Mystery wood from TOJam

[Pat B]

Has anyone worked on the mystery wood that Justin got from Marie's house last year at the Classic?  I started one yesterday. It was believed to be an ash of some sort but nobody knew for sure. After getting into the wood I found some telltale signs of a bore or something I have found in ash under the bark only this was a few inches down into the wood. It seems to work like ash too.
   The design I am going with is a Cherokee style war bow of sorts. 68" long, 1 1/2" wide for most of its length(last 10" tapering to 3/4" tips with side nocks). This will be a bendy handle bow so I can get as much wood working as possible. I will probably slim the handle area a bit for comfort sake.
  I got a bit anxious yesterday with the band saw by reducing the thickness to about 3/4" and after rasping and scraping the stave the tiller is looking OK but it will come lighter than I was expecting...so I will probably heat treat the belly. I have no specific weight in mind but a successful bow is my goal.
   If anyone else has been working on this wood, I'd like to hear what your thoughts are on it. I'll try to post a few pics later today.      Pat

[Hillbilly]

Pat, I dug my stave out a few days ago and was looking it over-it would be nice to get them done by the Classic. I got to looking at it and hoping it wasn't cottonwood  I was thinking long bendy-handled bow too.

[Pat B]

Steve, do you know the little "scar" trails that you see with ash. This stave has then down in the wood. This stuff is tough to chase a ring on...thats why I got so aggressive with the band saw.
   Well, my tiller tree rope puts me 6' away from the action if the wood fails. I will know something by this afternoon.(either  or  )     Pat

[Hillbilly]

Yep, Pat- a lot of the white ash I cut has those little markings in the cambium layer. I know this stuff isn't white ash, but it could be green or pumpkin ash. I'm glad that you're volunteering as a guinea pig.    

[bowmunky13]

dont know about the mystery wood but i am working on two bows of white ash myself... one for me and one for the wifey. and from the sounds of it all.... it sounds like it is exactly like the wood i have. the little scars to the cambium... even down to the wood itself and its driving me loco but anyhoo.. that is my way of it.... i will carve on.....you do the same

[Pat B]

Well, I am claiming this is not good bow wood. You will see in the pics the amount of set it took just getting it tillered to 26"(about 42#) and the limbs are still 1/2" or better. I have heat treated it and will check it out in a few days. Our R/H in very low so I may wait until a rainy day to remove it and see if the heating has helped. I kinda doubt it will.
   Pumpkin ash is the closest bark I can find in my Audubon tree book but Eastern Cottonwood could also be an option. I wish we could have seen the leaves.    Here are some pics. The first is the bow on its back. Note the amount of set. Then clamped to the form for heat treating.     Pat

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[wvfknapper]

Looks like some type of ash to me,, how long was the tree left in the weather before splitting and storing?

wvflintknapper

[Pat B]

Only Marie knows and she ain't talking.    When Justin picked it up from Marie's place he brought it back to Twin Oaks. The next day, Sunday, he split it up and we each picked a piece. How long it was on the ground I don't know.   
   As I was working it today I could tell it wasn't gonna be much. Pretty spongy feel to the bow with low brace. It had a little deflex in it anyway so I was going to heat treat it  and give it a slight reflex but with that much set on a poor quality wood(my observation) I don't think it will help much...but we will see.  Pat

[DanaM]

Pat at least yer making a bow about time ya got busy

Don't tell Marie her ash is bad Best keep that quiet

[Ryano]

Pat just string it up backwards. Now thats all reflex !    Just kidding, are sure its dry enough?

[bcbull]

pat im 99 percent sure it s cotton wood i got some much of it growin in front of my house and split for fire wood  it s almost the same  how hard it   ? and you got any pic s of the bark befor you took it off ?  I MAY BE WRONG BUT LOOKS VERY VERY SILAMAR

[RG]

bc   search 10th annual tn. classic and look on page 18 lots of pictures of the logs there

Ron

[Hillbilly]

Here's a pic of the log. I was wondering if it could be cottonwood, too. the bark looks similar, but we don't have any around here so I'm not that familiar with it. If it is, that's even better-the great cottonwood bow contest  Cottonwood isn't as useful for making smart-alec comments as ash, though-Marie's cottonwood just doesn't have the same ring to it. 

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[wvfknapper]

Still looks like ash to me,, Dark heart wood and the flatness of the bark,,,............Marie's ash is junk   

wvflintknapper

[david w.]

if nothin else you could use it for fireboards  for bow/hand drills if its cotton wood.