I got myself a nice piece of possible red ash split and sitting in my garage. Has anyone worked with it before that could offer up some advice? I am wondering how to do the backing with red ash. Or can I leave it un-backed like osage?
Unbacked is fine if its clean and sturdy in appearance. Ash baseball bats hold up to a pounding with no backing! Just make it wide and long enough to match your draw and it should be okay.
Thanks Pearl!
Get the bark off asap if you havent already. Seal the ends good and let her sit for a few months.
So would I be using the sap wood as a backing or chase down a ring? Just curious, I tried to find information on red ash and have not been able to really find anything.
Edit: sorry, I saw pearl's post from earlier saying I dont need a backing. So that means I will be trying to get a nice ring on it.
You dont have to chase a ring on it. If you just cut it recently the bark should peel right off and theres the back of your bow, no ring chasing necessary. I've heard of white, green, blue, black and pumpkin ash but never red ash.
From the research on the internet, I narrowed it down to that I think. It makes sense to me considering the heartwood is almost a cedar color. But it has a huge huge amount of nice white sapwood.