Hello,

Up to this point I've only made bows out of ash boards, and while I've been successful, I was willing to go the extra step and start from a log.

So I'm gonna get my first ash log (9 inches at smaller end) tonight and I'd like to know what experienced bowyers think of my plan.

1-Split the log in 4, bring it back home. As it's very long (9 feet), I don't think I need to seal the ends.
2-Remove the bark.
3-Inspect the staves and find the optimum way to resplit or cut them to make the most of the log.

I'm planning on making a stove pipe dryer (as per "The Bent Stick").

One question remain: should I rough out bow "blanks" as soon as possible and let *them* dry, or should I leave the wood to dry in bigger chunks?

Thanks

Loa

[Edit: new question lower in the thread]

If you rough the bows out you could probably have them dried in a matter of days with the light bulb, stove pipe drier.

I think you should for sure seal the ends on a green log and if you peel the bark you should probably seal the back of the bow also.
Other than that it sounds good. The smaller bow blanks will dry quicker.
Just my two cents.
Mark

Hello,

I may start with sealing the ends of half a log and then rough out bows on the other half. If one method fails at least I have 50% left!  :-)

I usually seal my finished bows with boiled linseed oil. Would that work for the rough bows' backs?

Thanks

Loa

I rough them out as soon as I can.  Defintiely seal the ends after you cut it down to a manageable size.

Anything that keeps the moisture from escaping the wood too quickly will work, the ends of a stave/log is where moisture escapes the fastest. But sealing the back of a green stave or bow blank is almost always good insurance once the bark is removed. Once sealed you can introduce heat to force dry at a quicker rate but you do run the risk of small cracks. I've ruined a few bow blanks drying them too fast.

What are you guys using to seal it on the ends?

Hello,

Thanks for the added input.

Here's the updated plan:
1-split the log in quarters, remove the bark (and put oil on the ends and backs of the quarters I don't plan on making into bows soon).
2-inspect the wood and determine how to best cut it to get the most staves out of it.
3-rough out some bow blanks, leaving enough wood to prevent warping (was thinking 2.5-3 inches wide by 1.5 thick) and putting oil on the backs.
4-place them in the stove pipe oven in short intervals until reasonably dry.

Then finally make the bows when the moisture meter reads between 8% and 10%.

Sounds good?

Thanks again,

Loa

ash splits quite easily

seal with shellac, or wood glue or water based varnish.

Shellac is hard to beat. It seals against moisture very well, dries in a few minutes, even over wet wood, and is a thin coat that can be easily scraped or sanded away.

I wouldn't use any type of oil to try to seal wet wood, or bow wood that I want no penetration on.

In your plan... in Item #1, I would seal ALL ends and backs, with shellac, even if I planned to make a bow with one of them the very next morning.

I've made a few ash bows. Made good bows. Cut my own and followed Paul's info and thoughts.

Since you will have a few splits, try leaving whole splits and work the other down to close blanks. For quicker drying!

If you want to try sinewing, ash would be a good choice.

As for sealing, wood glue works great. Cheap, easy to get and apply, and clean-up!

Oh, is this white ash your cutting?

Hello,

I got the log (yes it's white ash) and the ends and backs have been sealed, and now I have a new question.

I removed the bark before bringing it in, and was planning to use the exposed wood as the back of my bows. Only I discovered that there was about 3/8ths of an inch of very tiny and dense growth rings immediately below the bark.

I include two pics of one stave to show those rings. About 1/4 of an inch below those tiny rings, there's a very nice and thick ring I could work down to.

Should I keep my original plan, or should I remove those very tiny rings?

Thanks
 
Important note: the contrast has been greatly increased to show the growth rings more clearly. The wood looks like typical white ash.

 


Loa

Generally you can leave the first wood under the bark as your back, on a white wood bow. However I don't believe there are any reasons, other than extra work, why you can't chase a ring. Can be good practice.

Hello Razorback,

Is it normal for white woods to have approximately 10 layers of paper thin rings under the bark?

I revealed those 7 rings (in the 2nd pic) using a scraper in 30 seconds.

Loa