Learning! Sassafras

[Ahnlaashock]

Well, so far I have created the worlds smoothest bow that has almost no poundage, but throws a light arrow pretty good.  I shortened it and then broke a limb trying to re-curve it using techniques from another activity.  I was about to go back and buy that nice board from the big box store to start over. 
Instead, I started going through the pages of messages here.   I don't have a sapling of Osage or Yew.  Heck, I don't even have a locust tree to cut!   So I read some more.  Someone started talking about Sassafras as a bow wood.  Bingo!   I have a stand of 30 foot tall sassafras 300 feet from the front door! 
I cut one about 6 inches and  usable for about 14 feet long a few minutes ago.  Since the stand is so thick and brush choked, the saplings have to grow straight up.  If it makes a good bow wood, I have a steady supply of stave's to keep me busy!  There are a dozen 8 to 10 inch trees 30 foot tall and mostly as straight as trees come! 
I am not sure about the drying requirements, but I have started removing the bark and it comes off in large strips quite easily while it is still as wet as it is.  I am going to strip the bark and then split it in half to dry it.   What are the requirements for handling Sassafras?   
I would never have guessed it was a bow wood since the smaller trees dry very light.  I have never really messed with the heart wood on a larger trunk before. 
I am hoping the heartwood drys a lot heavier than the sapwood does!  The only uses for sassafras I knew of were the tea from the roots, light strong lodgepoles, and very light small game arrow shafts that get very hard if heated.   With the pith center on the small arrow sized saplings,  they are easy to split into quarters for a short distance and then to use a leather cord thong to run between them and wrap the base of the four tips holding them slightly open.   Heat treat and cut barbs into each of the four "tips", and you have one of the best small game/small fish arrows there is.  We used to make them when we were  kids to shoot squirrels and such with our FG stick bows.  If you ever get the chance to shoot a big ground hog with one off a 40 pound stick at close range , you will not like the result, especially if you are both in the same room in the barn, and you are between him and the open!  Squirrels and such but nothing bigger!  One of those treasured childhood memories that had witnesses that saw me levitate for a few seconds there!
Anyway, back to the topic!  Does anyone have enough experience handling Sassafras to have pretty good instructions on how to handle it, and what are the biggest problems are with it?    Is it better to split it, take the bark off, and then clamp it into a form to dry, or is it better to dry it before attempting to do any bending or anything? Is it better to use the flat center split as the back and then back it with something, or do you use the hump on the back?  I am assuming the sapwood gets removed, but I could be wrong on that also. 
Okay, I jumped into the deep end of the pool.  Who is the sassafras lifeguard!
Thanks in advance for any help offered!

[TRACY]

Seal the ends and back if you're removing the bark. Of the ones that didn't blow, they were extremely low poundage and built extra wide/long. If I were to use it again, I would back it with linen or something. Just my opinion.

Tracy

[smokeu]

Not sure about sassafrass but do you have any hickory or hophornbeam aka ironwood. You just split and seal  the ends and back if you like.. clamp to a form and thats it. Or at least the advice i am taking now of course.  The back of the bow is just beneath the bark. So you eliminate the chore of ring chasing on your first bows.

Best of luck with the sass though... Ive found you just have to use whats availible sometimes.

Mike

[Ahnlaashock]

Well, I continue to learn!  I am waiting to win one here! 
The bark came off easily with two hands and a skinner blade.  The pole looked good.  I squared the end and cut a center cut to start the wedge.  It splits easier than anything I think.   I split a 155 inch stave with an ax head and a 2 pound ball peen hammer in a couple of minutes.  I would have been better off cutting it in half!  The split walked about 40 degrees around the stave and then split out the side near the small end.  I went to the other end and started to split the rest off.  When the sapwood was knocked off, it revealed a darker wood core that was full of what looked like some kind of mold.  Cut two feet off that end and split the rest of the thing down close.  Long story short.  A very good boyer might be able to do something with it, but it is entirely too challenging for a beginner! 
It is twisted, crooked, and ants had been in the pith at one point.  I cut a 16 foot 5 inch pole with a machete and carried it to the house.  Split it and did my best to recover something useful.   There is an 80 inch stave out there if you want to call it that.  It is crooked, rippled, has two half inch knots where a fade would be, and when the insect damage was cut out, the one end is going to determine the orientation of the rest of the stave.    I am thoroughly disgusted , but I learned again! 
Is it in the TBB that it says that Sassafras is a very good bow wood?   They compared it to black locust if I remember correctly!   Well, they have to be talking about a very large sassafras with healthy heartwood or something! 
I may go back and cut a ten incher and split it in quarters to see if it is the same.  If it is, maybe someday in the future when I am bored with this Boyer stuff, maybe I will need a challenge and I will remember this stave! 
As loud as I am crying, it was a cheap afternoon doing something I enjoyed!   I have some pretty serious muscle cramps in my ribs after using the spoke shave as long and as hard as I just did, but most of the things I like to do make me sore these days!
I read a build along where people were making sapling bows a day or so ago.  This stave is more challenging than those.  Maybe if it was  a blond version of Osage it would be worth it!  If it isn't good bow wood then there is no way to justify the kind of work this one would take unless you were just needed a challenge for your skills!
Humm, the highway guys topped a 12 inch white oak across the road that is growing under the lines.  I may go get the part with the the eight or so foot straight section here in a minute and see what is inside it!
Is white oak a good bow wood for building from a split stave? 
I think I am sinking into a depression!

[Aosda]

Just keep in mind that if you're stave hunting, you can also use smaller billet size pieces.  In other words, if you see a nice straight 4' section, use that.  might be able to do something with your sassafras like that too.  Do a search on splicing billets, there are plenty of posts here on that topic.  Use two nice 3' staves spliced together instead of fighting a very charactered one piece.  Hope some of that helped and didn't confuse.

[Ahnlaashock]

Thanks for the suggestion!

I am already thinking about that! 
Looks like I am going to be busy for a couple of days, so the bow project has to go on hold for a couple of days.  I hope to finish the TBB the first time and read a whole bunch here in between runs. 
Still a little confused  as to the conflicting reports on Sassafras I have read so far.     
I brought home wedges to split a piece of walnut the guys cutting the lines left for me that  is about 18 inches across and is 66 inches long.  Since it wasn't sealed, the ends are checked deep.   Still, there should be two good short staves in it.   Good thing I am enjoying myself!   
There is a mill about 15 miles away where I am acquainted with the man that owns it.  We get along fine, and I am sure he has what I need.  The key with him is getting him out into the stacks when I am looking for a board, not ten thousand boards!  I just have to get by there during business hours. 
On an off note, in the new-by instructions there should be a warning about what you will feel like later after using a spokeshave and a knife scraper for two hours turning a 16 foot piece of wood into mulch by hand!   

[MAK]

Man, I love sassafras under glass, what a gorgeous wood. Pleasant to work with and a wonderful smell. Best of luck to you.

[Ahnlaashock]

Well, the results are mixed. 
The long stave twisted even more during the initial drying.   It also became much more wavy and crooked.   It seems to bend better than I expected, so I may go attempt to cut another one and see what it does.  There is one piece about 4 feet long that is not as twisted that is from near the base of the tree.   I need to go look to see if the bark indicates that all of them twist like this one.  If so, building anything out of them is going to need major patience and time.   
How do you deal with a stave that has a progressive twist getting worse towards the small end?   This one has at least a 45 degree twist in 6 feet. 
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!  Have a beautiful day!

[TRACY]

 Used a fleshing(bent) draw knife on a hickory stave for the first one and ended up with lots of blisters.  . Try leaving the logs in halves with sealed ends and see if this will reduce the amount of twist while it dries. I had the same issues with a 12" sassafras log that I split into 1/6ths. I was able to steam and put them on a form to straighten/reflex. It was a lot of work. I never tried dry heat and don't know if that would work or not, but it would save some time. Good luck!

Tracy

[Ahnlaashock]

That was just split once.   It split off that way.   There was enough wood to attempt a bow if the insects had not been in the pith near the big end.   High in the stave there was a brown heartwood eaten up with a gray mold looking growth of some kind in between the rings.  Lower end was damaged by insects pretty badly.  This was a standing living tree by the way. 
The wood became more wavy as it dried.  No cracks or splits so far with no sealing at all since I pretty much decided the wood was not suitable pretty quickly. 
I may cut a 12 incher to see what the wood is like in the center of it.  Do the bigger trees show a heartwood ring?  The only dark wood in this one was the wood high up where the disease was in the trunk. 
There is a 4 foot long section of the big end that was not twisted too bad.  I kept it just to see what happens as the wood fully dries.  I may make a short bow out of it just to see what will happen. 
Like I said.  Learning!   This next attempt I will study the bark on the outside of the tree and see if I can find one that doesn't show a twist.   Did not know to look at the bark for that on this one.   I will cut a bigger trunk and then clamp the splits down to dry.   Since I am not looking for a really strong bow, if I can find a straight enough piece, it may work out well for my purpose.   
Someone posted about how beautiful the wood is earlier.  This wood has little visible grain and so far, no real heart wood to speak of.   I may test the four foot piece to see how well it takes a stain.  I make my own vinegar, iron, and walnut stain.  On Oak it turns everything black/gray.   On maple it produces a beautiful brown with red tones.  Don't know what it will do on the sassafras so far. 
Anyway, have a beautiful holiday weekend all!