a question on black walnut

[sailordad]

 hi everyone,

i have a question regarding black walnut.

the snap on tool rep that comesto our shop was telling me he had some wood for me, i tought cool. then he tells me its black walnut

so i go out to his place and he shows me this very large tree in his backyard,i ginormous black walnut tree. he pooint to two dead limbs.
both of which i guy should be able to get a couple of decent staves from. he said that this is the first year that the didnt produce leaves on those
two limbs,one already has fungus growing on it the other doesnt. then he point to another limb that hasto be atleast thirty feet long,has several bends and turns in it
but has severfal sections that could be very usable.

the question is   can you chase a ring on black walnut like you can on hedge?

i'm thinking that if it is possible to chase a ring a gut could get a couple of decent staves out of that dead limb also.
or would it need to be backed?


thanks in advance

                                                            peace,
                                                                  tim

[sonny]

yes you can chase a ring but it's different than chasing a ring in osage- there's a different feel to it, that is.
I cut a black walnut several years ago that had bugs in the sapwood . fortunately enough they had only gone down a ring or two and I was able to get two bows from that log. I ended up breaking one of them...the second is still going strong.

 

[Rich Saffold]

You can chase a ring like on osage.. The dead limb could go either way, but I'd concentrate on the healthier wood first.. you can also use the first ring of heartwood as well if there are no bugs, and leave the back round if you wish too..

[bcbull]

 tim iv made a few  black walnut  what i did is leave the white sap wood on and make that back with the white wood ,,,choclet wood for the belly  last one i made was a modoc style flat bow i backed it with rawhide  worked good  the olny thing id worry about is  the funges  if you have a lot check it out  and make ur walnut bow wide  lots wider than osage good luck

[Pat B]

I'm working on a hickory backed walnut now for someone. I have made others that were fair shooters. They were sapwood. I also made a hickory backed heartwood ELB that turned out nice but fretted just below the handle. I believe that was my fault. I gave it to a friend and he still shoots it occasionally.
   I wouldn't bother with the wood that already has been effected by fungi. It would be good for knife handles or other woodworking projects but I would not use it for a bow.      Pat

[Adam Keiper]

Black walnut will make a bow, but stay away from the limbs with fungus.  Reputedly low in tension strength, a backing of some type is in order, even if a single ring is meticulously chased.  Here's a 70", 60# hickory backed ELB that I made a couple of years ago.  I shot the heck out of it during the first year, but not so much in the last.  Still stands stove pipe straight.  It's a little slower than my usual osage flatbows, but interestingly, the gap closes to within a couple fps when really heavy (~750 grn) are used.

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[Pat B]

Beautiful bow, AK and a fine example of what can be done with BW. Looks like you got a smooth even bend throughout the bow.     Pat