One piece elm

[reneyreynolds]

Hello all,

I’m currently trying to get my first selfbow made out of elm. I got most of the way roughed in and I notice this knot and wonder if it’s going to be the end of it. What do you guys with experience think? Is it a goner? The knot itself is on the side but it does have some surroundings running around to the belly side. Thoughts

[Pat B]

I can't picture where in the bow this knot is. If it is in the handle it shouldn't be a problem. If in a limb it could be trouble.

[reneyreynolds]

I don’t have a good picture at the moment that shows where but it’s in the limb for sure. I may have to try to carve it out and see if there’s still enough wood to get any strength out of. Might as well at this point I suppose

[bucknut]

Like Pat said it's hard to tell where on the bow it is and it may be too late?  Generally on a knot you will leave extra wood around it as support for the week point. Also the condition of the knot makes a little difference. solid or punky and rotten. I would leave as much there as possible when thinning the limbs and keep on trucking. You learn a lot more from one like this than a perfect straight grain stave. We have all had them break on us. Just part of the selfbow apprenticeship. Good thing is you are only a chainsaw and a little sweat away from another stave.

[reneyreynolds]

Here’s a better picture of the knot area. Its the darker area obviously but it’s a little more than a foot from the grip area. Its a hard know area, scrapers and lives etc skip hard across it instead of gouging into it. There is definitely still some extra material above the knot area on the back side so I think I’ll try to remove most of it and see what happens