Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Mesophilic on April 25, 2018, 01:48:11 pm
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Hanging out at a park and found a few full length logs that have been cu down.
Here's a pic of the leaves. Is this elm? And if so, a good bowmaking variety? I have a bow saw in the truck and will take some home if so.
(https://i.imgur.com/o4Gh5BP.jpg)
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Sure looks like elm leaves.
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It's the glossy type of leaves too.Every type is'nt glossy.A little investigation into that could easy tell you what type of elm.
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I want to say slippery has the shiny top side.
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Finding out the elms that are native in your area could help.Got pic of the bark?If it's big elm maybe siberian elm.If it's from a smaller elm maybe lacebark elm.The bark will show the difference too.
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Cut up two logs, about 6 ft long and threw them in my truck.
Here's a bark pic as requested. Let me know if you all need closeups of anything or maybe a pic of the rings.
(https://i.imgur.com/ttj5XGx.jpg)
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Not sure if I should start a new thread with the "what now?" questions...
But...now to I split and debark, seal the back and ends, or can I work down to near bow dimensions to dry faster...what now?
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Take a pic of the end cut. The amount of heartwood in the branch cut makes it look like Red Elm.
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+ 1 it looks like red elm to me.
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(https://i.imgur.com/k88amvJ.jpg)
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Yep that looks like that red elm I've got here.Not sure whether siberian elm has darker heartwood.I imagine not since I don't have that here around me.The red elm here is on the lower end of density for elms.Elms are pretty diverse density wise but most are good bow wood.If you want to try it.It will make a bow.Up here not that terribly high a poundage bow though.It can make a 50#'er though at 2" wide parallel to midlimb and 66" long.
It very well could be a devil to split,but afterwards I would pop the bark off your staves as your new leaves are on already.The sap is flowing there.That'll be your back.I'd shellack it too ends and back.
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I'm at 8,000 feet and our humidity is unusually high today at 21%, does that change anything?
Also, would the elevation and low annual rainfall increase the density or have no effect do you think?
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Talked with some gentlemen at the range. Turns out this is most likely Chinese elm. Guess the story is something about the government encouraging its growth here and now it is a weed.
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Real Chinese Elm has different bark. It's more likely to be Siberian Elm which is often erroneously called Chinese Elm.
All the Siberian Elm I have seen cut has browner heartwood but it has also been seasoned and exposed to light.
It's also worth noting that Siberian and Red Elm are known to hybridise pretty readily in the wild.
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Well all you can do dieselcheese is split it up/debark it/shellack it/let it dry and make a bow to see what it is.I'm from Iowa and can really only say what I'm familiar with round here as far as elm goes.
In that dry humidity I'll get a stave of good old shag bark hickory over to ya.It'll like your area.I marked a candidate tree today that I should get 10 to 12 staves from.Sap is'nt flowing good enough yet to cut down.I want to pop all the bark off.
I heard you mention you got an elk tag.This hickory will make a plenty strong bow to take one of those.
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Pat is correct. I cut Chinese elm all the time in Taiwan and the bark is scaly and splotched. Looks nothing like that apart from the leaves. I'd also go with Siberian elm since it is normally thrown under the same blanket as Chinese elm. I am not really familiar with other types of elm in the States though. So, might be worth IDing it on a botany website. Chinese elm is a high grade bow wood as are many other species of elm, but my understanding is that Siberian elm is on the lower end of the spectrum.
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Do these knobby protrusions help ID at all? They run the whole length of each stave and made bark removal difficult.
Also wanted to ask, what do I do about these knobs on the hack? Cut them flush? Leave them be?
Do the damage marks constitute a violation on elm, or is it tough enough that these don't really matter?
(https://i.imgur.com/vRQ5t1t.jpg)
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You do good work.Bark came off clean.I'd leave those knobs alone on the back for now and let it dry.I would think in your dryer humidity area that wood will dry quite a bit faster than most areas.
A person can rough a bow out top profile to parallel even width to the tips[a good 2" wide]and to 3/4" thick limbs to dry faster.The elm [winged elm from a different state and red elm from around here] I had to clamp it to a form[plain old 2" by 4"] to make sure it did'nt warp any though.Especially lateral warp wise.A little induced reflex won't hurt while clamping it.Reducing elm with a farriers rasp is safest.A draw knife used can take out unneeded hunks.
Hard to imagine just how dry the air is by you.I have cousins in you state that have told me it's not uncommom for it to get to 10% humidity like you said too.A % that I've never seen in my area.
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Out here, it is not uncommon to detect rises in the humidity by the way your skin feels! Sure is nice for folks with sinus problems most of the time! It is usually so dry, the jackrabbit carry canteens, and the rattlesnakes steal 'em! >:D. Any year with more than 12 - 15" or rain is a wet year! But the elk and the mule deer are big!
Hawkdancer