Witch Hazel questions

[vtbow]

In searching around I found a witch hazel trunk I cut last winter -- it was in the way of a dead ash I was taking down for firewood. Suddenly now, everything I see in the woods I start wondering if it would make a good bow!

This piece is 3" diameter at the small end and 9 feet long. It's in perfect shape and I was easily able to slice the bark sliding along with my hachet blade. The wood is perfectly sound under, and looks like just cut. Is this something I could turn into a bow, even though a little curvy, and only 3" dia.?

How would I prepare it for drying -- just peel the bark and seal the ends, and put it away? Is this considered a white wood, or do you treat it like a heart wood type and chase a ring when you make a bow from it?

Sorry to ask so many newbie questions, but this has just created a new interest in all the wood I'm surrounded by, now. Just totally curious!

[Pat B]

I don't think witch hazel is good bow wood but I've never tried it. It is not the same as hazel(hazelnut) which is good bow wood.

[MWirwicki]

I tried it.  It was good until I went for the last inch, then it broke.  It was very light.  I was very careful in tillering since it is a whitewood, however I still don't think it would have lasted if it had survived.  Mine was a bit too short. My advise would be to make it longer than you might normally do.  Think, English longbow long....

I wouldn't totally give up on it.  It's a good experience for any level of bow builder.  Just keep it long.

[mikekeswick]

Are you sure it's wych hazel - Hamamelis virginiana or is it normal hazel - Corylus avellana?

[vtbow]

Thanks Pat. May try it as a novelty anyway.

Thanks Matt, will try that.

I'm sure it is Mike. Typcal more rounded lobed leaf shape and winter flowering, etc. There's one right outside my bedroom window. I was a professional tree climber/groundskeeper in my foolish youth, so I know trees pretty well.

I have hazelnut here, too, but very small shrub generally. chipmunks love the weird shaped winged nuts on that. Both grow near each other -- the witchhazel generally much bigger and closer to water.

I looked hard before finding specs on witchhazel wood  -- here they are for what it's worth:

Hamamelis virginiana (dry specs)
Specific gravity .61
Hardness  1530 lbf
Modulus of Rupture 15,200 lbf/in2
Modulus of Elasticity  1,46,000 lbf/in2
Compression Parallel  6740 lbf/in2
Compression Perpendicular 1370 lbf/in2
WorkMaxLload 21.0 in-lbf/in3

[PEARL DRUMS]

I cut some, but never gave it a chance. I didn't like the feel, didn't like the weight and didn't like the grain. So it was cut up and burned. All the things I assumed, Matt confirmed with his findings.

[vtbow]

Doesn't sound very promising, then!

Here's a pic to confirm the difference in case it is useful to anyone -- both wet as it's raining now. Generally the witchhazel on the left is a slightly shinier leaf than the hazel nut on the right:

[vtbow]

After a little online research, it looks like what we've got here on this land is Beaked Hazelnut, not  American Hazelnut, which grows larger

[mikekeswick]

Witch hazel it is then! I've never used it so have no idea how it will work out as bow wood 

[wapiti1997]

I have never seen a with hazel that was bigger than any hazelnut I know of.  Almost looks like an alder to me from the trunk, but I've never seen a with hazel bigger than a quarter in diameter.

[Pat B]

The branch on the left is witch hazel. One way to tell is the leaf's uneven base where the stem comes in. One side is above the other.
 We have witch hazel here that is up to 3" to 4" in diameter. Hamamelis virginiana is a tree type witch hazel and H. vernalis id a shrub type.