Thanks for all the kind remarks. I've got another Crab bow in the works so that will give me a little bit better take on the wood. Aside from the great appearance I would class it as a good, not great bow wood. I cut this piece over a year and a half ago and it had stopped losing weight at 50% RH. When I started tillering it, it took a little set so I weighed it and put it back in the warm box. It continued to lose weight for another two weeks. I have run into this before but not as bad as this. So if you try it, dry it well. I collected it in 35 year old second growth so it had to reach for the sun. That helps with the straight. If you examine it closely you can see the twist in the bark. The first one that I cut twisted almost 360 degrees in 6 feet! Now, unless the cracks in the bark all line up nice and straight, I don't cut it. In my area about 1 in 5-10 are straight enough. I have one that has no twist, it's a bit wonky, but that's cool.
Again thanks for the nice comments, they keep a guy going
