Ocean Sray in NW Washington?

[dmenzies1950]

I recently moved to Granite Falls, Washington from Montana. Since I have lived here, I have heard all kinds of talk about Ocean Spray as a bow wood. We had all kinds of ocean spray where I lived in Montana, but it was more the size of arrow shafts than bow staves. I have a hankering to get some of the stuff to make a bow out of, but the only ocean spray that I've seen around here was in an old guys yard and I thought he might object to me helping myself to one of the dozen 2 inchers that are just begging to be cut! Anyway, I just wanted to see if any of my fellow NW Washingtonians know if the stuff grows wild in my neck of the woods, or where a guy might go to find it?

Any help will be most appreciated, Thanks, Dale

[Zion]

There's a lot of ocean spray throughout washington, the challenge is to find a large piece. Luckily, a piece of ocean spray less than an inch in diameter will make an outstanding bow. Ocean spray likes to grow in small dips , also on hills, and the bigger forests of it will be under larger trees like pines and other conifers. Luckily for us they grow pipe straight 

[randman]

Dmenzies, if you are in Granite Falls, there should be ocean spray all around you somewhere. Like Zion said, it likes steep hillsides and sometimes edges of meadows and clear areas. We have it in almost all of the big wooded Seattle parks. And I've seen lots of it just over the crest of the Cascades on the east side also.
You might just ask the old timer that has the big one in his yard and show him what you do and show him a bow or two you've made and tell him what great bow wood it is and you might be surprised that he'll let you take a couple. Never hurts to try. Most of the big OS bushes I've seen would not look any different with a couple of staves gone. And like Zion says, OS will make a 40-50 lb bow from a 1" stave.

[dmenzies1950]

Thanks guys for the info on OS! No one around here has heard of the stuff, but I,ll sure keep looking. I did in my searching however find some dandy cascaras on my brother-in-laws property, big stuff, and I love cascara. He said that I can take all I want. All I have to do is build my niece nephew a bow! A great tradeoff for the best cascara I seen yet! I'll keep you posted on the results of my stave gathering expedition.

Thanks again for the helpful information, Dale

[Bryce]

Ocean Spray is one Of my top choices for bow wood
If you want maximum boom for your buck. Heat treat:)
Can't wait to see what you come up with, best of luck to yah!!!




-Bryce

[dmenzies1950]

Hey Bryce,
 
Will you explain how you heat treat OS?

Thanks, Dale

[bubby]

elktracker did a build-a-long on ocean spray, it's in the how to section, heat treating included, Bub

[Bryce]

Hey Bryce,
 
Will you explain how you heat treat OS?

Thanks, Dale

There are plenty of heat treat-alongs on this forum. But I'll give yah a quick run down.
Get the bow to a good tiller or even maybe a few inches under.
Clamp the bow down, belly side up. If you want to add some reflex this is the time to do it.
Warm the wood up with your heat gun and brush on some kinds of grease, fat, or oil, some use spruce gum turpentine.
Then begin the heat the bow in one spot about 3"-4" away, untill it gets a nice dark brown, not black. and start from the tips and work your way in toward the handle.
Once you have it all done move one to the next limb. Let it sit in the form for about an hour or until completely cool. I leave mine over night. (do not flex the bow its moisture content is way to low)
Unclamp and let it sit in the corner of your bathroom for a minimum of 1 day. (I do 3 days to a week just to be sure. Or if I just forget lol)
Re-tiller and she's done.
You can also do this to fix low spots and give the bow more draw weight. OS loves heat and I've heard from some gentlemen that heat treating OS can give it another #20 of weight but have never seen such results in any of my bows.

-Bryce

[dmenzies1950]

Thanks Bryce,

I've built hundreds of bows and haven't heat treated one yet! I will now! Thanks for the great detailed description of how to do it! I wonder if cascara responds well to heat treating? Tomorrow I'm going to have plenty!
                                              Dale

[Bryce]

Heat treating seems to benifit most woods. There are a few wood species where the effects of heat treating makes minimal progress in adding compressive strength.
I recently harvested a just amount of cascara myself. I hear it has similar properties to juniper, or yew when it comes to compression. But i have yet to gain any knowledge in the matter. I would love to hear your findings. Don't forget to post


   -Bryce

[dmenzies1950]

Yay! We do have ocean spray near Granite Falls and I found the "Mother Lode"! The stuff is thick right along the banks of a steam, only about ten minutes from home. I cut five nice staves from 1 to 2 1/2 inches, sealed up the ends with Tightbond,and now all I have to do is wait! At my age(62), I can't afford to wait too long. I know what you've all been saying about how bad they check, but I couldn't resist putting one in the hotbox. I'll tell ya, I'm as giddy as a ten year old with a new bike! Thanks guys for all the good information. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again!  Dale 

[Bryce]

Nooooooooooooo take it out lol
Makes sure to get another layer of glue on there like the last 3" of the stave needs to be sealed

[dmenzies1950]

OK, You're the expert! I'll take it out! I'm just too used to vine maple and mountain maple!I can't wait to start making shavings!

[Bryce]

Woah! I am by no means an expert, but i appreciate the sentiment hahaha. Last time I put ocean spray in a box it checked the length of the stave lol don't want you to ruin a good piece lol
Hope we get to see these ocean spray bows your gonna turn out