Lilac

[maitus]

Any new information or experience of how to dry lilac? I cut three staves, growing under my nose in my garden . I have no wish to ruin them. Pretty straights and about 10 cm in d. I have seen all old topics here about lilac. I sealed the ends and wraped them temporarily in to thin plastic film. Its cold outside, so probably anything bad will not happen naw. But what to do for next?

[DC]

For Ocean Spray and Plum(both tough to dry) I use 12" poly tubes that are about 2' longer than the staves. It's much like your plastic film but it's easier to deal with. Split or saw and seal the ends and back. I put up to 4 staves in the tube and close the ends. Every day for the first month or so if there is condensation in the tube I take the staves out and turn the tube inside out, put the staves back in and repeat. As long as there is condensation in the tube I continue this. Instead of taking the staves out everyday if there is condensation you can stick a computer fan in the tube and run it for a while. That dries the condensation pretty quick. Once it's staying dry in the tube I leave the ends open and lay the staves flat to minimise air circulation. Then I just leave them alone for six months or so. It's handy to have a few cheap hygrometers around. I put one inside the tube with the staves and compare it with the RH outside of the tube. If it's much higher the stave ain't dry. Leave it as long as you can stand and then take them out and let them finish drying. Weigh them every once in a while and write the weight on the stave. Some day the weight will stabilise.

[maitus]

Thank You DC!
Seems to be a good advice. Everything sounds logically. I would not like to split those staves very much, because i am afraid of looseing to much material from handle section. What do You think if i will not split the staves and just take the bark of and seal just part which will be bows back and the ends and dry them like You suggested, will the staves crack then?

[DC]

Do you have access to a band saw? Sometimes I saw in the handle/fades and then split outwards. If you do it this way there is a good chance that the handle will split as it dries but the split will be on the belly side so it's just cosmetic. Drying the whole log is risky because there is a high chance of it splitting somewhere and usually in the wrong spot I'm not sure about your suggestion. If you debarked the whole thing and then just sealed the ends and back it may just split the belly but I wouldn't want to bet on it. The safest way is to saw it in half and plan on a glued on handle. This lets the wood move and relieve strains that would otherwise cause splits. That way you have minimum chance of splitting and you get two bows. Any other method gets riskier and riskier. You can see the shrinkage in the picture. The top surface was flat when originally cut(red line). You can see how much it shrunk. If it was still a complete circle something would have to give. If you cut it to the center it has space to shrink.

[maitus]

Hi DC!
Your explanation is understandable. Seems to me that there is no chance to avoid splitting without splitting the stave in half. Fortunately i do have band saw at home and i will saw the staves into two peaces. Your picture illustrates wery well the reasons....
 Thank You DC !

[DC]

I wouldn't say no chance of splitting but the slower the better and giving the stresses somewhere to go improve your odds. Estonia is fairly humid I think, much like here, so you shouldn't have too much trouble.

[upstatenybowyer]

DC has covered it beautifully. The only thing I'll add is that I have successfully made a bow from lilac by roughing it out green (very close to finished dimensions) then clamping it down and crossing my fingers. It checked in the handle area but the limbs were fine.

That said, the slow way is much safer. 

P.S. Lilac is an awesome bow wood. 

[maitus]

Estonia is fairly humid I think, much like here, so you shouldn't have too much trouble.

You are a 100% right. We have bad skiing weather during all the jear ...

upstatenybowyer, did You remove the sapwood from bow back or its strong enough to leave it as a bow back?Have You used steam- or other bending technics with lilac? What do You think about sinew backing, will the belly survive if to make a shorter sinew bakced bow?

[maitus]

Hi again!
So i sawed belly side and edges off from my lilac stave, sealed ends and back and clamped it down because of the stave was too snake. But the question is: would the stave hold this shape after it dries? Should i do steambending. If yes then when, naw if its yet  green or after drying?
 The stave has a natural curves and im thinking of making asymmetrical 5 curve sinew backed bow. But i do not make big planes before the stave is dry without craks. The narrowest width on the limb is 3.5 cm and the handle thickness is the same.

[PatM]

You can read about some great sinew backed lilac bows on the flight section.  Definitely leave the sapwood alone.