Red oak board

[RJonesRCRV]

Just picked up this piece of red oak from lowes, along with another of tighter growth rings for a friend.  I was pretty surprised to find this one, with such thick rings.  It will be a while, but I want to do static recurved tips at about 45# or so.  Just wanted to share.

 

 

[Pat B]

What does the side grain look like?

[RJonesRCRV]

One side runs pretty straight. The other has 3 runouts, one of which will be gone once I bevel down the corners, one should come out when I cut that end off, and the other will hopefully land under the tip overlays if i cut a couple inches off that end but might be cutting it close.  I figure I can back it if I need to.

[George Tsoukalas]

I am seeing some run outs. It looks like the board was milled at an angle. I can't tell for sure. I'd like to see the edge grain too.Jawge

[Msturm]

Go for it!  Whats the worst that can happen?!?!?!

[passion for knowledge]

I'd say go for it, too.

Worst that can happen is you can't shoot it, but you learned something for the next one.

You never forget the lessons you learn the hard way!

Maybe back it with something other than paper - linen seems to be a traditional material that works.

[Pago]

how thick is that you could almost chase a ring and use a late growth to make your bow.

[RJonesRCRV]

Its only 3/4" thick so chasing a ring probably wont work with red oak.  I will back it for sure.  Hopefully this summerr I can find some hickory staves so I can get away from the red oak.

[dringge]

Complete rookie here. I have been thinking about doing a board bow. So the board in the picture is not too bad a choice? Im not sure what to look for and what to avoid.

[Sparky Buckwheat]

Originally posted by RJonesRCRV:
Its only 3/4" thick so chasing a ring probably wont work with red oak.  I will back it for sure.  Hopefully this summerr I can find some hickory staves so I can get away from the red oak.

What is wrong with red oak?  It is inexpensive, and if you find good grain, you can make really nice bows with them.  I have used several types of wood (red oak, yew, ipe, ash, padauk, maple and hickory) and red oak is one of my favorites.  Bow number 25 will be a home depot red oak board bow and I'm excited to get cracking on it.  Your piece looks good, especially if you back it!   Good luck!

SB

[takefive]

@dringge-
Don't know if I can do a good job of explaining it, but here goes...
You want to pick a board with ring lines that run straight (parallel with the edge) the whole length of the board.  A little side to side wave is okay as long as they don't run off the edges of the board.  This board is bias (some call it "rift") sawn.  If you look at the first picture, you can see by the rings that it was cut at about a 45 degree angle to the actual outside of the tree.  For me at least, I find more bias sawn boards than face sawn or edge (quarter) sawn ones.
Hard to be certain from the picture of the board's face, but it looks like the ring lines might run off a bit toward the far end. Looks passable to me, though.
I think of ring lines as the strings that hold everything together.  You want straight, unbroken ones the entire length of the board.
That's why I wind up looking through the entire stack of boards at the lumberyard.  Good ones aren't easy to find.

[George Tsoukalas]

There's board info on my site.
 http://traditionalarchery101.com/
Jawge

[dringge]

takefive - Thank you for the response. I have a lot to learn.

George T - Thanks for the link.

[takefive]

You bet!  I have a lot to learn yet, too.    

[George Tsoukalas]

Welcome, dringge. Jawge