Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: dragonman on June 02, 2010, 04:57:48 pm

Title: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: dragonman on June 02, 2010, 04:57:48 pm
I saw this straight hawthorn tree by the side of the road last spring and I just noticed some one has cut off the top and left it standing , so it died. I sawed it down and debarked it today and there was some surface 'spalding' or rot. This can be easily scraped off with a sharp knife but does this mean the wood will be no-good, or will it be good underneath??? It still feels heavy it hasnt dried out yet, but died standing over the course of a year.

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Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: RidgeRunner on June 02, 2010, 05:06:42 pm
I would consider any white wood in that condition as firewood.

David
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: acker on June 02, 2010, 05:49:59 pm
Take the rotten wood of with your drawknife.
If you're lucky  it's just 1" deep in the wood .

acker
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: dragonman on June 02, 2010, 06:16:27 pm
It doesnt go deeper than a few scrapes with a sharp blade or I wouldnt consider using it, but was wondering if even that was a sign the wood was compromised?
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: Mark Anderson on June 02, 2010, 06:21:21 pm
I'd scrape it all of and see where it's at from there. It looks to me like it's just the cambium layer that is mis-colored which would be expected if it has been dead any amount of time. I have pulled bark off walnut and underneath it looked much like that, took a lot more scraping than I would have liked but it was fine underneath the dried cambium.
Mark
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: paganwannbe on June 02, 2010, 06:29:20 pm
This might sound a bit crazy but if you do make it and it  blows up you know not to try something like that again but if it does not you get a new bow out of it and it will probably be one of a kind to. But hey man whatever floats your boat and I know I'm not much help but if you do make try to take a video so if it blows up you can show everybody what happens when a bow breaks that has not seen it and wants to avoid it.
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: El Destructo on June 02, 2010, 08:12:49 pm
Do not waste your time with Spaulted Whitewoods...you will waste time...and possibly get Hurt when it Blows...and it will....just a matter of when...trust me...I have tried a number of them...and they hurt when they Blow......and it Blows when they Hurt.... :o
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: George Tsoukalas on June 02, 2010, 08:47:37 pm
Dead whitewood is not a good choice for bows. Jawge
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: HoBow on June 02, 2010, 09:00:42 pm
Spalted wood looks nice on many other projects- like knife handles ;)
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: Jmilbrandt on June 02, 2010, 10:16:58 pm
I would use it for fire wood i have tried some like that they all blew on me. It's not worth your time.
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: Pappy on June 03, 2010, 06:57:08 am
I would use it for fire wood also ,but if you want to give it a try, to save you some time after you get the bad looking wood off take a sliver and make a quick little small bow,maybe a foot long and see how it bends,if it bends good without breaking then go for it.Most white wood are no good and dry rot very quick when left outside in the elements. I do the small bow trick quite offten on wood I have questions about.  :)
   Pappy
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: Del the cat on June 03, 2010, 07:33:16 am
I see you are in Wales (UK like me).
I'm with commadore on this one...
If you want to see what you can get away with check out my one hour bow http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,16984.0.html  (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,16984.0.html)  It was Hazel, with nasty grey patches in most of the wood, I was going to throw it away, but quickly chopped it into a working bow.
The bottom line is make your own choice weighing up the time expended vs risk.
If it's your only available wood then it seems good enough to me, I've use similar 'standing dead' wood (Maple) and once you got under the first half inch it was beautiful.
I s'pose your local climate and insect population will make a big difference too (those guys in the USA have some mean bugs, six foot wing spans on some of 'em I've heard ::)
Del
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: Sparrow on June 03, 2010, 09:53:37 am
Pappy's dead on with the little bow technique.It tells you plenty ' Frank
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: dragonman on June 03, 2010, 04:32:26 pm
Thanks guys for the imput. Looks like the general opinion is, leave it. The bow test is a good idea though, may try it when I've got time. But I've got betterr wood, fancied trying hawthorn though and it was so straight for hawthorn ??? pity!!
Title: Re: rotten wood or not? please advise
Post by: wodpow on June 07, 2010, 10:07:18 pm
By now you should have split it out and should of noticed if a fungus has made it's way to any depth. I have used one year dead standing Hickory and the only thing that I had to deal with was those little white grub borers under the bark and going into the heart wood in places.