Questions about Ocean Spray

[bow101]

I was surfing through some threads and found the Build-A-Long  from Elktracker........it's a good one, go through it you'll be glad you did.........      

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,29156.0.html

[UserNameTaken]

blacktail, if that is ocean spray, you don't want to be doing ANYTHING with it for at least a year--probably more. It will check badly if you so much as sneeze on it before it's dry, and it takes a long time to dry.

That doesn't look like ocean spray to me though. It does look an awful lot like the ninebark stave that I have drying in my garage though.

Ninebark is more exciting anyway, because I've never heard of anybody using it for a bow.
Does it have darker heartwood? If it does, then it's ninebark.

[Blacktail]

well i see alot of people don't think that its os but it is...its what i would call really old growth...and its from the the desert here..it all so has a really small pith in the center all most solid wood..NINE BARK has mostly pith and hardly any wood..when its in a juvenile state it has smooth bark..but in older growth for the desert its shaggy looking....thanks so much for the help...john

[Carson (CMB)]

John, I remember seeing lots of ocean spray while elk-hunting on the east side last file.  Real dry rocky soils, completely different from where I find ocean spray in the coast range or cascades, but there it was.  I saw it all over the place, and never say a singel piece worthy of a bow stave.  It was mostly small bush with numerous arrows size shoots over there.  So I am thinking that stuff grows pretty slow over there in dry country, and I bet you that piece you have is pretty old, slow-growing, super dense ocean spray.  Should make something special.  Like UserName Taken said, seal it up good and wait a year.

[Elktracker]

Yea I would say its probably from the desert I have notice that the bark can look allot different just changing elevation. I get most of mine at sea level and it tends to be a dark smooth bark, when i harvest in washington higher elevations its almost white or kinda blotchy and with more warts or rough bumps, both make great bows.

 I too had the same question your asking and i asked John strunk how he does it when I first started using OS and he would use the reflexed side even if it was not the tension wood it will still make a great bow.I have done it many times as well with great results.

Josh

[Keenan]

John I would not mess with it at all . Just load it up and bring it over and I'll make sure it is disposed of properly

[KPT]

Plant identification sites; such as Burke Museum at UW, show 2 species of Ocean Spray. Maps show that the plant habitation of the 2 species overlap.
Holodiscus Discolor is located more to the West Coast and Northerly.
Holodiscus Dumosus is located more to the West Dryland and Southerly.
This may account for the different appearance.

[soy]

I had recived an awsome bow (oceanspray)from sharpend60 i would consult him with any? ??retarding that wood as it was an awsome shooter and from conversation with him leads me to believe he knows what he is talking about

[randman]

I've seen lots of OS bark but none quite that shaggy. Here's a pic showing how varied it can be. The bottom shaft is from Eastern Wa and has a greyer patina than the one right above it from western WA with a green (moss) patina. Both show what the bark looks like after a light scraping with a pocket knife. Next one up the patina was scrubbed off with a brush and water.
The second pic shows how wild the grain can be on OS.

From my experience, you could use either reflexed or the deflexed side but also I've not had much luck getting OS top heat or steam bend much (steam is better) outside of heat tempering a slight reflex along the length of a stave. Like everyone else said, put that thing away for at least a year and hope it doesn't split on ya in a place you don't want it to split. Your chances are better of you split that thing down the pith the direction you want it to be and then you won't have any problems with it check splitting because it usuall just splits to the pith. It'll do that if you leave a round handle section while roughing out the limbs also if it's not sealed real good after you work it.  If you're real good at bandsawing, you could probably saw it right down the pith and end up using both the reflex and deflex side.

[randman]

All these are ocean spray. The big one in the middle (with the green moss on the end) is 78" long and I've had it curing for over a year and a half now with no splits or drying checks at all (yay!). It still weighs about 8 lbs and would probably make about a 200lb warbow (way above my capabilities).

[KPT]

I have several nice Ocean Spray stems that I'm afraid I will turn into firewood without more knowledge before I start cutting.
How do you guys determine the tension - compression side? Determine by tree growth direction or are you reading the wood?
It seems that the pith runs to the tension side of the stem and in most cases it is not centered. Assuming a stem is not centered a person could band saw down the pith line from one direction and the resulting halves would show the pith "centered" in the 2 staves. You could take the same stem and turn it 90 degrees and cut down the pith line and the resulting 2 staves will show the pith line is "not centered". See Randman's previous post for both examples.
My belief is that one cut dissects the stem and integrates the tension/compression wood and the other cut "segregates" the tension wood from the compression wood.
Is this a correct assumption? Is there a correct way? I see some of the more accomplished bow makers posting pictures where the pith line is NOT centered so maybe it doesn't matter

[Bryce]

Doesn't really matter what side you choose. Pick a side and go with it.

[Zion]

Randman i have a piece almost exactly like the big one ya have. I bet OS would make a killer longbow!!