white ash and eastern hophornbeam trees, ok wood?

[jackpine]

I am doing some winter time thinning in my woodlot.   Mostly cutting the understory, slow growing trees.   The hophornbeams are 2-3 inches at the butt and the white ash trees are up to 4-5 inches at the butt.
Some of them are pretty straight, so I was wondering if they would make suitable bow staves?
Is there a  'minimum diameter'  for trees used for bows?
If they are suitable for bows, I have more than I need, if any one is interested.   I will save some of the short straight ones for hammer handles and  stakes, and cut the rest into firewood.
We still have three feet of snow on the ground, so I don't have to worry about them drying out anytime soon.
thanks.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Fantastic white woods. Especially the HHB.

[Pat B]

The ash will depend on the type of ash. Some are good, others not. The HHB makes great bows. If the trees are cut and laying in the snow, get them out and under cover off the ground. It doesn't take whitewoods long to get infected with rot.

[toomanyknots]

Just ask Marc St. Louis about HHB,  .

[PatM]

I would separate cutting wood as a thinning process or  firewood from actually cutting for bow wood specifically.

[Marc St Louis]

The 3" HHB would work well for bows and can be cut in half to make 2.  Just make sure they don't have excessive spiral growth.

[Jim Davis]

I like white ash very much, though I like them  6" or more in diameter. Where are you? Most places, a couple of years would give you another inch.

If you do cut some ash, when it comes time to work a stave, leave two and a quarter  or two and a half inches of width at the fades, if you have that much wood.

Very little ash where I am now. Used it a lot in Maine. The emerald ash borer is killing it all now, so we  might as well use it.

Jim Davis

[jackpine]

I'm in northern Wisconsin.
Right now I am mostly cutting the less straight trees so the others can put on some size.   They are pretty crowded so I figured they might have tight growth rings, thinking that that is an advantage.     Most of the woodlot is hard maple.

I had an 8 inch white ash that had dried for a few years, and when I split it,  it naturally followed a slight spiral.    maybe 4 inches in 60.    What do you do there?   work it into a straight bow or follow the  'spiral' grain?

The ash borer hasn't got here yet.   I hoping we are too far north.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Your lucky. I live in central Michigan and our entire lower peninsula was clobbered by borers years ago. Im guessing they just haint fingered out how to fly over the pond to you!