tree id please

[paulc]

I am guessing some kind of birch..? 

Thanks in advance!  Paul

[Pat B]

River birch(Betula nigra)

[paulc]

Thanks!

[paulc]

If the grain behaves I ought to get 5 staves out of it....there does seem to be a bit of twist in the grain but since I am new to this side of things I really don't know what I am talking about.

Thanks city of Savannah for the free wood!

Paul

[Pat B]

I believe river birch is only marginal bow wood so design your bows accordingly.
 Savannah is my hometown.   

[paulc]

I figure I have 6 months to find a design that will work.

Wife and I are in the process of moving from Tybee into town...3 evacuations/2 floods in 4 yrs is too much for us out here on the island.  Work provides a house on slab as part of job-no longer worth it :-)  By end of month I will be commuting like so many other folks but it is a beautiful ride out onto the island.

Paul

[hoosierf]

I made a river birch. 2” wide and 72” long with a straight limb profile to a 10” taper to the tips. Turned out good. Mine was arrow straight trunk wood using the ring right under the bark.

[Pat B]

 Paul, a lot more traffic there since I left in 1978. We lived in Bluffton for 12 years after that so went to Savannah regularly. We moved up here to Brevard in 1990. Been back a few times. Always love seeing Savannah but not the traffic or heat and humidity. I spent most of my summers at friends house at the N E corner of 12th Street and Butler Ave on Tybee, my surf bum days. 

[paulc]

We saw 4th of July level traffic this past weekend...traffic was backed up from Lazaretto creek bridge almost all the way to where islands expressway heads right/north towards Savannah(7 miles maybe?)....lots of scared residents out here with covid running around and crowds like that...40% of tybee pop is high risk older adults.....and it wasn't a holiday weekend.  Cover your cough y'all! :-)

fwiw, Paul

[willie]

birch here does not follow the grain well when split. a split will run off near a knot and keep going and not back around. not so much a sign of twisted grain, as most birch bows are usually made from sawn staves.