Got me a 14" diameter one of whatever this tree is today for bow wood.
(http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k533/minden79/tree-1.jpg)
Looks like it may be wild/black cherry. Can't see the bark well enough to tell for sure though.
QuoteOriginally posted by adeeden:
Looks like it may be wild/black cherry. Can't see the bark well enough to tell for sure though.
Make good bow wood?
Ok, here ya go...the tree in question (from the leaf picture above) is all the way to the right and the two on the left...verify that they are elm?
(http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k533/minden79/tree2.jpg)
The one on the right is definately wild/black cherry. Amd I am just learning this bow building stuff so i am not sure if it is considered a good bow wood or not.
Not sure on the two on the left. Do you have leaf pictures and maybe a picture of the cut to show the grain?
do the leaves have serrated edges? the bark doesn't look much like cherry to me. it may be a black gum, but that is just a guess
QuoteOriginally posted by eman614:
do the leaves have serrated edges? the bark doesn't look much like cherry to me. it may be a black gum, but that is just a guess
Yes, leaves have fine serrated edges...to see the leaves see the very first picture in this thread.
did it have any sort of berry on it?
QuoteOriginally posted by eman614:
did it have any sort of berry on it?
Yes, little small ones maybe size of a pencil eraser or little bigger.
are they kinda oval shaped, and green? i'm pretty sure its a black gum. i think it may also be known as a tupelo,but then again i may be confused. there aresome in a swampy area near my place. according to one source it is a "borderline bow wood". maybe someone with more tree knowledge will chime in, but this is my guess
Take a pic of a saw cut end. i would like to see the sap,heart wood's.
Keep in mind guys that I am from Northern Louisiana and we don't have any black gum to my knowledge and this is more than probably going to be some sort of wild plum, pear and possibly a wild cherry but I haven't ever seen one this would be the first. I will take a pic of a cross cut tomorrow it has some nice medium shade heart wood that accounts for about 80% of the cross section.
Perfectly round little balls as fruit and not tear drop or oblong shaped.
Log on the right is black cherry. Log in the middle is elm. Unsure of log on the left. You should have black gum in Northern LA, we have it in Southern AR (El Dorado area). I've read that the black cherry will make a bow. I haven't cut one large enough for that.
Elm leaves are small-medium with saw-tooth edge. At the base of the leaf one edge should be more rounded as it attaches to the stem and the other edge attaches at a more drastic angle. The saw-tooth edge may have triple saw-tooth formation.
Stan
Leaves look like black cherry or some other kind of fruit tree. What color was the fruit? They should be mostly red and maybe some black ones this time of year. I dont know what blackgum looks like so I cant help you there. The big log on the right looks like black cherry and the two on the left look like elms. It would be easier to tell with a pic of the sawcut ends. I've never had much luck with black cherry but I know some others have. My experience has been it is much stronger in compression than tension, in other words it exploded on me.
I will get you guys some pics of the cross cuts tomorrow...thanks for the replies, was really hoping I could make a bow with the black cherry.
You do have black gum trees in Lousiana. Might be called a Tulelo tree down there. I don't think that is a tupelo though. The leaves and twig bark looks like a cherry, probably black cherry. Collect that ozzy sap and dissolve it in alcohol to make a nice varnish.
Can you take a pic of a similar tree standing?
it's in one of the TBBs. black cherry is strong in compression. page 48 in TBB vol.2. make a black cherry bow and take advantage of it's compression strength. back the bow with a tension strong wood or material. don
QuoteOriginally posted by don s:
it's in one of the TBBs. black cherry is strong in compression. page 48 in TBB vol.2. make a black cherry bow and take advantage of it's compression strength. back the bow with a tension strong wood or material. don
Just had a light bulb go off...an elm backed black cherry bow! Don, anyway, you can email me a copy or fax me a copy of the pages in that book of the black cherry build?
Ok, Tupelo is black gum, I gotcha...yeah we have some of those this isn't a tupelo though. It does have that ooozy sap coming from it though.
Ok, here is the cross section picture...oriented the same as the pic above. Tree in question is on the far right and the two on the left are elms?
(http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k533/minden79/tree3.jpg)
Cherry.
Looks like two elm and a black cherry to me. I am almost positive in that ID as I have a lot of these trtees where I grew up. As for bow wood I know elm can be good but I do not know about cherry for self bows. I bet it would make nice lams and handles so keep it and have it sawn if you dont plan on making self bows out of it.
jason, PM and e-mail sent. don
Black cherry is a favored wood among wood carvers, because it is very stable when dry and has much less tendency to develop checks and splits than most other woods.