sapwood on elm

[matts2]

I was cutting some pieces for a wood lam and I have some elm.  some of the pieces have quite a bit of sapwood in them.  Will that be ok for core or belly?

[Pat B]

Yes!  Elm is very strong wood so under glass you should have no problems with it.

[matts2]

There will be no glass on this bow.  These pieces at planed to 0.20" now with thoughts of being used on belly.  I like the looks of having the sapwood there, but not sure if there is a strength difference that might cause a twist.

[okie64]

I've split the heartwood and sapwood 50/50 with hickory and pecan before and it worked fine. On the belly I dont think it will matter.

[Pat B]

I don't know how well elm would be for a belly lam. A more compression strong wood like osage, ipe or yew would be more appropriare.
 I just finished a 60" elm static recurve for the Bow Trade and it came out real nice. I did temper the belly though.

[CaptainJ]

Elm is great in tension.
The sapwood and heartwood seem to be about the same.
For my elm self bows I just peel the bark and tiller with the sapwood as the back.
CJ