"Ash"king a question XD

[jayman448]

Got an ash log. this is my absolute first time attempting this so:

1. how wide do ash bows need to be (recommended)(if I can get away with 2 inches I have four staves)

2. bark on or off for drying?

3. the long was not as straight as I hoped... slight curve about half way in (might bring the one side over like three inches of center) is there hope of straightening? should I bother? did I just split firewood?

[Del the cat]

IMO, 2" is plenty.
I always dry with bark on.
With a wide flat bow I think you can prob lay it out to minimise the bend. You won't correct a sideays bend in a 2" wide limb, but you can adjust it at a narrowed handle.
Del

[Pappy]

 First welcome,enjoy the ride. 2 inches is plenty if you are planing a reasonable weight and length bow,I season with bark off,quicker and less chance for bugs. You can straighten it with heat or steam once it is laid out and floor tillered,all the ash I worked with heat straightened pretty easy. Always hope if you are dealing with clean wood,just straightening most wood is no real big deal,clean is the key.
   Pappy

[jayman448]

ok. so now ive had two different ideas on what is right... so. is two inches ok? should I do three (there for only split log in half) to cure sideways bend? will this bend be steamed out? bark on or off? lol. I have no clue. only done boards before. p.s what do you consider a reasonable length and poundage? poundage for me will never exceed 50. if I make a lower poundage bow can I get away with shorter length? I know im ahead of myself by at least 8 months if not more, but I just wanna have an idea.

[Pappy]

Yes 2 is OK. The bend can be taken out bark off and after it is seasoned and worked into close to bow dimensions. 50lbs is fine,depends on your draw length,I usually double the draw and add non moving part at least ,handle and fads. So say you draw is 26 inches,double that 52in + handle 4 inches and fads 1 1/2 x2 = 3in. total bow Nock to nock = 59 inches minimum ,longer is always safer
especially for a beginner. I just threw these numbers out because that is about what I use most of the time,you may want a longer handle or longer fads,don't matter,you can figure it the same way just change the numbers. Hope this is clear as mud.
  Pappy

[George Tsoukalas]

2 in is fine for now. You can begin to narrow it if you find it is not responding to belly removal and is getting too thin.
Yes, remove the bark carefully. Get close with a draw knife and then use a scraper Jawge

[jayman448]

k cool thx. so now I goto ask. when I come to straightening. just steam and clamp and push straight and clamp?

[WillS]

Ash steams ok, but works with dry heat much better.

I'd take the bark off asap, as it won't split as it dries.  Plus the sooner you get it off, the easier it is.  If you leave it until the wood is seasoned, it'll be a pig to remove and you risk digging too deep into the back.

If the sideways bend is a pain in the ass, and you're not keen on straightening, ash works really well turned through 90 degrees.  Flip it so that the edge rings are running along the back, and it'll be virtually bulletproof from tension failure.  Means you can lay out a straight bow regardless how the grain runs.

If not, and you want to keep the natural back as the bow back, you can lay out a straight bow across a slightly bent stave if you try and minimise the amount of run offs.  I've just finished a long narrow ash Warbow that came from a bent stave and I couldn't be bothered to straighten.  I just lay out a straight centre line despite the bend and it worked out fine.

[jayman448]

so the back ( bark taken off) is all I need? no chasing rings? (that's what I got from that). thanks for the thought on a 90 degree back. should I need to back ash? oh and what do I need for dry heat bending? like a paint peeler gun? also one last thing (we will see) there was such a nice shoot on this tree. nearly dead strait and bout seven feet before it got shoots. only about 2 inch across. will making a bow from this work well? it would be very D backed and basically just like carving a sapling.

[mikekeswick]

Will - ash is just like any wood if you violate the rings it MAY stay together but if those back fibers are cut through it is significantly weaker than one continuous ring. Leaving the bark is going to give you less chance of checking but ash isn't hard to dry at all. The key to avoid checking is make the blank as thin as possible and don't heat/put somewhere with a low humidity before it's lost the initial moisture.
Don't try and split it to get four staves (sure ash splits like a dream but....) just go for two straight ones. Being greedy with spliting can waste a lot of wood!

[Del the cat]

... Being greedy with spliting can waste a lot of wood!

Amen Brother!
Even applies to sawing!
Del

[WillS]

Will - ash is just like any wood if you violate the rings it MAY stay together but if those back fibers are cut through it is significantly weaker than one continuous ring.

Hi Mike, can't quite work out where I suggested violating the rings? You're quite right of course - any ring violation is asking for trouble, perhaps more so in ash than some other woods.  With wood like yew you can get away with a lot, but I certainly wouldn't want a violated back with ash, and wouldn't (deliberately!) suggest anybody else do it!  If my comments read as such I apologise for being confusing. 

When you turn it through 90 degrees, you're still using continuous fibres along the back, just like when you use sawn timber as backing strips.