I just wanted to write a little praise on the thick vessel layer found in ring porous hardwood. I've observed a general negative attitude toward this layer, and not without cause. It lowers density, and it spongy, punky, good for little.
Well today I worked on my favorite bow, mulberry. After doing a thorough job of almost ruining it trying to get the tiller PERFECT (perfect youth bow that is), I decided to straighten out some tip deflex I originally intended to keep, but it was making my tiller wonky. So I clamped it on a board straight for tempering, straightening it in the same step and of course *pop*. Tweaked it too much, too quick, and a perpendicular crack on the belly about 6" from the tip. Well, scraped it a little and the vessel layer stopped that crack dead in its tracks and I was able to remove it without significant wood removal. Well, it appears that way, maybe I'll eat my words and cry about a broken limb in a week or so.
I've noticed the same thing with drying checks on the back of osage staves. They usually terminate in the earlywood vessel layer, leading me to believe the propogation of checks throughout multiple rings is a stepwise process.
Well, that's my observation for today. Here's to hoping heat treatment and less tip deflex will save my mulberry from being a youth bow.
