What a mess.

Eastern fisher · January 20, 2008, 05:59:00 PM

I cut down a 6 inch 20 ft branch off a friends Beech tree today. She wanted it gone and I figured I could use it. Now it is a branch and it had some larger branched coming off of it. When I tried to split it would run down to the branches and then just skip to the out side and fall off. So here I have a full 72inch by 6 inch log with two halves missing off each end. Can I save this long and how do I do it. Only my first attempt but GOD I am @%$^ed. Please help. I do not know if the pics are going to show because all I am using is a cell phone camera.

Please re-size your photos to no more than 600 pix wide....thanks.

Falk · January 20, 2008, 07:01:00 PM

Beech?!?
We use it pretty much as firewood over here. Some furniture is made of it though. But it's not a bowwood at all - sorry!

Eastern fisher · January 20, 2008, 07:09:00 PM

Well that would be oh so typical for me. According to Paul Comstack you can use pretty much any fruit bearing or nut bearing tree. Beech does bear nuts Could it still work or am I wasting my time???

insttech1 · January 20, 2008, 07:32:00 PM

Do a search on here for beech. In the 5 years I've been here, I don't recall seeing it being mentioned as a bow wood, but that does not necessarily mean squat...

See Ya,
Marc

Eastern fisher · January 20, 2008, 07:47:00 PM

Thanks guys. This is a learning curve for me. VERY new at the bowyer thing and this is the only way I will learn. I will try again with a new wood.

Walt Francis · January 20, 2008, 11:12:00 PM

Whenever I have a question if a wood will make a good bow I consult Tim Baker's list of true, borderline, and non, bow woods. I got the list from another site (so I will not post it in its entirety here, but if you would like a copy pm me and I will send you his list) and have found it very helpful. Here are his thoughts on beech:

"BEECH, American .64. Diffuse-porous. Usually too twisted and gnarly" (to make a good bow).

I would suggest you try to find a more workable wood.

snapper1d · January 20, 2008, 11:29:00 PM

I have made bows from American Beech.That stuff makes a really fine bow.I have a friend who owns a saw mill and he gave me some boards if I made him a bow from it.It is some really hard and dense wood.It reminds me of hornbeam,some call it blue beach and musclewood with the hardness and thin rings.It sure is some pretty white wood.Now a limb from a beech probably would be rather knarly like what you have.

Eastern fisher · January 21, 2008, 06:11:00 AM

Walt - Thanks. I printed off that list last night. Today I am going to Chapters to purchase a book on Hardwoods of Nova Scotia. Unfortunatley alot of the woods on Tim's list do not exist here in Nova Scotia so I have to refer to the new book and Tim's list to see wyat is available locally to me.
Snapper. I think I may still try to use that log. I am going to wait until I have a few bows under my belt before I try Beech.

Eastern fisher · January 21, 2008, 06:22:00 AM

But MARK MY WORDS. You WILL see a bow here someday that I built myself. That is a for sure.

hickstick · January 21, 2008, 11:18:00 AM

david....do you have any Ash or hickory up that way. even oak (red or even white) will make a selfbow. heck even sugar or red maple will....you gotta plan out the bow accordingly for any of these woods, etc.

you're not too far from me and I got all the above plus hop hornbeam (my fav). I'd go hop hornbeam, hickory then ash as my top three locals....

got luck with your quest.

Chris Lantz · January 21, 2008, 12:49:00 PM

+1 for ash, it seems to be pretty forgiving and makes a decent bow. It's pretty easy to find a nice clear, straight piece of ash as well. Hornbeam (ironwood) is somewhat common in certain parts of Nova Scotia and seems to make a pretty good bow.

East Coast Specialty Hardwoods in Dartmouth sell Hickory boards if you want to go that route. They may also have split logs of certain species in stock. It might be worth checking them out if you wanted to buy some material rather then cutting your own (ie: if you're like me and can't wait for the wood you cut to dry).

northern fisher · January 21, 2008, 06:03:00 PM

Take a deep breath Dave (he he).Remember buddy most of the good things in life don't come easy.I got faith in ya pal.You'll get one built before I do.

MikeC · January 21, 2008, 07:10:00 PM

Never heard of it used for bow wood but it was used in the early to middle 1700's for gunstocks. If you can find a nice piece it makes a pretty stock.

Eastern fisher · January 21, 2008, 07:17:00 PM

hickstick--We have red and white oak as well as well as white ash, no hickory.

Chris--I am going to try to find some ironwood in the woods around here. I just have to get a good picture of it to see what it looks like. Eastcoast WS does not have logs at all. Beleive me, I tried there already. I really want to try a log first before I go the board root. And yes I am like you. Patience is not my thing.

Northern fisher--You da man. Thanks for the help my best friend

R H Clark · January 21, 2008, 08:19:00 PM

Eastern fisher,
When I first started making selfbows I got in a hurry to finish and ruined a few bows.I learned when I started getting anxious and wanted to hurry up and finish it was time to quit for the day.

Good luck,I'm sure you can do it.
Randy

hickstick · January 21, 2008, 08:19:00 PM

just be careful with the 'ironwood' common name..there is a type of beech (think its blue beech or American Hornbeam) that also is sometimes called 'ironwood' but its far from it.
heres some pics hop hornbeam-ironwood

Eastern fisher · January 22, 2008, 09:18:00 AM

RH. I just want to find the proper wood. Once I have that I will be in no rsh to finish. I am just having problems finding the proper wood because here in Nova Scotia our selection is not great.

A friend of mine found two Hornbeam trees that I am going to look at this afternoon. Assuming I can get there before the snow starts falling again.

Danny Roberts · January 22, 2008, 09:44:00 AM

You can read all you want. There are woods out there that some have used and they say they are useless and others have made fine shooting bows out of them. I know a buddy and myself used maple and they both blew up on us. I'm sure someone has made maple bows and had good luck. Maybe my tree I cut was growing in the wrong place ? The main thing is, take your time. Good luck and looking forward to the pictures of your 1st bow.
DR

R H Clark · January 22, 2008, 10:28:00 AM

Eastern fisher,
Good luck finding a good wood.I didn't mean to imply you were being impatient.I just wanted to share the one thing that helped me the most to get a good bow.

Chris Lantz · January 22, 2008, 01:14:00 PM

I don't know what species of Hornbeam is found in Nova Scotia but the stuff is very hard. My father has made a few bows out of it that turned out pretty nice and it seems to be commonly used by bowyers in the province. The main problem with Hornbeam is finding a nice straight piece, it tends to grow twisted and crooked.

Good luck with the bow wood search