ash stave and its rings

[luke the drifter]

i have this exceptional ash stave.  the rings are fairly small to medium and very evenly spaced.  the rings run perfectly the entire length.  the only fault that i see is a hump off-center from the handle section.  i do not see any evidence of a knot in that area.  i theorize that it was caused from a knot pushing from the other side of the log(?).  i am not computer literate enough to provide an image.  i will eventually find out how.  my question is this-- the second ring(from the back of the stave) that runs the entire length of the stave has a darker color than the rest of the rings,  is this of any concern and/or should i chase that ring anyway?  i promise i will learn how to provide images to support my questions.  i am really excited about this stave and look forward to making a decent warbow out of it or if that does not pan out, a good ELB.

[tombo]

Luke, The lump may be from a small knot from an early twig that didn't last the winter, then had a few years growth over it. I'd be surprised if it was from the other side of the stave.   Tom

[Pat B]

I would investigate the discoloration. Is it near the lump?

[luke the drifter]

the discoloration is all the way down the stave.  the ring above is not discolored nor the rest of the rings on the staves.  this may not be anything but like you said i am going to investigate a little more before i really get to working it down.   

[Del the cat]

I have some doubts about Ash for ELBs, first ELB I made was English Elm (60 lb draw weight @28"), I thought it was great...until I made a Yew one, The Elm chrysaled on the belly and was dull compared to the Yew....I suspect Ash would be similar.
Go for it, but make it long and maybe a tad wider and not so deep a D as you would with Yew.
I've made a couple a short Ash bows with a flat profile which I pushed to the limit, the failure mode was chrysals on the belly, so I think Ash is better in tension than compresion and thus not suited to a deep arched longbow cross-section.
Of course I could be talking out of my rear end.
Hope it turns out good, I don't mean to be a missery guts....
Del