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Author Topic: ID help  (Read 2694 times)

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Offline aero86

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ID help
« on: November 29, 2010, 03:49:24 pm »
found a tree close to my work.  its got a white sapwood, and a darker heartwood.  the tree has broad, but not very big leaves.  the distinguishing feature is the seed pod. its very long and round.  inside, the seeds have a feathery covering around them.  ive looked quickly online and found it might be a indian bean tree or kentucky bean tree.  the trunks growing off the larger, older base, are fairly straight and without knots. 

anyone ever use this species?
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Offline Buckeye Guy

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Re: ID help
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2010, 08:20:03 pm »
I have not tried it for bows , its very light weight , it is nice looking wood !
 I have used it for cabinetry ,but even then it gets dinged up easily !
 It never hurts to try !
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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: ID help
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2010, 08:21:49 pm »
where are you located? Could be catalpa, too.
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Smoky Mountains, NC

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Offline aero86

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Re: ID help
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2010, 11:24:29 pm »
north east texas. 

and hillbilly, that appears to be the exact tree. 

the wiki article i found says the wood is quiet soft.  so maybe its not classified as a hardwood?  im not sure how that works. 

maybe its like the mimosa tree..  can have nice branch free trunks, but too brittle for bow wood..
« Last Edit: November 29, 2010, 11:43:12 pm by aero86 »
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profsaffel  "clogs like the devil" I always figured Lucifer to be more of a disco kind of guy.

Offline Pat B

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Re: ID help
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2010, 12:26:23 am »
Catalpa is what I was thinking too. The catapillars that eat it make excellent fish bait. You can put them in a small mason jar, freeze them and retrieve in the spring when the bream are bedding. Thaw them out and they go to wiggling. Tough skins too so they don't get removed easily.  Probably not good bow wood but that is only a guess.
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JustinNC

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Re: ID help
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2010, 10:05:16 am »
Quote from: Pat B on November 30, 2010, 12:26:23 am
Catalpa is what I was thinking too. The catapillars that eat it make excellent fish bait. You can put them in a small mason jar, freeze them and retrieve in the spring when the bream are bedding. Thaw them out and they go to wiggling. Tough skins too so they don't get removed easily.  Probably not good bow wood but that is only a guess.

x2
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Offline kiltedcelt

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Re: ID help
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2010, 03:52:43 pm »
The seed pods make it sound like catalpa, but the leaves are usually HUGE depending on the age and size of the tree. If it is in fact catalpa it's apparently a pretty weak wood for making a bow. I think because of it's brittle-ness it barely qualifies as even a marginal bow wood, which is a pity because the trunks often grow very straight. However, I was looking for some info on this tree myself and found one source that mentioned the use of catalpa in Japanese Yumi bows. I might possibly have been as a core wood or as the strip of wood that lines the outside of the bamboo core in a Yumi. You could always try it, as you've got nothing to lose except for some time. I've passed on it. There are plenty of other better bow woods out there.
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