Hi all,
I'm working on my first in ash, a Mollegabet-ish thing 77 3/4" tip to tip, 1 3/4" wide limbs. If I can get it in between 40-45#@28" I'll be a happy camper.
This came from a nice, straight grained board, not quarter-sawn, but only 30-45 degrees from it, end to end.
In one of the pics you can see my new favorite tool, a small spoke shave. This bow is significant for me, because other than some coarse filing to angle off
one corner of the riser, all the work was done with shaving type tools, draw knife, block plane, and two spoke shaves. My poor, lonely sureform may never get used again
.
My question;
In spite of the grain, there are a couple of small knot like areas, mid limb, of course, and a short section that looks like an internal check. None of them go straight through the limb front to back, and one of them doesn't seem to come out anywhere at all. Is this a problem for ash? Working limbs are about 17" long, by the way. I'll linen back it in a heart beat, if I have to, but it sure is a pretty piece of wood and I'd hate to hide it.
As always, your observations are greatly appreciated,
Frode