oak staves??

[aznboi3644]

Hey this is my first post here...i've been doing some major reading on the forum about everything I can think of lol.

Well to get started...I cut down a couple oak trees at work the other week.  One is 8 inches in diameter and the other is about 9 inches in diameter.  I told my dad (boss) that I wanted a 5-6' long.   Heavy as hell I know lol but he likes that I am getting into archery and bow making.

My question is that has anyone made an oak bow out of a split log?? I tried searching and found nothing on bows made from oak staves but only on oak bows.

I'm not sure what type of oak it is but I made a little 25-30lb bow out of one of the branches in about an hour and a half.

What are the differences in oaks strength between the heartwood and the sapwood?  Heart wood better for a belly?

Heart wood is about 4" diameter on both logs

THanks
Nam,

[George Tsoukalas]

Nam, it's all good. Take off  the bark and make a bow. Oak ios a good wood. I've used red and white oak. Jawge

[aznboi3644]

would it be ok to have a heartwood belly and a sapwood back??

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, it would. Not a problem. What weight do you want and  what is your draw length? Jawge

[aznboi3644]

my draw length is 26" and as far as weight wise I am looking to make a 40-50lb bow.

[George Tsoukalas]

Then make it 1 3/8 - 1.5 in wide and about 66 in long. You can remove the bark and begin to make the bow. Begin to bend the limbs just a bit and it will dry faster. That's called  floor tillering. Let it dry. You can monitor the weight on a baby scale and when it stops changing for about 3 weeks go for it. If you place it near heat it will dry faster. i have  a couple of staves near my forced hot water baseboards. There's more on my site. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/