Quick ash growthring question

[Colindemo]

I was looking at a new ash stave i got and noticed that the outermost growthrings are thinner than the ones that are deeper into the stave. My first thought was to dig into the stave and follow a deeper and thicker growthring to act as the back of the bow. But then i thought to myself: ash is good in tension but less so in compression. Seeing as though the thicker rings are stronger isn't it better to use them as the belly to compensate for the inferior compression quality with better quality wood. What are your thoughts on this?

[Pat B]

I would use the first good ring as the back, not necessarily the thickest.

[RBLusthaus]

........ and maybe trap the back if you feel a need to compensate for the belly, or heat treat the belly, or both. 

Russ

[Colindemo]

@Russ, i was already planning on heat treating the belly but i'm unfamiliar with trapping, i'll look into it

[dwardo]

If you will only have the chalky high early content growth rings in the finished bow I would chase down.

I have had a load of ash staves in the past where the outer rings were shocking, mostly early growth and next to nawt late. I went ahead and made bows and they were awful.

Unless you have a good early/late in those thinner rings then get shut.