Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Enharrington on June 10, 2015, 10:00:11 pm
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Hey guys I was hoping someone could help me identify which elm I have here. I live in upstate New York north of Albany. I am confused because the bark is less furrowed than other elms I have seen. It is slightly more scaly. It's was not a very old tree. I dont think American because it is about 1/3 dark heart wood and I thought American elm had almost no visible heart wood. I don't think slippery elm because the leaves are very smooth and a shiny dark green on the top. And I don't think rock elm because none of the branches had any cork like wings on them. The leaves were around 3 to 5 inches In length. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks - Erick
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American is my guess. But its all good elm for the most part.
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American will still have a variable amount of heartwood depending on growing conditions.
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Ok American elm it is. Thanks guys. I was hoping for rock elm. I'm curious to try a more dense elm.
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Rock Elm does not have wings on the branches, that's Winged Elm. I would be more inclined to think Slippery
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Rock elm has shaggy corky twigs but they are not uniform like those on winged Elm.
Red or Slippery has thicker branch extremities that are not as whip like as American Elm.
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Thanks for the help guys. It's hard to find useable Information with Just Google search and the book I have wasn't all that helpful to with elm either. I have limited experience making bows but so far elm is my favorite by far with HHb second. I'm just looking to experiment with different elms so I can be more selective while harvesting staves. Along with this elm I was able to get a red mulberry that came down in a storm. However it is a fine ringed large tree. The smaller ringed mulberry is not as strong right? I've only worked with mulberry once before and it was a fine ringed tree. The bow broke at about 20 inches. Idk if I stressed it too much or maybe over dried it but it exploded.
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Bark looks wrong for slippery elm. Looks like American elm to me. Slippery elm has white streaks in the trunk that look like someone poured bleach down it.
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Red elm?
Either way, how long and wide is it?
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I was thinking not slippery elm because the book I have says slippery elms leaves will be very rough. The tree was still small. Maybe eight inches at the base.
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How long a stave did you get from it?
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Longer than six foot. And one stave was out of a flat side of the tree so has no crown
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Would you be willing to trade for some osage? :D
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Ok, full disclosure, to be fair, the wood you have is superior to osage in many ways. I dont know the exact species of elm, but I have made bows from the same stuff you have and they were amazing. So, if not osage, maybe some other deal, or if not dont be shy to tell me to shove off, cause thats good wood >:D
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I've never worked Osage so absolutely I'd be willing to trade. It soaking wet as it was cut two days ago. I peeled the park off and sealed the ends. I can take a picture of the two best staves I got and post them on here tonight if you'd like.
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Yeah I need good pics and ill go through my stash to pick you out some good sage.
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This is the better out of the two staves also we had to cut a mulberry down . It is from a large tree with small growth rings though. I will be splitting that tomorrow
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With the mulberry, dependng on how thick the sap wood is, you can just remove the bark and make the sap the back and belly the heart and it works well. Just be sure to store the wood in a dry place because the sap will deteriorate if left to get rained on. Done it a few times and it works well and looks great!
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I like the stave pictured. Im grillin up some swordfish steaks, and chicken and hot dogs but I will post a few pics on here of a stave for you to be sure you like the deal.
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Perfect sounds good man. I've never traded staves before but if there's a problem you didn't see in the picture we can just swap back
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that looks just like the wych elm that grows by me here in wales uk..
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I think I found a piece of osage to trade you. Unfortunately almost all my osage is very thin ring stuff. But I found one with good rings, and mostly straight. Posting pics in a few.
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Waiting on photobucket to load. 77" long, 2" wide at the most narrow, has a hole that can be laid out to avoid or maybe even include im not sure, and to ship I may need to actually trim it down a few inches. I have had ups turn me away for wood too long.
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(http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/rocketernally/20150621_183151_zpsnckvhctu.jpg) (http://s1092.photobucket.com/user/rocketernally/media/20150621_183151_zpsnckvhctu.jpg.html)
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(http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/rocketernally/20150621_182432_zpsmf2gzhiq.jpg) (http://s1092.photobucket.com/user/rocketernally/media/20150621_182432_zpsmf2gzhiq.jpg.html)
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(http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/rocketernally/20150621_183213_zpskanppvom.jpg) (http://s1092.photobucket.com/user/rocketernally/media/20150621_183213_zpskanppvom.jpg.html)
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(http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/rocketernally/20150621_183138_zpstbcrlrkj.jpg) (http://s1092.photobucket.com/user/rocketernally/media/20150621_183138_zpstbcrlrkj.jpg.html)