Decisions, decisions...

[AJMag]

I'm trying to make a decision on upcoming projects and tossing around wood types and designs. At the current moment my availability to staves is pretty limited, but I'm thinking about getting my hands on either red elm, kentucky coffee, or maybe a hackberry.  I'd really like to try a hickory, but I'm questionable about that with this Houston humidity and hearing that it takes moisture easily.

My main question is on the red elm. I read in another post I searched to keep the sapwood on red elm...? Can elm be worked without a backing if only using heartwood and chased to a good ring?  Any other things to watch for on the woods I'm thinking about?

At least of all tough decisions, this is a good one either way.

[mikekeswick]

I have never used red elm but all the elms from here are bombproof in tension. Her#artwood only will be fine.

[blackhawk]

Ive worked with elm,but never used a heartwood ring as the back. Go for it,but you really dont need to chase a ring if the first sapwood ring under the bark is fine. Thats the whole allure and beauty of using whitewoods,its that you dont have to chase that dang ring(although i do enjoy chasing osage).

[SLIMBOB]

Hackberry gets my vote here.  Similar to elm in a lot of ways.  Strong in tension.  Toast the belly and you improve the compression strength to match.  Swing a dead cat and you will hit a Hackberry tree.  It grows everywhere round here, and people will often let you cut it. 

[okie64]

Never worked with red elm or kentucky coffe so I cant speak on their behalf, but I will say hackberry is a very good bow wood. Hickory is not by itself, most all whitewoods will take on more moisture than dense woods like osage. So if you want to build a hickory bow I say go for it and seal it up good when you finish it and keep it inside the house when you're not shooting it and it should be fine.

[George Tsoukalas]

As far as I know, black locust, osage and mulberry are the only woods that need heartwood backs. Whitewoods function better with sapwood backs. Typically, whitewoods don;t have that much sapwood anyway. Elms are white woods. Jawge