Ash longbow - 45# at 28"

[FilipT]

I removed the wood almost to the layout lines, drew the thickness taper lines and removed wood on the belly. I clamped the bow to aluminum bar and will leave it like that to dry fully on the attic after which I will remove the clamps and clean everything up.

@DC, to clarify this is not really underbark, but lowest layers of bark. Does your technique function on this 2 mm thick bark?

Just as PatM and me feared, this is the state of the knot. Should I drill it through?

From the back


From the belly

[DC]

@DC, to clarify this is not really underbark, but lowest layers of bark. Does your technique function on this 2 mm thick bark?

Like I said, I've never worked Ash, give it a try, can't hurt anything.

[George Tsoukalas]

That stave makes me uneasy and I've worked lots of character staves. Lots.
For one thing, there does not appear to be enough wood around that knot.
Lots.
 Jawge

[sleek]

Solution: Hollow out the knot completely, its almost out anyway. Then wrap sinew through the now opened hole, around the damage like a splint. Ignore it while tillering, keep it stiff dont let it bend.

[FilipT]

What if I drill the hole and heat treat the surrounding area, but not the rest of the bow?

[FilipT]

Here is how bow looks like after removing excess wood. Still not sure how to remove bark. Physical mass is 819 grams and I am not sure if it is fully dry yet. I will monitor it with scale. Anyway I have plenty of wood for tillering.

The nasty knot viewed from belly. Should I fill it with CA?


Beautiful rings on the belly


Notice thick underbark

[Strichev]

I'd use a draw-knife to remove as much of the "underbark" as possible. Then I'd wet the back with a damp cloth and just scrape it off using a really dull knife or something similar.

[DC]

I was messing with a piece of Maple yesterday trying to get the bark off. I was getting nowhere. The wood was three years old and very dry. I finally stuck it in a tube and steamed it for an hour. The bark came off quite easily. I had to work fast though cause when it cooled for a few minutes the bark was just as tight as it was before.

[FilipT]

What would happen if I pour boiling/very hot water on it? Btw, I have never seen wood that has such "glued on" bark to it. You basically cannot debark it with draw knife because of immense ring count. Any draw could violate the back easily, which happened to another stave of this ash (there were 3 staves, this one is first successful).

[Pat B]

Cut your wood during the growing season and the bark will pop off. Cut it during the dormant season and it sticks like glue.

[DC]

You can try boiling water. I would soak it first to try to get the bark damp. It might not all come off in one go. Surprisingly soaking a dry piece of wood doesn't do any harm, it dries out very quickly. You can stand it in a hot shower for as long as you can get away with, usually someone yells at you for wasting water. You'll still have to scrape it off, don't expect it to come off in one big sheet.

[FilipT]

Pat B, of course it does. What this ash differs from any other wood I cut/worked on during autumn/winter is that bark is ridiculously tight.

DC, I would try pouring water on it and scraping it immediately after. Not sure how it goes but I bet it would be better than using draw knife and violating the rings.

[bjrogg]

If you can find a power washer especially one that heats the water it works great for removing bark and cambium with no damage to back of your stave.
Bjrogg

[FilipT]

I have 140 bar Karcher power washer but it doesn't heat water. What do you think about using it?

[simk]

PatB you said: Cut your wood during the growing season and the bark will pop off. Cut it during the dormant season and it sticks like glue.

But: Under the aspect, that the outer growth-ring in summertime isn't fully developped, i'd never cut wood in the growing season; at least that's what everybody says if it comes to cutting bowwwod in summer.

Would it maybe wise, to cut the wood in the last days of the growing season (e.g. october) to take profit of an (almost) fully developped outer growth-ring & easy debarking? Is this maybe the best time of the year for cutting wood? Still, at this point of time there would still be a lots of moisture in the wood...

Sorry FiliP for slightly hijacking your thread... 

EDIT: Thanks PatB for your advice!