Author Topic: Wide growth rings (hardwood)  (Read 2441 times)

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Offline Tom Dulaney

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Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« on: February 27, 2017, 08:53:02 am »
A user here was telling me about how a certain wood wasn't good, because it had wide growth rings and wasn't dense. I'm not sure what "wide growth rings" means; I guess it means the growth rings are thick.

Anyway, I have some Chinese privet that has very wide growth rings, I mean a trunk of privet the same circumference as your calf might only have 3-4 growth rings. Yet Privet is a dense, hard, fast wood, and by most people's accounts it makes a good bow. And wide growth rings should make it less likely that you will violate a growth ring if you want to scrape wood off the back, right?

So, are wide growth rings really a problem in a dense wood like Privet?

Offline Pat B

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2017, 08:59:40 am »
Dense wood is dense wood. I prefer medium thick rings in general but good bows can be built with and thickness of growth rings. I do prefer not to have only 1 ring in a limb but I've seen some good bows built like that.
 I'd say to build the privet bow and give us your opinion.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Selfbowman

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2017, 10:11:31 am »
I built some paper thin Osage and rings that where over a 1/4 " thick. The thick ring one was not as dense. I could tell by it being quite a bit lighter than a stave of equal size. I built the thick ring one wider and thicker. It made a good bow with good cast . Arvin
Well I'll say!!  Osage is king!!

Offline joachimM

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2017, 11:52:17 am »
Density is way more important than ring thickness. In most conifers (softwoods), narrow rings are good predictors of high density, so you'd rather have a narrow ringed yew than a thick-ringed one. In hardwoods (deciduous trees) ring thickness is often not a good predictor of density.

Go for the privet

Offline Springbuck

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2017, 07:28:59 pm »
Yes, and this depends on species, but growing conditions, too.  I've had some very hard dense elm with tiny rings, and some with big fat, almost 1/4" rings, both from the same thicket, and about the same size tree.

Offline Selfbowman

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2017, 09:11:26 pm »
Yes, and this depends on species, but growing conditions, too.  I've had some very hard dense elm with tiny rings, and some with big fat, almost 1/4" rings, both from the same thicket, and about the same size tree.

Yep and that's what keeps us guessing. Arvin
Well I'll say!!  Osage is king!!

Offline DavidV

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Re: Wide growth rings (hardwood)
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2017, 10:09:05 pm »
It's more about ratio than ring thickness. Less earlywood means there's less air and more wood to do the work, at least in ring porous woods. I also think consstency in the rings are a good sign, as in I'd rather have every ring be 1/8" than a mix of really thick and really thin rings. I have nothing to back that up but that's just my experience.
Springfield, MO