Bow Wood - From An Arborist' Perspective

[bjrogg]

Limbwalker, welcome to PA. Thank you for sharing your insight and observations. I'm sure we're going to see some nice bows from you in the future. I really find bow making relaxing also. I've always enjoyed making stuff. Making a bow and arrows is somehow different though. For me it becomes a close relationship with the stave and it's like bringing it a new life. I think your gonna like it here
Bjrogg

[Pat B]

Welcome to PA, Limbwalker. Your knowledge of trees is welcomed here and it will be good to have an "expert" in our midst. We all try to ID trees others have found on their search for good bow wood. I'm pretty good at ID-ing trees as are a few others here but now we have our own resident tree expert.
 Looking forward to seeing some of your bow work. 

[Springbuck]

Limbwalker, (BTW, I almost named my business "Limbwalker Tree Service", but went with "Neighborhood Tree Service".  I absolutely believe tree work helps you understand wood and trees.  What you do is dynamic, where most wood uses are static or nearly so (like in construction).  You know a lot about reaction wood, what weight distribution and tension do, how and why things break, what a vertically growing vs horizontal or diagonal limb does.  I learned specifically how these things affact how wood warps as it dries, what lopsided growth rings and oval cross sections mean, how to split certain woods, which carry spiral grain, etc..   It has helped me.

If we find red mulberries around here, someone put them here.  Same with most of the yard trees that then go wild. Even the American native thorny plum is an import into the Mountain West.  And BL, etc.  My choice of species for bows would be pretty limited here if I didn't work on domestic trees.

I'm jealous of the osage.  Haven't found any more I could possibly get to after they cleared that ditch row.  I did the same thing about just claiming wood once when they cleared a HUGE lot in the middle of of a suburb for development.  They bulldozed HUNDREDS of black locusts, elms, and scrub oaks into a pile, some 28" diameter trunks.  I just walked up and informed the guysdoing the grading I was going to take some wood from the pile, in my "official-looking "dump truck, walked up with my Husky 372, and walked off 3 hours later with more than I could ever work.

[Limbwalker]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I'm looking forward to all the ways you all can help me and if there is anything I can do for someone else. Thanks Onebow, that makes sense to me. I was hoping it might work, I have never done a Z or W joint. I will look into how to set prepare the wood for the joint. Is hunting weight #50 and up? Out of that old log I split last night I got two pieces out of in 3' long. I'm going to try to join them and make a 64" bow. It will be good practice anyway, probably screw it up. If I succeed, I was going to add a thin bamboo back.the grain is very twisted on the pieces. Thanks again for your help and information.

Thanks springbuck, that's great you got all that wood. I really like messing with black locust so far. I hope in the future to make some good bows from that wood. I need a technique for splitting twisted grain on wood that is straight. I've just been winging it, do you have any tips on getting a better split on that? Osage and black locust have been the most twisted for me. That's good you get get to work on domestic trees, I bet you run into all kinds of wood. Is it very humid in Uatah I would image not too much, but never know. Man you got a dump truck, I wish I had one. Must be nice hauling logs or anything for that matter. It's too bad I wasn't into this before, I think about all the great bow wood that I put through a chipper. You mentioned Plum, I can remember chipping many potential plum staves. Ignorance on my part. You mentioned Husky's, they are my chainsaw of choice. For me, you can't beat them. Stihl makes a great saw and their climbing saws are a bit more powerful than the huskys, but I still would take a husky. One pull, winter, summer doesn't matter. I'll use anything though, I've got a little Poulenc that works well. I have an old 44 Stilhl, it's a beast, love that one. I guess you don't run into Osage too often out there? I don't like buying wood since I'm around it all the time, but if I had to I would. I'm happy to any wood I have or get. Do you run into Hickory? Black locust is by far the easiest wood for me to get, it's absolutely everywhere.

Thanks Pat B and Bjrogg.

[Hawkdancer]

Limbwalker,
Welcome aboard. I just refreshed a lot of knowledge about trees and wood that went dormant over the years, a very healthy discourse from everyone with a lot of regional knowledge.  Personally, I will have to keep my feet on the ground to get my wood, I don't bounce very well anymore😀😢.  Ok, so I am just reentering the primitive skills as far as bows are concerned, but I believe you got to learn something new every day or refresh 2 things you have let go stale.  This site is great for that - Thanks to all who contribute!
Hawkdancer

[Pat B]

Straight trees that grow in a twist will always follow the grain and twist when split. Best to leave them for the woodland critters and find untwisted trees for bow wood.

[Bob Barnes]

welcome... "MAD Box" is something my students enjoyed when learning tree ID here in Arkansas, but we used it for Maple, Ash, Dogwood... and separated out Boxelder as the fourth species, even though it is a subspecies.   

[gifford]

Bob - subspecies?  Acer negundo boxelder. Aceracea Acer negundo L.

[willie]

Limbwalker-

welcome to the forum and as for spitting techniques, I agree with Pat B in that spiraled grain is best avoided, though it seems like some species split along the grain well, and others seem to have the splits run-out easier as if there is not a strong propensity to follow the grain. Sometimes a straight saw cut down one side of the log or stave helps with further splitting in the latter.

Perhaps your tree experience gives some insight into why you find some trees spiral and others don't. I know that with some species, the spiraling is not evident from the bark, and staves go in the woodpile.

[Limbwalker]

Thanks guys, I split an Osage "log" it was 4.5" by 61" long. It was a little tree I found today. Good straight grain and haven't found any knots yet, have not yet taken sapwood and bark off yet though. There are no indications of knots yet, but I expect something. It has nice thick rings and good late wood. I was confident in the sraightness in the bark so I quartered it and it worked out. The log had a bow shaped profile to it by the way it grew.

My thought was since the grain is straight, straight for Osage anyway that I could take the bow out of the staves. I have read other threads on how to do this and have bent a couple other bows before, but this is the most extreme. Since they are green, I need some help on the best way to do this. I will add a picture just as soon as I figure that out, any and all advice is much appreciated.

Nice one Bob Barnes, didn't know that. Is Boxelder part of the Mulberry species? Thought it was. In any case not a good bow wood. I think I read that English Boxwood makes a decent bow, totally different plant I know.

Hawkdancer, your right about learning. I do my best to keep things agitated in my brain. It's impossible to not let some things slip into the cracks though. You make a good point. I would think the ground is where you want to be for fetching bow wood. I don't hear many people using limbs, but I know it can work. I will hazard a guess; it seems that limbs experience more compression and tension compared to trunk wood, leading to possibly more stored energy in the limbwood, but sometimes I find trucks growing at steep angles chasing the sun. That topic is something I need to find out more about. I'm all about learning. If I'm not working I'm home making something or reading. I miss my farm. After my wife died I couldn't manage it anymore and sold the horses and moved on. I'm not used to not have if something to fix all the time. I'm confident in skills I do have, but that in now way means I know it all, not even close.

. Anyway will post a picture so anyone that wants to can help me out thanks.

[PatM]

Nice one Bob Barnes, didn't know that. Is Boxelder part of the Mulberry species? Thought it was.

 Box Elder is Manitoba Maple.