Thanks to fellow member/brother n law Jonathan Creason, Im taking the plunge into traditional archery. Being one to like to make stuff if I don't have to buy it, had me looking for bow wood. Well after speaking to Jonathan about local bow woods, I was on the prowl for some wood. Well it didn't take long after riding into an area that got hit by a tornado last week to find a descent black locust with a 16-18"DBH and no branches for about 6'. Trunk appears straight, apparent knots. Located the fellow that owned the land the tree was on and told him I would remove the whole thing in exchange for the tree. So I hope to end up with plenty for staves and probably a little bit of firewood as well.

Hopefully by the time it's dry I'll have learned enough to get an idea of where to start.

Also may have a lead on some freshly fallen persimmon. Going to make a call or two about it this evening. It's just laying along the side of the road, also victim of the same storm that brought the tornados to our area. Hopefully I can get it  and eventually incorporate it into a riser when I learn enough about this to tackle a nicer bow.

In the mean time looks like it'll be red oak boards and lots and lots of reading and question asking!

welcome aboard! No pun intended. Just be careful it's addictive.

Welcome to the bench! Lots of good advice and instruction here. These guys are what got me started.

Welcome! You'll learn a lot and have a blast here.

Well got a hold of the man with the persimmon trees, told me I could come get them and if we wanted to we could go around and look for another one, he thought he had a big one behind the house. Laughed and told him that was OK, I was only interested in what the storm blew over and we didn't have to go cutting down his perfectly good trees.