Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: osage outlaw on May 04, 2010, 10:59:33 am
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I think I have found a hophornbeam, or ironwood, or what ever it is called. I cut it yesterday. It is very heavy and was incredibly hard to split. It was much harder to split than osage. The bark peeled off very easy. I sealed the ends and back. The wood under the bark is kind of bumpy. Do I have the correct tree?
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/SDC10090-1.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/SDC10093.jpg)
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/SDC10091-2.jpg)
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doesn't look like it to me, HHB has a more distinct bark than that, look slike longer lines running down it, also i have never seen an HHB with that dark of heartwood, usually its just a light brownish tan heartwood.
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that looks like Elm to me. Still makes a very nice bow... :)
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I was thinking elm too,
her eis HHB: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/1941582502_ed33fa8302_b.jpg
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Elm. HHB bark is much more linear(even if spiraled) and almost like mini shagbark in some cases.
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Yep, elm
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Thanks for the help. Anyway, it is split, debarked, sealed, and put away for later. I will keep looking for the HHB. Is it hard to split?
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definately not ironwood.
I live in the sonoran desert. Ironwood is pretty abundant here. By looking at the bark, is not that of ironwood.
Not sure what it is.
Ron
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HHB can be variable in splitting ease. Sometimes tangled and interwoven, other times it will pop apart like Maple. That is less common though.
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definately not ironwood.
I live in the sonoran desert. Ironwood is pretty abundant here. By looking at the bark, is not that of ironwood.
Not sure what it is.
Ron
What you call ironwood in AZ is a different tree. There are probably a hundred different species of trees that the common name is ironwood. The most common "ironwood" in the eastern US is hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana.)
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That may be so but there are varieties of Hophornbeam in the southwest. Chisos and Knowlton Hophornbeam both may grow in that area and at least one of them grows in northern Arizona.
I'm not sure if they are ever known as Ironwood there though..
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i would have to go with the consensius here
elm
that dont look like the hhb i have here
if there are any of last years seads on it
if they are flat and roundish,elm
hhb seed pods look like a "hop" for brewing,hence part of the name "hop"horn beam
either way,split and make a bow or two
but being elm oh hhb,in my experiences,let it dry a few months then split in half,dry for a few more months then quarter it and let it season
doing this way seems to make it easier to split,the moisture content will be down and the wedge wont bounce back so easy
plus it seems to help keep grain twist down too