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Flooded wood

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bentstick54:
I shoot with a young man several times a year that brought an osage bow to a shoot last year that he cured submerged underwater. It turned out great, and shot nice. It did take on a darker tone probably due to the water color. My understanding is the water actually draws the moisture out of the wood, therefore drying the stave faster than air drying with less risk of drying checks. I wasn’t smart enough to ask him how long he left stave submerged, or whether he left the bark on or not.

Selfbowman:
Whats that guys name and number???

superdav95:
Ya my buddy was a deep water scupa  welder for years and he told me that there still got all kinds of logs at the bottom of the st Lawrence river up here that are so hard and dense.  I think he said the same thing about it changing the wood properties.  Some of the logs which are massive are sold for big money now and they make all kinds of high end stuff with them.  I think he said they were pine logs that are pulled up after decades in the water.   Cool stuff though. 

bentstick54:
Arvin, I don’t have a phone # for him, but I can track him down. What all do you want me to ask and I’ll try to get in contact with him?

Hamish:
It might have been Elmer in the 1930's, or at least another contemporary archery author, dismissed the idea of water seasoning. The thought by contemporary bowyers at the time was it made bows with inferior cast, compared to air dried. The process lasted a couple of months, usually in a flowing stream(rather than still water like a pond). A very different process to +20 years or more of submersion.

Long term water seasoning, as mentioned in the original post, may indeed change the properties of wood, but its unlikely to be for the better in terms of performance with bows. Remember the Mary Rose bows that were salvaged around the late 1970's , early 1980's? They were in immaculate condition, when cleaned. The problem is they nearly all broke when being shot. Replicas were instead made to test the design and dimensions of the bows. The sapwood is likely to have deteriorated on the yew. Whether the heartwood had changed, I haven't heard any mention either way.

If any timber might work with the submerged treatment, osage would be the best candidate. Locust would be worth a try too.

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