Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: redhillwoods on April 13, 2021, 09:17:03 am
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Hi everyone
I've just split up a White Oak log into many staves. The arbourist that l got it from said he harvested it one year ago. It's been stored off the ground in a log pile ever since. I always prefer to cut standing trees for staves but these circumstances seemed fine. However, the first 1/2"-1" just under the bark (mainly the sapwood) is in the early stages of rot. The heartwood seems fine. Thoughts?
Thanks everyone
Dave
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White woods need to be split as soon as they hit the ground and put in the in the dry to make bow wood, I strongly suspect your wood is firewood.
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Oh boy. Two days of hard splitting.
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I agree with Eric.
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Cut your log to desired length then place your draw knife in a growth ring below the rot. Smack it real firmly with a rubber mallet or a log. It should split right down the growth ring. Keep smacking it until you have two staves (one with rot and the other with heart wood. If the inner stave of heartwood is good, you can proceed just like you would have done beginning just after the bark was removed. If it's too hard to chase a ring to get a smooth back, you can plane it down and back it like you would with a board bow. I just did this and used the heart wood for a kid's bow. I backed it using the Kramer Ammons method.
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You don't want to waste time on bad materials, the first stages of rot aren't necessarily detectible.
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You don't want to waste time on bad materials, the first stages of rot aren't necessarily detectible.
This ^^^
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You can bet the wood boogers been in it if it was stored with bark on and not sealed. It may well be OK but you going to have to get into to it to really know more.
Hedge~
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White oak heartwood, is a lot more decay resistant than the sapwood. Most white woods are about as resistant to rot as oak sapwood(not resistant at all)I have some old splits, non bow related, that have been sitting around in my backyard for at least a decade. The sapwood is cactus, powdery and decayed but the heartwood is solid. It doesn't mean it would work for a bow now, but after only a year cut the heartwood could still be viable.
I would remove the sapwood on one stave and make a bow from it. If it doesn't work, then the rest of the splits can be used for windsor chair legs, or other chair parts etc.