Anyone Care To Guess

[soy]

Juniper???  

[2treks]

Mark is on it, Lilac.
(or Roy is on it with the Mongolian tulip)

Another thought is Magnolia but it has been a longtime since I fooled with it but I think it was dense and heavy.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Must be dang good whitewood or Dan wouldnt be wasting time with a knot that big in it. Pretty grain Dan.

[Hojo]

I'll also go with Mark.  The smell of lilac wood is amazing!

[Dan Landis]

Lilac is it.  It has a lot of good properties, dense, hard, pretty grain, and like Hojo said, it smells amazing when you work it.  Hard to come by a piece long and straight enough to work with.  the piece I have was about 40" long and 3" in dia.  Split it and spliced at handle. I have it floor tillered, but found a worm hole in one limb about mid limb, trying to decide how to proceed.  Thinking of possibly putting a sinew patch on that area.

 

[tenbrook]

Fill the worm hole with some CA and roll on my friend!

[2treks]

When we bought our house it was over run with brush and critters. I was working in the side yard/field and some grinners came passing thru as if they owned the place. I grabbed the closeest thumper and went to work. It was a lilac branch about 3.5' long with a little bulb at one end. That branch helped me clean up the critter problem for a number of years. I still have alot of lilac and have had my eye on a good sized trunk, maybe this year I will get to it.
I have some smaller hunks that I want to put on a knife for scales. The grain is really cool.

That hole should be fine with a filling and a wrap of sinew.

CTT

[rmorris]

Ya tricked me Dan! We have Lilac here in the desert. It does not grow as big as you all are talking about  but ours has some cool purple streaks in it and smells great. I use it to make pens from time to time.

[Dan Landis]

Thanks for the info guys, already filled with CA and will put some sinew down just for insurance.
Don't have hide glue, would it be ok to use TB3 for the sinew?
Two Tracks - If you can get a piece or two big enough I think it will make a fine bow.  Mine has about 3" or more of natural reflex and so far hasn't lost any through flooe tillering.

Ralph, this had the red/purple streaks through it as well, but was lost in the floor tillering.

[2treks]

I think I can get one long stave but a couple sets of billets for sure. I looked for info on a lilac bow a few years ago but came up empty.
Good luck with your bow.

CTT

[KellyG]

Dan now I want to throw up. Last year just after I got back there was a long row of lilacs that had the tallest lilacs I have ever seen. They cut and piled it up. I never saw the folks doing it because I would have stopped and asked for a couple of peices.
there were some that were as big as a bicep and 12' long.

Oh well. I guess I just have to go and get some hedge and console myself.

[wood carver 2]

Dumb question here, but I have to ask. Are these the same lilacs that grow as shrubs and put out white or purple flower clusters in the spring?
They grow fast and I've seen some big ones up here.
Dave.

[Mark Baker]

I've had good luck filling some rather large holes with hot melt glue.   Clean the holes well, use CA if needed to solidify any loose or cracked areas, then fill the hole with hot melt.  It is a bit elastic, and moves with the limb.

[Dan Landis]

Two Tracks, hope you can get enough to give it a try.  I hear it is hard to get it dried without checking.  I split mine and sealed the ends with several coats of shellac and let it set for almost 2 years.  

Kelly, never seen any that nice.  After working this piece, I'll be on the look out for more.

Dave, yes it's the same shrub.

Mark, thanks for the hot melt tip, but I already filled it with CA.  It was only about 1/16" in dia., but deep.  I'll keep  the hot melt in mind for the next time.

[wood carver 2]

Thanks Dan, I'll be keeping an eye out for some big ones this spring. You're not kidding about it checking badly. I cut some 2" pieces from a bush in my yard for walking sticks a couple of years ago. They peeled really easily and I set them aside in the shade to let the surface water dry off while I finished trimming the rest of the shrubs. In no time at all they filled with small checks, and these quickly opened up into big cracks.
Dave.

[Frosty the Bowman]

OMG, finally something I know what it looks like, and that we have it in town.

So while it sounds like a pain, I will be on the look out now, see people cutting it down every year, in fact we are named the "lilac city".
   in fact I know of a city park with ahuge lilac garden  

[wood carver 2]

Headline in the Spokane News a few days from now: " Man arrested after huge old lilac cut down in city park. Perp. claimed to be in need of bow building wood."
   
Dave.

[Knawbone]

LiLac

[KellyG]

Dan I bet I never seen another one like that either!