A question about deeply ridged bark (Chestnut oak)

[piedmont]

Hi y'all,
    I'm currently building my first bow out of a Chestnut Oak stave (I got 11 from one tree) and so far it's been a ton of fun. As you may know, this species is in the white oak group, although the bark is deeply ridged (see the Wikipedia entry on it for a picture of the bark). I've had no problem taking the bark and some cambium off with a draw knife, followed by a home-made scraper to get the rest of the cambium. The trouble is that those furrows in the bark also get down into the wood a bit, so I have some areas of cambium that are lower than the level of the adjacent wood by maybe 1 or 2 mm. In other words, if you visualize the surface of the wood as a landscape, there are "lakes" of cambium in the "valleys" that correspond to the bark furrows. I could get rid of the cambium either by using a curved scraper to get down in those valleys, or I could just use my flat scraper to flatten the "ridges" enough to get those last bits of cambium.
     My instinct is to do the latter, since it would give me a nice flat back, but I was wondering if there's any good in doing it the other way. There's plenty of wood in that outer growth ring since I harvested late in the growing season, so I don't think removing a millimeter or two of those ridges would hurt anything. Any advice?

[Kitsu]

I would wait for someone else to give advice, but i think it would be best to leave a little bit of cambium, unless you can get it without scraping the wood away, then again, im still a novice at this so i probably should not be giving advice, so, wait for someone else

[Pat B]

You would be better off leaving the "valleys" of bark and cambium in those area and keep the back unviolated. The bark will probably pop off after it dries out and is flexed. Small areas like this are usually not a problem. If you take the back down flat you have violated a ring or two and a backing should probably be used.

[piedmont]

You would be better off leaving the "valleys" of bark and cambium in those area and keep the back unviolated. The bark will probably pop off after it dries out and is flexed. Small areas like this are usually not a problem. If you take the back down flat you have violated a ring or two and a backing should probably be used.

Thanks for the reply, Pat B and Hawkeyes. I see the emphasis on preserving the integrity of that outer growth ring. Just to be clear, the difference in elevation between the ridges and the valleys is about 1 mm, and that growth ring is about 6 mm thick. It wouldn't be violated, just thinned a bit in areas that were a bit thicker to begin with. But thinking about it, I guess there's no functional gain by doing this-- just an aesthetic one. That smooth wood is soooo nice!

[Pat B]

It would be aesthetically pleasing to flatten it all out but in the area that you thin that top ring, even though you didn't "violate" the ring you weaken it there. Just consider the dip as character. 
 
 

[piedmont]

Ok, you've convinced me. Since this is my first I won't go making it harder than it has to be. Maybe on a later one though...

[sailordad]

you can(and i do)take some out of the valleys
i use a small pocket knife
once you get a piece started it pulls in strips
some time long,sometimes short
i never try to get it all

like pat said,as you start tillering the bow and flexing the limbs some will like to ilft on its own
just grab the tag end when this happens and pull it off
you will eventually get to a point where it will quit lifting as the limbs are flexed

once you seal the back of the bow,they shoulf completly quit lifting
i have never had any lift after that
good luck

[Pappy]

What Pat and Tim said.Some Hickory and almost all Iron Wood is like that,I leave it or just scrape the dips with a knife or narrow scraper. I never flatten it unless I plan on backing it.
   Pappy

[JustinNC]

Be careful with it. I've never built a bow out of it, but dont let the "white oak family" fool you into thinking that it's (Quercus prinus/montana) as elastic as the Quercus alba.

From what I have seen, chestnut oak is waaaay more brittle than white oak.

Not sure that it won't make a fine bow if given the right demsions, just wanted to point that out though.

Good luck and happy scraping.