BL sapwood running into the hardwood

[hedgeapple]

Guys, I really appreciate all the help you've been giving me.  I hope I don't wear out my welcome with all my questions.  I'm attempting to chase a ring on a BL stave.  I'm finding that the sapwood makes dip into the hardwood.  Should I just leave the back of the bow smooth and allow the sapwood to feather into the hardwood?  It would be pretty that way.  Or, should I work to gauge it out?

The gold arrow in the pic is where I worked the sapwood out.  The green arrows are where the sapwood is exposed in the hardwood.

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[Pat B]

Is there not a delineation between the two? It probably won't be a problem. BL is pretty strong in tension. If you are concerned go to the next ring.

[Hillbilly]

It looks like just a funky dip in the heartwood ring from what I can see in the pic, pretty common in locust. I usually scrape everything out of the divot down to the ring when that happens. It might be ok, but it might pop loose when you start bending it, too.

[hedgeapple]

Thanks guys.  Not having a band saw, I removed about 3 rings from the belly side yesterday to give me a flat surface instead of a wedge stave.  So, I practiced chasing rings while I was removing this wood.  It there were sapwood dips in all those rings, also.

Edited: Sapwood might not be the correct term for the lighter color ring between the darker rings.

Would there be any problem with leaving the sapwood, if it pulls out during earlier tillering stage, could I remove it then?

[Ryano]

I think you mean early wood not sapwood. Use some sand paper or a curved scraper of some sort like the tip of a pocket knife and get it out of there.

[TRACY]

Gooseneck scraper should take care of the valleys. I would keep it all  one ring to be safe.

[hedgeapple]

Thanks Ryano and Tracy F.  I've work farther down the stave and valley is disappearing.  The only issue I see it the valley is probably right where the tip of the bow will be.  I'll just need to allow for that during the tiller process so that tip isn't so thin.  If it causes a problem with the nock I can always add an inlay.

[Pat B]

If it is at the tip, a non-working(non-bending) section, it should not be a problem.