How do you pick a sapling

[Huaco]

I was just wondering... how does one pick a sapling.  What are your criteria?  Species, Diameter, Height, Straight...  What do you look for.

Also, how do you go about shaping down a sapling to bow form?  Hand split, saw split?

[snedeker]

Depends on a few factors like how small a sapling you're after, type of wood etc.   Lets say you're talking about a 3" hickory sapling.  Get a nice straight stem 6' long, cut it and split it.    With an unusual wood, lets say crabapple 3" thick, one might want to kerf cut it with a saw to get the best face for the back. 

Lets say you want a 1.5 inch black locust sapling.  Don't even split it - dry and go right to reducing.

Dave

[Huaco]

Depends on a few factors like how small a sapling you're after, type of wood etc.   Lets say you're talking about a 3" hickory sapling.  Get a nice straight stem 6' long, cut it and split it.    With an unusual wood, lets say crabapple 3" thick, one might want to kerf cut it with a saw to get the best face for the back. 

Lets say you want a 1.5 inch black locust sapling.  Don't even split it - dry and go right to reducing.

Dave

So, is the back of the bow, the first ring past the bark?

[Papa Matt]

Dave's right. Just decide what wood you want to work with, and go look for a nice straight sapling with as few knots as possible. Then do like he said according to size.

~Papa Matt

[Hillbilly]

Another thing to check for is that the lines in the bark don't spiral around the tree-this usually an indication that the grain spirals, too. Good species for sapling bows include hickory, elm, white ash, some maples, white oak, many more depending on where you're at.

[snedeker]

On a pretty small sapling or branch, the surface just under bark is the back, even with heartwood types such as osage and locust.  I'm working on an osage branch that Matt Simpson gave me that will be all sapwood.

Dave