Black Walnut?

[upstatenybowyer]

Howdy. Bout' to go over to a friends who has some BW trees he'd like to get rid of. Assuming there's some bow-worthy staves with sapwood and heartwood, any advice on how to proceed? Keep the sapwood? Leave just a little? Design ideas?

[barebo]

There were some old growth Black Walnuts on the Colgate college grounds that were removed and a coworker of mine handed me a plank that was over 8'long. It was about 11" wide and 5"thick!!!
He says " you make bows right??" The problem was that the chain used to drag the log has damaged the first 3/4" on the back, so I had to chase a ring. Much to my surprise, I was able to get a nice even back and he got a 68" longbow - all heartwood with no additional wood added for the handle or tips - 100% Black Walnut - chocolate brown with the most beautiful grain patterns!!!
It came in right around 50# and was 1-3/4" wide till about 12" from the tips tapered to 1/2". Took an honest 1-1/2" of set but was a nice and easy bow to shoot.
Wyatt told me that he had killed a spike horn from the ground with it, and that sealed the deal!.

Others have simply removed the bark and proceeded as usual for a white wood stave bow, and left the lighter sap wood intact.
The smaller pieces make great handles for other bows as well. Love to see what you come up with.

P.S. - I'm in central NY

[ty_in_ND]

Here's what Tim Baker says about black walnut (which reinforces what barebo said):

WALNUT: black .55. Semi-ring-porous, easy to work, elastic for its mass, similar in performance to cherry, but more tension-safe. Will try to chrysal where cherry won’t. A wonderful, overlooked bowwood. Bows can be all sapwood or all heartwood, or mixed, sapwood taking a bit more set in compression. The off-white sapwood can be worked down to 25% or so of limb thickness, creating appealing contrast with the almost black belly. Very high heartwood extractive level, so as with similar woods, it may be more resistant to water absorption. It’s reported not to warp with rising and falling humidity, possibly for this reason.

There's a fellow by the name of Jimmy Blackmon who has some interesting YouTube videos in regards to archery (some selfbow build alongs, some that talk in depth about gap shooting, etc).  Here's a video about a walnut selfbow he made (it's all sapwood in the limbs with some of the heartwood in the stiff handle).

https://youtu.be/luQiJuJ9epI

[bubby]

Do a search for gundoc, that trucker has made some great looking black walnut bows

[PatM]

Here's what Tim Baker says about black walnut (which reinforces what barebo said):

WALNUT: black .55. Semi-ring-porous, easy to work, elastic for its mass, similar in performance to cherry, but more tension-safe. Will try to chrysal where cherry won’t. A wonderful, overlooked bowwood. Bows can be all sapwood or all heartwood, or mixed, sapwood taking a bit more set in compression. The off-white sapwood can be worked down to 25% or so of limb thickness, creating appealing contrast with the almost black belly. Very high heartwood extractive level, so as with similar woods, it may be more resistant to water absorption. It’s reported not to warp with rising and falling humidity, possibly for this reason.

There's a fellow by the name of Jimmy Blackmon who has some interesting YouTube videos in regards to archery (some selfbow build alongs, some that talk in depth about gap shooting, etc).  Here's a video about a walnut selfbow he made (it's all sapwood in the limbs with some of the heartwood in the stiff handle).

https://youtu.be/luQiJuJ9epI

  Jimmy posts on here and I believe that bow was on a thread on here.  He doesn't seem to feel the heartwood is  of much use but that may just be the stuff he's had access to.

[upstatenybowyer]

 Cool. Thanks guys

[bubby]

Here's one of josh's bl walnut bows http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,52633.msg713217.html#msg713217

[barebo]

Found a pic of that longbow I made back in 2010.

[barebo]

Another - It's the Best smelling wood to shave and when tillering, the grain keeps changing and it's simply beautiful wood - I'd love to get another stave and have a go at it!

[upstatenybowyer]

Bubby, that's a beaut. Josh has got some skills! So do you barebo. Very nice!

[PatM]

Here's the thread with Jimmy's bow.  http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,36220.msg476455.html#msg476455

[upstatenybowyer]

Thanks Pat, another looker! I'm convinced BW is a wood I like to try.

[BSV]

Upstateny,I'm going to try it also I cut this last May,so this coming summer it should be dry.I'm from N.Y. also and this will be my first selfbow....Burt

[Limbit]

Keep it wide. The wood has next to zero tension issues, but has compression problems if made too narrow.  Also, this is one of the woods that you can make an all heart wood, all sap wood or a heartwood-sapwood bow out of. I've never had a clean enough piece to make a heartwood sapwood bow from, but that is my dream someday. It is just a beautiful wood and a pleasure to work with. Also surprisingly light. Makes a good backing material as well. If you want to trade a stave for a stave, let me know.

[upstatenybowyer]

Howdy Burt. Your walnut looks way better than the stuff I got today. Mine's all sapwood and wavy. Still might try one though. We've got plenty of it around us so I'll certainly be on the lookout. Best of luck to you with your first!