Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: lesken2011 on February 27, 2012, 10:21:41 pm
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I just got back from visiting someone and he has several trees that he wants removed. I told him they looked a little like beech trees, but he said they are hackberry. Here is the biggest one.
(http://www.traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/4/b4ordxkcja0fa4.jpg)
Here is another tree with a better pic of the bark...
(http://www.traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/3/xf7fmtpbisbhpp.jpg)
He has already started on this one...
(http://www.traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/4/bnwoxyyj5rt2ak.jpg)
too late for these...
(http://www.traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/3/far3i06obmf36s.jpg)
I read some else's post about hackberry trees and the pics they posted looked nothing like this. Can one of you experts tell me whether this is a good tree for bow making? He said I can have all I want. I currently have no staves and sure would like to think I hit the jackpot!!
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None of the hackberry around here have that smooth of bark.
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southern hackberrys look a lot like that.... some smooth barked and others with warty looking places in the bark. It looks like southern hackberry to me but I am no expert.
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Those don't look anything like the hackberrys around me. Mine have the warty bumps all over the bark.
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Hackberry is very rare tree in Canada but the appearance of every one I have seen is much more Elm-like.
That looks much more like some type of Oak family tree but not beech.
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OK guys, this is not what I want to hear....You're supposed to say you are green with envy....that I hit the jackpot....that there a hundreds of great staves there...Just tiny white lies... :(
Well, I am going to keep checking to make sure there are not some bows there.
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HOLD YOUR HORSES!!!
Just because it 'might not' be hackberry, does not mean you should not snag it up!! I can see lots of bows in there. Go for it. ANY wood is better than none!
I would be happy to trade you a drawknife for some of that wood, without knowing for sure what it is.
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OK...this is what I just found with a google search. The have a picture that looks very similar to the tree I have pictured and describe it as...
American Beech Fagus Grandifolia Beech Fagaceae family
Here is the pic they had by the description
(http://www.traditionalbowman.com/hwdphotos/uploads/62/4/xsu6o0j3iaqdy4.jpg)
Sooooo? What do you think, now? Is anyone familiar with the characteristics of this tree such as tension, compression, elasticity?
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Another site had a similar picture and this is what it said about the American Beech...
American beech is a slow-growing, long-lived species that may survive for 300 to 400 years. It makes an excellent shade tree.
The wood from American beech is heavy, strong, and resistant to splitting. The harvested timber is used for rough lumber, flooring, plywood, and railroad ties. Beech wood is also used to make tool handles, baskets, veneer, and novelty items. The soft, reddish tinge of the wood makes it desirable for furniture, and its naturally, clean odor makes good food storage containers.
Twigs and leaves
American beech is a high density wood that burns efficiently and has a high heat value, so it is often used for charcoal and fuelwood. Tar from the tree, called creosote, is used to protect other woods from rotting. The leaves and bark of the tree provide extracts for the making of fabric dyes. Early American colonists even used the leaves to stuff mattresses.
Sounds like bow wood to me....maybe??
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Not a tree we have here and I have not used any, but I still say go for it. without a doubt!!
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Check out the leaf buds at the tips of the twigs. Beech buds are long slim conical shape. That is a good way to ID beach because not many trees have the same type of buds. Also beech trees usually hold some of their leaves late into winter near the trunk of the tree.
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Looks like Maple to me, allot like it. The branchesa and the way the branches come off the trunk look mapley. I have seen hackberrys in three states and none where near that.
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I'm goin' over there this weekend and get a bunch from the tree he already started taking down. What are the best steps for storing, etc. since we are not sure what it is? Cut it to 6' sections, split it into wedges 3" or so wide, seal the ends, and store in a dry place? What about spraying for bugs? If I want a couple of staves to work on soon, should I rough them to bow shape so they dry faster?
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Looks like the Beech we have up here to me. Beech makes a good bow, I rate it about the same as White Ash. Remove the bark as soon as possible. Once the bark is dry it becomes quite a bit more difficult to remove.
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Looks like beach to me,never made any bows from it but it makes good firewood and home for squirrel's to dean up for the winter. :)
Pappy
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Looks like beech to me, too. I made a bow out of beech once, long ago. It tended to follow the string a bit. Never tried heat treating it, though. ;)
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Yes that looks like Beech
And good beech at that ,most of ours is hollow no bow wood in it ,like Pappy says good fire wood and good dens for critters !!
I wood give it a go if it was here Have fun !
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It can't be Beech. There are no name's carved in it.
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It's beach .here we have them growing in woods along water ways. My granddad called them INDAIN UMBREALAS. Lighting won't hit them because there such a light wood. My old friend and bowyer CROOKETARROW told me the wood was to light and brittle for bows. He's was half IROQOUIS and had been makeing bows for over 50 years so I figgered he knew what he was talking about and never tryed it.
I know it carves like butter I found and know where there's quite a few along cliff tops I found sanging and gobbler hunting. They had LOTS of names and dates carved into them. Iv'e added my name to a few when I was a kid. I know of one that has dozzens of names and dates. It's above a ford in the river. One is TODD DOMER 1863 1 DIV, 2 ND,BRG STONEWALL JACKSON . Another about 2 miles up river a single name J. N. 1836
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It totally looks like european hackberry (celtis australis):
(http://www.floravascular.com/data_almacen/Celtis/Celtis%20australis_000882_jdf_1_1_800px.jpg)
http://tree-species.blogspot.com/2008/06/eurpean-hackberry-celtis-australis.html (http://tree-species.blogspot.com/2008/06/eurpean-hackberry-celtis-australis.html)
http://www.floravascular.com/index.php?spp=Celtis%20australis# (http://www.floravascular.com/index.php?spp=Celtis%20australis#)
It's a common tree where I live, I am 90% sure.
Make a picture of the wood and I will tell it for sure.
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Looks like beech to me - and although I never made a bow from one, plane soles and workbench tops made from beech are sought after items.
Russ
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At a glance I think it's beech.
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Pictures sure can be misleading... if it is beech, it is a darker color than what we have growing here...
Anyway, I was reading somewhere about the sawdust from beech being bad for your lungs, carcinogenic was the word they used... I think I would where a dust mask and keep the shop ventilated to be on the safe side.
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Could very well be beech. Especially with the flare at the base of the trunk we see on your 2nd pic. They look like an elephant's foot at the base. As Pat said, look at the buds. If beech they will be alternate, brown, slim, pointy and around 3/4'' long. Never did a bow of it myself, but Baker says its somewhat like maple. Should make a bow for sure.
Cheers!
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One characterisitic of identifying Beech in winter is to look for leaves on the branches. Beech trees have persistent leaves that only fall when the new growth pushes the old leaves off.
Take a short sample of the wood and split it, Beech has readily visible, fine ray flecks, The leaf buds are very hard and pointy.
http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/DENDROLOGY/wood/beech.jpg <--grain
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/fagr4578.jpg <--leaf bud
http://ilgaleja.com/blog/images/uploads/beech_wood_in_winter_1_400.jpg <--persistent leaves
The other thing to do is to poke around under the bushed to look for fallen leaves and see what you come up with. The owner's rake might have missed a few. You can rule out obvious trees like oak and locust and a fallen leaf may help you narrow down your possibilities.
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Looks like southern hackberry to me. We have lots of it around here that looks just like that. Same wood characteristics as regular hackberry. Only difference is the leaves on southern hackberry have smooth margins and the other hackberries have toothed margins on the leaves.
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Thanks, everyone who responded. I am going over there in a couple of days and take that big limb he already partly cut. While I am over there I will check around for leaves and other potential evidence that might shed some light on it. I am convinced enough to go for trying a bow out of it. I'll keep you all posted on what I find out. Thanks!!
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If you can wait another couple of weeks to cut it the bark will peel off of it like a banana. I went back and looked at your pics again and I'm about 99% positive that is southern hackberry(sugarberry). The bark is identical to the stuff we have around here and the witches brooms on the ends of the branches are a dead giveaway. Be careful cutting that big one, its pretty close to the house and it looks like its gonna fall toward it. You got lots of good bow staves in those trees.
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AROUND HEE YOUNGER TREES HAVE THAT BLOCHED BARK WHEN IT OLDED IT'S JUST SOLD GRAY BARK. IT DOS'NT LOOK LIKE OUR HACKBERRY.