Realistically, how much heli twist can you heat out of elder?

[stuckinthemud]

I have a pair of elder staves with severe heli twist. The twist is grown not caused by stress in drying. The twist is 270 degrees in a 60 inch length. My instinct is that elder makes  great firewood but before I cut it up I just wanna make sure

[Eric Krewson]

Too much to fool with in one stave and probably too much to cut a billet out of each stave and splice them together opposing to alleviate some of the twist and possibly get them to the point they could be straightened. I have done this a number of times with osage billets but none that were as severely twisted as yours.

[Jim Davis]

If your elder is like our elder I grind it up and make compost out of it. Not an insult, but our elder is awfully soft.

[George Tsoukalas]

I agree with these august gentlemen. Jawge

[bownarra]

Well our elder is pretty darn hard and makes a great bow. A little brash in tension but it does make a great bow.
however I'd look for a straight piece

[Stickhead]

You guys are talking about box elder, not elderberry, right?

[bownarra]

Sambucas Nigra
It can also be used for hornbow cores but don't eat raw berries;)