Is this correct in terms of chasing a ring.

[TheDukesArchers]

From this picture I can see two types of rings; light coloured thin rings and darker thick rings. I understand If I were to chase one then the very edge of one of the rings is to be the back of the bow. I'd be grateful if someone could take this picture and draw line where the back of the bow should be. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/11/article-2171973-1404C92D000005DC-866_634x425.jpg

[Bogaman]

You want the darker wood as your outer ring. When you get to it, stop removing wood.

[BOWMAN53]

white bad(early growth) dark thick ring is good(late growth ring)

[TheDukesArchers]

So the back of the bow will need to be the very edge of one of the dark rings, or the whole ring itself?

[BOWMAN53]

full thickness of the ring all the way down the back.

[Pat B]

Is that pic pine? Not a good bow wood.

[TheDukesArchers]

It's something I pulled of the internet as an example. So if I was using that wood I'd use the thicker growth rings; and the back would be the very edge of the ring?

[TacticalFate]

The red is where your bow would be, if this was a hardwood like locust, osage, or mulberry.

[SLIMBOB]

The back would be the outermost part of the ring.  You will even have a little early growth residue left to sand off if you do it right.
Some folks hate chasing rings on Osage.  I enjoy it.  There is a feel that you develop for doing it right, and neither I nor anyone else can adequately explain it.  You just have to know what your looking for and dig into them.  After some time you can peel one pretty quickly.  Sight is important but feel is critical as well.

[TheDukesArchers]

From I see the growth rings are round, so if I wanted to make a flat bow I would violate the ring? It seems as if all bows would need a rounded belly if non backing

[SLIMBOB]

The back will be rounded some, the belly flat.  In tacticalFates pic above, the bows back (center) is the 12 o'clock position of the red area.  The belly runs horizontal from 3 to 9 0'clock.

[TheDukesArchers]

So you can never cut into the ring. I think I understand it now. If I did slightly cut through the ring, even a tad, would it not still be the same ring. Looks kind of thick.

[DarkSoul]

A flatbow does not necessarily have a flat back. The name is derived from the flat(tish) cross section, as opposed to a round cross section (=longbow).

Any bow that is made from a (split) stave, will have a round ('crowned') back. The diameter of the tree determines the degree of curvature on the back. A very small diameter tree will have a high crown, and would not make a flatbow if the back was left round. However, it is possible to flatten the crowned back of a tree stave. That would be called a 'decrowned' stave. Decrowning is much like ring chasing, except you don't follow one ring across the width of the bow, but you follow a few, so the back will become flat. A board is always sawn flat. So a board bow will by default have a flat back (but it can still make a longbow).

Buy or borrow the book The Traditional Bowyer's Bilble Vol. 1. It will make everything crystal clear to you. Much more so than we can explain in a few replies here.

[SLIMBOB]

Yes, it will be the same ring, and a thick ring is easier to chase because of that.  Still, the outermost part is the strongest part so don't cut into it.  Go slow and be cautious as you near the rings boundary.

[PatM]

Note that many trees are not actually round but oval or even flattened on one side. The pic above could have flatter backed staves by choosing the right or left side.