Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Jakesnyder on November 10, 2019, 11:48:22 am
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It's not seasoned yet but I chased a ring and found this blackish color in the wood. Is it bad or will it be just fine?
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yes I have seen it,, but I cant remember if it had an adverse effect,, :NN
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Ifit were Elm or Pecan I would say it had some bacterial decay happening. Black Locust...not sure, might be normal for it.
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Also thick rings on bl anyone have any experience? Does it matter?
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How many rings have you removed? Is the discoloration throughout the stave? You might take a sample of the wood, season it and do a bend test to see if it has adversely affected the wood as far as bow making. We have lots of BL here where I live but I don't harvest it for bow wood. Even though locust is decay resistant the local locust has a problem with the early wood deteriorating causing delamination between the rings. It still makes long lasting fence posts it's just worth trying to make bows with it.
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I 've seen it in BL and osage. No negative effects.
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When was it cut? How long did the log or stave sit with the bark on, outside, inside, in the weather, etc.? How, precisely, was it cared for from the time the tree was dropped? Is there any bug damage? Any other signs of degradation? Did you remove the bark? If so, when? Give us some history please.
Black locust is rot and bug resistant, but it isn't rot or bug proof. And the sapwood is less impervious than the heartwood. Some discoloration of the sapwood may or may not be indicative of the heartwood's condition, so it might, MIGHT be ok.
I just went through 5 logs of black locust that I cut about 4 years ago. I left them outside on a limestone driveway. The bark was loose and fell off. Figured the heartwood would probably be ok. Upon splitting them open, all sapwood was discolored and the heartwood was beginning to rot, with the beginnings of bugs, fungus, and about 70% discoloration. It seemed to follow the natural checks and voids down deeply into each log and spread out from there. Burned It all. I won't attempt a bow with 2nd rate wood.
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I've seen similar color in non seasoned bl hart wood. Always been in the top hartwood rings just below the sap wood. If I recall right its always been in standing dead or wood that has been down and weathered for some time, bark on usually. For me that color would fade rather fast, but I never used that ring, went down a few more rings and had no problems. If its anything like what I have seen, look at the stave from the split side and you can see any more dark rings. I'd suggest to get below that and provided no other problems give it a go.
Mike
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No problem - I've seen it on a couple of staves.
Thick rings don't make any difference.
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Yes, I have seen it in the ring right above the heartwood. It was the sapwood changing to heartwood. Not a problem in my stave. Jawge
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I have seen that on black locust and did not experience any problems from it.