try Simpsons hollow belly on the smaller one. De-crowning is only necessary on small diameter tension weak woods.

[Crogacht]

There are lots and lots of kinds of Eucalyptus, apparently some are quite good for bows and some not so much. There's quite a bit of Eucalyptus around here, so I'll be interested to see how you go with it. At the very least, it should smell quite nice

[kiltedcelt]

The slightly larger diameter log is the longer one so if anything I think I'll cut that one right down the middle and splice it since it'll yield up to an 88" blank, so I can have plenty of length to work with to accommodate what the wood is going to give me. If it's a weaker type of eucalyptus it'll benefit from longer, wider, limbs. I don't think I'll make an 88" bow, but I could certainly make one about 72 - 74" long. I'll just have to play around with it and see what happens. Worst that can happen is it breaks right? Best thing that can happen is it'll yield a decent-shooting bow.

[Onebowonder]

These look like they'd be fun to play with, ...lucky you!  Though I've never used Euc, it sounds like it might have good potential.  I particularly like the idea of doing one of Simson's hollow limb design bows.  Might be a way to take good advantage of that high crown issue.

OneBow