Wood for future bow?

[fjefman]

Last week one of my neighbors was having some trees cut. Seeing an opportunity I asked for a chunk of wood for some bushcraft use and was given a 16' section of wych elm. After sizing it up and trimming it down I am left with a fairly straight section about 7 feet long and some misc shorter sections. The long section is about 4" diameter at the thick end and 3.5" at the thin end. There were a couple of branches on this but nothing larger than 1/2" or so. I've thought about using this section for a future bow. A few questions.

1. Does wych elm make good bow material?
2. How should I store the wood for seasoning? Should I remove the bark? wax the ends?
3. If using for bow is it better to use the core or a section of the tree?
4. Do I need to split it to make a bow? If so should I do it now or later?

Any other tips on preparing this wood for a future bow?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[C_Claycomb]

It it was me, I would debark at the first chance sind the bark comes off a LOT easier when the wood is still moist. I would wax the ends, or, coat with waterproof PVA wood glue to do the same thing.

Store under cover, off the ground, preferably horizontal if you can. I like to split wood after three or four weeks. That initial time lets some of the moisture go, makes the wood eaiser to split, and seems to make it less prone to warpage or twisting.

For splitting the best tools are a sledge hammer and two to three steel wedges. That is expensive if you don't have them. I recently had some wytch elm to split and bought two more wedges to go with the one I already had. I could have done it with just two though. Working with just one wedge makes it a PITA when it doesn't have to be. Wood wedges will work, but it is better if they are well shaped, seasoned hardwood and since I didn't have anything suitable to make wood wedges with, it was less fuss to buy steel.

 

[spamel]

Could you use cold chisels for wedges? They aren't mega wide, although you can get wider bolster chisels. They would be cheap.

 

[jon r]

Wych elm is one of the best wood typrs to make a bow from!

 

[Snufkin]

Wych elm is an excellent wood. I would split it and seal the ends with wax, PVA or varnish. If you do remove the bark cover the exposed wood with PVA or varnish as well to stop it checking. At this time of year the wood is very wet so I would be inclined to leave the bark on. It is labourious to remove when the wood is seasoned but it's better than having a useless stave.
You don't need to use the heartwood, if you just remove the bark the first layer of wood provides a flawless back, provided you don't violate the growth rings.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Does wych elm check more readily than ash?

I own that the elm that I cut was felled in February so the bark was not that damp. I have gone on the advice given my US bowyers for the elm, ash, hickory and similar that they find, which is to de-bark while the wood is still green. If the log is split I would have thought that any stress due to contraction of the rings would be relieved by it being split in half/quarters.

I use the first ring under the bark as the back of the bow and find that it is very much easier not to violate that ring if the bark is removed while at least somewhat green. Maybe not just-felled-yesterday-green, but a long way from being seasoned. I also reduce the staves to about 1" thick when they have been drying for a few weeks. It speeds the seasoning and doesn't seem to hurt them. Mind you, I have had real bad problems with twisting and warpage when I have split and reduced wood that was cut in June without letting it dry a little first. :tapedshut

 

[fjefman]

At this time of year the wood is very wet so I would be inclined to leave the bark on. It is labourious to remove when the wood is seasoned but it's better than having a useless stave.
You don't need to use the heartwood, if you just remove the bark the first layer of wood provides a flawless back, provided you don't violate the growth rings.

Sounds like I have a good piece of wood here so happy about that but wish I would have read this thread earlier. I just went out and stripped the bark. It was very wet underneath. (BTW... for another project I rolled the bark up and threw it in the river to try and make some coradge out of the inner bark.)

So, now I have a naked log. I don't mind splitting it but before I do so I'd like to have a better idea of what part of the tree I will use and how much of it i need to make the bow. Ultimately I want to use the outer first layer of the trunk with unmolested growth rings for the back of the bow and up to the dark heartwood as the face?

Do I want my stave to be about 2" squared? Smaller, larger? I'd like to make the shortest bow possible given the type of wood. So I need the best 65" or so, right?

Sounds like it is best if I let it dry for a few weeks before doing this but should I half the log or quarter it?

Sorry for the load of questions. I'm confident I could make a new bow given the stave but just don't fully understand what part of the tree the stave comes from. Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Snufkin]

I've never had the opportunity to try wych elm but I've had woods check on me, particularly around pin knots when cut wet and dried rapidly in the summer heat. Having said that when I cut green wood for bows I follow Tim Bakers advice from the TBB series and reduce it straight away to near finished dimensions but leaving the tips and handle section full width. The theory being as the wood is all virtually the same thickness it wil loose moisture evenly and so not check or warp. I usually lash the stave to a board and introduce a little reflex and in a couple of weeks it's ready to finish.

 

[Snufkin]

Sounds like I have a good piece of wood here so happy about that but wish I would have read this thread earlier. I just went out and stripped the bark. It was very wet underneath. (BTW... for another project I rolled the bark up and threw it in the river to try and make some coradge out of the inner bark.)

So, now I have a naked log. I don't mind splitting it but before I do so I'd like to have a better idea of what part of the tree I will use and how much of it i need to make the bow. Ultimately I want to use the outer first layer of the trunk with unmolested growth rings for the back of the bow and up to the dark heartwood as the face?

Do I want my stave to be about 2" squared? Smaller, larger? I'd like to make the shortest bow possible given the type of wood. So I need the best 65" or so, right?

Sounds like it is best if I let it dry for a few weeks before doing this but should I half the log or quarter it?

for the load of questions. I'm confident I could make a new bow given the stave but just don't fully understand what part of the tree the stave comes from. Thanks,

Jeff

Now you've debarked it I'd split it, seal the ends and leave the bow somewhere cool to dry out. Myself. I'd coat the back with PVA but if you don't want to that's OK but I would put some glue on any knots as these tend to dry more rapidly and check.
The back of the bow is the part that faces away from you as you shoot, you want that to be the first layer of wood under the bark. I personally wouldn't try and quarter the log but halve it. It's better to have two oversize staves than risk stuffing them up trying to get four out of it.
When it come to splitting the log look at the wood and pick the best place to lay out your bow on it. You want the minimum of knots and if you have them they should be near to the centre of the limbs as possible. Then split the log with the bow central to the stave. If the log splits badly at least you'll get one bow out of it.
I would tend to go for a longer bow, depending on your draw length and your target weight 65" is possible, but when starting it is quite common for the bow to come in under weight as you take off wood to balance the limbs. If this occurs you can shorten, or "pike" the limbs to increase the draw weight. If you find you don't like the longer bow you can always shorten it and re tiller at a later date.

 

[fjefman]

Now you've debarked it I'd split it, seal the ends and leave the bow somewhere cool to dry out. Myself. I'd coat the back with PVA but if you don't want to that's OK but I would put some glue on any knots as these tend to dry more rapidly and check..

Thanks for the comments Snufkin, very helpful. Since I last posted on this subject I've started making one of the other bits of my wych elm log into a spoon. Do to this I had to split about a 20" piece of the log and I can tell you, it was not easy. The grain on this wood is like nothing I have ever worked with...very tight and interlaced. It doesn't carve very easy either. I'm now very nervous about spliting my long piece and making it into a bow. Maybe a bit ambitious for my first bow. Still plan on using it but this may be 2nd in line. My neighbor is removing a few more trees in her yard and some long and very straight 5-7" diameter sycamore trees may be coming down. I'm sure I could get them if I asked. Is this a good wood for making bows? Easier to work with than wych elm?

Thanks,

BTW.. she already gave me some nice pieces of apple...will let these season a bit before they go under the knife.

 

[bent-stick]

Everything snufkin says is spot on.

You need very sharp tools (and it still tears) and a good rasp.

It could make 2 good holmegards:

http://www.ozbow.net/phpbb2/download.php?id=1639&sid=bfaf264cbaed262a0c8bed1d4ba74bdf

This is a wych elm homegard that I'm working on...
:

I'd split it now. Or better still put it through a bandsaw. Elm can twist.

 

[Snufkin]

Bent stick beat me to it as I was going to suggest bandsawing it if you have access to the equipment. I know of one bowyer who saws his staves down with an ordinary handsaw (alot of work). It's partly the interlocking grain that makes elm such a good bow wood.
The sycamore should yield you a a decent bow if you leave it long and wide limbed as it's a member of the maple family. I wouldn't try for a high draw weight bow though. If you can get hold of it it'd be good practice wood until you feel comfortable tackling that elm.

 

[fjefman]

Bent stick beat me to it ......QUOTE]

Thanks to the both of you for the comments. My band saw isn't up to the task of my elm stick but I do have access to one that can handle it. I'll go ahead and split it and get it ready for a future bow. For now I'll try to get that sycamore for my first project.

Final question (for now) If the tree is just coming down and I debark and split now what is the shortest amount of time I should allow before attempting to finish the bow? 3 months? 6 months?

J

 

[Snufkin]

It depends how much you reduce the bowstave. If you leave it as a halved log with, say. 4" diameter it could take a couple of years to season. If you were to reduce it to near finished dimensions but leave it full width at the tips and handle, so it is essentially a plank 72" long, 2" wide and 1" deep (with extra depth at the handle) it could be ready to finish in a matter of weeks. The thing to do is weigh it every day or two, when the stave hasn't lost any weight for a period equal to a quarter of the total drying time it is ready to finish. If you do reduce it this much I'd tie it to a board to reduce the chance of it warping. You can also induce some reflex into the stave to help fight set. I wouldn't put it into too much reflex as this can make the bow tricky to tiller but an inch wouldn't cause you too many problems.

 

[bent-stick]

Mine was cut last winter and split last March or so. It's been indoors for a couple of months (which pleases 'er indoors).

I'd say ir was pretty well stable now. In some ways I wished I'd done a bit more work on it earlier, it would have been easier.