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Elm

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Lucasade:
I couldn't believe it - I mentioned to someone at church this morning that I was starting making bows and he said he had some elm he'd cut yesterday. That's the bit on the right. Then we wandered round his field and saw another growing in the hedge so he got the saw and that produced the other two bits. Apparently they grow fine until a certain size then the Dutch Elm disease gets them, so if you time it right there's some about in hedges. Even better the field's big enough to shoot in so if it works the bow will be shot just a few feet from where the tree grew! I just need to not mess it up, but at least I've got two spares to practice on...

PatM:
Only one of those looks like Elm.  Does your elm go through a smoother bark phase?

Lucasade:
Not sure - I've not seen enough of it. The person whose field it came from has lived there for over twenty years and told me it's an elm hedge that they came out of, but that's the only information I've got.

***

I've just looked at the staves and they all have the same bark structure, so I guess they must have a smooth bark phase.

mikekeswick:
Personally I'd only use half of the middle one.
To make it a lot easier for yourself (seeing as you are just starting out?) look for the straighest, knotfree staves you can. This will make tillering easier to read. Sure it's probably possible to get a bow out of them all but why make it a battle  ;) Once your eye is devolped and you understand how to strain the wood evenly character staves can become fun.

Lucasade:
The middle one is the one I'll be going for - I'm not going to be greedy and risk splitting that stave so I'll just go for the one bow. The intention with the other two bits is to use them for practice so I can learn how elm works, if a bow pops out of them at the other end so much better. I might have got myself access to as much hazel as I can coppice this winter which will be ideal for learning the basics.

PS I don't know if you got my text apologising for wasting your time carting a stave to Cornwall and back?

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