Finally found it – whitebeam!

[Frodolf]

In the area where I live there is a type of tree called Swedish whitebeam, Sorbus Intermedia. I've always been interested in this wood. It's supposed to be closely related to rowan (mountain ash), but denser. It's as far as I'm aware the densest tree around here. They used to make machine parts from it way back, cogs and stuff. That's a good sign, I figure. For years I've tried to find it. I''ve come across it many times but it is always crooked, has branches in all the wrong places, or, if it actually looks good, has hopelessly twisted grain.

So a couple of weeks ago I walk by my neighbor's place. A tree has blown over behind his house. It turns out it's a huge whitebeam – almost no branches, and the grain is pipe straight. A treasure.

I've searched the forum here and I can't find anyone who has even written about this wood. Probably because it's European and this forum is mostly American. But still. Anyone ever made a bow from it? Or it's close relative, common whitebeam, sorbus aria?  If not, how do you suggest I go about trying it out as bow material? I've never done any proper bend tests before, how do you do that? How would you go about trying to discern whether an unknown wood is a good bow wood? I kind of want to have an inkling of the wood's properties before investing all the time and effort it takes to make a bow.


 

[FilipT]

Looks amazing. Never heard of that wood before but you probably can't make error if you make it in flatbow configuration.

[DC]

There is amazing heartwood/sapwood contrast. Could make a beautiful bow. Can't help as to if it would make a good bow.

[stuckinthemud]

If you do a Google search using 'whitebeam longbow', or a Google image search using the same term you will be pleasantly surprised at the results - quite a few whitebeam bows of various descriptions on tinternet

[DC]

The first site that came up was titled" harvesting rowan and whitebeam - BOW EXPLOSION". Maybe not such a good start but I haven't read through it yet.

Looked a little closer, "Bow Explosion" is the name of the website

[stuckinthemud]

tee hee, Bow Explosion is the name  of Redhawk's blog 

[bubby]

I read one about a whitebeam molly that looked like the back gave up on it i would either back it or make a elb style bow, atleast thats what i would try. A lot of woods don't lend themselves to short bows with short working limbs

[mikekeswick]

Come to England! It is planted her by all the councils because it is a very fast growing tree, resistant to poor soil and pollution and has nice red berries through most of the year. It is quite literally everywhere!
No reason why it won't make a good bow. Bubby - elbs need very elastic wood? Very few woods will make a good self elb? I would be trying a simple flatbow first.
I have my eye on some pieces to try as hornbow cores. Rowan works very well so......
Bend test should be done on dry pieces and can be as simple as bending it in your hands to see if you can get enough bend to get to full draw. Keep an eye on how much set your sample takes and how the back acts.
Nice axe

[Frodolf]

You're right, stuck, there are a few posts on the internet about this wood being used for bows. But it seems to get "mixed reviews". And also, this is Swedish whitebeam – a tree almost exclusively native to the southern half of Sweden, at least in the wild. And I'm pretty sure the whitebeam in the bows that pop up in a search are the sorbus aria, a different species.

Just by breaking some splinters I get the feeling the wood is brittle in tension, at least the heartwood. But on the other hand I know for example juniper always feels very brittle too. One post I came across somewhere online suggested whitebeam could work well with a boo backing. That's a thought. If they used to make machine parts from it, it must be tough and work under pressure/compression – they used hornbeam too for the same purpose. These bits and pieces of info suggest a compression strong but tension weak wood. I'll rather have that than the other way around (damn you, birch! )

I did get one scrap stave out of the log – too short, too narrow to do anything proper with. Maybe I'll dry that a bit quickly and then try making an ELB style bow from it, keeping an eye on the bow's mass. That will give me some idea what to expect from the rest of the staves.

I'll see what happens. First, seasoning...

[bubby]

No reason why it won't make a good bow. Bubby - elbs need very elastic wood? Very few woods will make a good self elb? I would be trying a simple flatbow first.
[/quote]


Mike you may be right about the elb I've built some but with a more rectangular cross section than a d cross section and most woods seemed to work fine

[FilipT]

How many staves did you got from this trunk? You can attempt to make green bow that you will force to dry, so after a month or so you will know with what you are dealing with regarding properties. I do all bows this way.

[Frodolf]

You do ALL your bows that way? That's cool! Ever have problems with warping? It's a good idea. I don't think I'll have the time right now though. I got 4 fat staves. One or two of them might work splitting them in two for ELBs. And then a scrap stave, as mentioned.

BTW, the wood is beautiful but it has the worst smell of any wood I've ever worked with. Pure fart... 

[JoJoDapyro]

Seeing that it is a member of the Rose family, ( apples, pears, quinces, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, raspberries, loquats, and strawberries, almonds, and ornamental trees and shrubs such as roses, meadowsweets, photinias, firethorns, rowans, and hawthorns) You should be good.

[FilipT]

No problems with warping because you clamp that green bow to the some steel or aluminum bar. If you got 4 staves, you can attempt to make bow with one of them, other 3 you can put away to season and dry "naturally".

In my opinion, worst smell is from common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea). That is pure sauerkraut.

[freke]

Seems you got a nice catch there. I didn't know Oxel have so nice loooking heart wood, looking forward to hear your review later.