question about white oak

[goatfarmer67]

hello to everyone.i know i dont hardly post,not since my first bow attempt.but i read on here every day.and i have been trying to build some.
my first bow was a lowes red oak bow.it is slow and heavy and not very comfortable,but still in one piece.
after that i bought a quarter sawn white oak board from a local hard wood shop.it seemed to be a nice,dry,heavy board.i've tried to build three bows
out of that board so far,and broke them all.i am certain that it was mostly due to amateurish mistakes.but with each break,the wood seemed to be
kinda powdery inside.not like rot,but dust kinda came out of the break.i dont know if i am explaining this very well,but could this board be too dry?
thanks for ya'lls help.
ken

[JW_Halverson]

I had some oak staves that came from an unknown source.  When each of those bows broke the wood seemed powdery too.  I think maybe the wood had been in contact with the ground and had begun to decompose.  I think we had the same problem. 

Can you post pics of the breaks, or have they been fed to the woodstove already?

[Eric Garza]

Were your board bows made predominantly from sapwood, or heartwood?

[bubby]

I think their had to be some sort of fungus, or bug damage or such, a good white oak board is almost unbreakable, almost, was the board light, a white oak board should have some heft to it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

That board very well could have been over-baked in the kiln as well. They make boards for cabinetry and trim for the most part, bows probably dont cross their minds while they are drying them.

[goatfarmer67]

here is a close up of one of the breaks,i dont know how much you can tell about it.and
the board was pretty heavy,and i think mostly sap wood,although one side was a shade darker,but not drastically so.
thanks for the input,i dont think i will try anymore of this particular batch of oak from this supplier.which leaves me with
ipe,cherry,sapele,and red oak.any suggestions?
thanks,
ken

[Buckeye Guy]

Looks rotten to me
Good white oak is coffee colored  with not much sap wood.
I dont do board bows , maybe Halfeye or Ken will chime in soon !!
If you cut a tree I would be glad to help !!

[bubby]

that looks kinda punky, no good for bows,epe is great butmaybe start with some red oak and back it with some brown paper bag for a little insurance, if ya go to jawges site all the info ya need to get a board bow done is on their. it's top of the page in how-tosgood luck and dont worry 'bout breakin some, we all do , Bub

[goatfarmer67]

thanks everyone.i know that something is wrong with this wood,although not obvious outright rot.seems way too heavy for that.
i will steer clear from it for now on.i do have a 1x2x72 red oak board that i bought at lowes.it has the best grain and thickest
rings that i have come across there.but it is warped,on the edge and on the back/belly.i bought it to hold onto for a while.can i use
dry heat to straighten it?or should i start a new post for that operation?
and thanks,Bub,the only surviving bow that i made was based off of jawge's site.
thanks for all the help.i wont be around till maybe friday or so,my son is being deployed,and we are driving to
S.C. tomorrow to see him off.
thanks,
ken

[bubby]

try a pyramid bow 4" handle, 1 1/2" fades 68" tip to tip, 2" wide at the fadesdown to 1/2" tips and start with and even thickness of 1/2"I cut mine on the tablesaw stoping at the start of the fades and start from there, should be able to get a 50# bow @ 29" outta those dimensions no problem, just go slow and easy and round the edged, good luck, Bub

[goatfarmer67]

thanks Bub,i will head over to the wood store today and see if i can find a nice piece of wood.

[bubby]

hope ya had a good send off with your son, Bub

[goatfarmer67]

yep,Bub,we had a good send off.good to see the little feller all grown up and serving his country.
well wishes for him and the other airmen that left on that bus yesterday.thanks for asking.