Hornbeam Questioin

[DanaM]

That stuff is way to straight to make a bow better send it to me

[Pappy]

Looks like HHB to me,just peal the bark and work it like Hickory,It is great wood,much better
than Hickory,nothing wrong with Hickory but I like HHB much better.  The bark will peal
off much easier than Hickory from what I have seen,green or dry. Just take your time
to not damage the back.
   Pappy

[GregB]

That's HHB...I've made a couple of bows from it, and am using one of them this season hunting. Pappy is also using his hhb that he recently made. Treat them like hickory, make sure the wood is good and dry before working and sealing it! It has a good looking grain, especially at the fades where the grain feathers into the belly.  It will respond some to dry heat if you need to straighten it, but not as well as osage.

[Key]

Thanks everyone. I won't start a bow now until the end of Nov. or so. Too many hours spend hunting right now.

[Hillbilly]

Try to get the bark off those and seal the backs as soon as you can-I lost a good HHB stave to bugs a while back from leaving the bark on too long. Borers don't seem to bother debarked staves.

[Sidewinder]

I'm with DanaM those are entirely too straight to give you a challenge,Send em to me I'm a much bigger charity case.Lol     I've got an 55# HHB flatbow due any day now from Marc St.Louis. Wish I had some around here, I would be all over it like a chicken on a june bug. How long do you have to cure it before you can start working it?   Danny