american hornbeam

[rkeltner]

i recently came across some hornbeam which split wonderfully. (two 7 ft sections that split into four perfectly straight staves) my question, problem, dilema... is getting the bark off this stuff. normally i just use my draw knife, but with the contours of the surface of this wood, plus the fact it acts like it is glued on. thus far, the most effective de barking method has been a scraper. very tedious!

[blackhawk]

Have fun scraping...been there done that with musclewood,and I have made a bow from it. Next time I cut some it'll be in spring/summer when the saps up and the bark slips off,and only cut stuff that isn't too muscley looking under the bark. After thousands upon thousands of shots mine eventually developed small tiny tension cracks along the high ridges,the bow never failed n I shot it after I saw them,but I have since retired it.

[rkeltner]

had a feeling that would be the answer. it has me getting ready to make a modification to one of my scrapers. a bolted on handle to keep the scaper at 90 degrees and add to the controlability of the scraper!

[blackhawk]

What you need is a gooseneck scraper or a scraper that has a radius on it so you can more easily scrape inside the valleys n humps n bumps

[rkeltner]

i make my own scrapers from industrial hacksaw blades, so i'll make or modify as needed!