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Woods superior to osage

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Badger:
 When all things are considered, I still consider Osage #1, but there are several species of trees I would take over Osage when I can find a rare, good stave.

#1  Ocean spray. I believe this is about the fastest wood I have ever worked. But hard to dry without splitting, hard to find a decent size stave.
#2 Purple plum, this is my all-time favorite for its flexibility, stiffness and workability.
#3  Chinese elm, like hickory it tends  to be somewhat hygroscopic but if kept around 6% it is super fast and virtually unbreakable even with massive violations. No need to chase a ring or even worry about cutting across the grain. The city cuts them down all the time but the trunks weigh over 1,000# and it is virtually impossible to split so must be sawed.

RyanY:
I can’t speak to this from experience but yew seems to be such an interesting wood in its properties. Should be included. I also find hop hornbeam unique in how stiff it is compared to other woods.

willie:
osage (and yew) will both bend further than most other woods without taking too much set, allowing narrower and/or thicker limbs for a particular design.

all woods take set when worked to the max  or overworked, but I wonder if the woods that Badger is investigating or searching for have a quality that does not really have a name. The ability to work repeatedly without loss of strength just below that point where set finally happens.

Badger:

--- Quote from: willie on June 04, 2025, 03:54:50 pm ---osage (and yew) will both bend further than most other woods without taking too much set, allowing narrower and/or thicker limbs for a particular design.

all woods take set when worked to the max  or overworked, but I wonder if the woods that Badger is investigating or searching for have a quality that does not really have a name. The ability to work repeatedly without loss of strength just below that point where set finally happens.

--- End quote ---

  I forgot to mention yew, purple plum has the same feel as yew to me when drawing and tillering. I wish I knew how to perform an engineering-grade bend test. I suspect that purple plum can surpass yew, ( currently #1) I haven't had the pleasure of working much purple plum but I do remember that blown-away feeling I had while working with it.  Most of the elms are excellent and I feel slightly better than hickory, but Chinese elm has a quality that would allow it to cut into boards for self-bows without worrying about grain run out, it is also fast growing tree that often grows straight as a pole for 10 or 12 feet. Nice creamy white wood, strong and I suspect low hysteresis for a white wood.

Selfbowman:
Y’all know me . Osage is king. But mt juniper does well at the salt flats. Also ipa and boo.

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