Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Corvus on April 18, 2020, 02:36:06 am
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So we get massive ocean spray and they are all over. Often removing them for clients as they are basically a weed and easily grown to 10ft+ here. Always thought of it as more an arrow wood, but keep hearing about ocean spray for staves. Just kinda curious to hear stories from those of you who have worked the stuff. So far I have gathered that the hardest part is drying them and surviving checking.
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I've made two straight bows from OS. Its very strong and dense, but heavy as heck. Not fast bows at all, but tough and reliable.
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It makes good bows. The drying can be a problem. It will tear itself apart if you leave it round. If you cut it to the pith it doesn't check too much. That means that you need a piece at least 2" dia at the handle to prevent handle pop off. It shrinks a lot so even if you split it right down the middle, when it dries it will less than a semi circle. See pic. Freshly cut on the left, dry on the right.( excuse the drawing ;D it's early) Like PD said it's heavy, don't throw it in the water, it sinks. Even bone dry and salt water, it sinks. SG is about 1.2.
You can make a bow with smaller dia if you rough it out to bow shape when green but be prepared for the handle to spit as it dries. It will. Just fill the split with primitive bondo. Scrape the bark off when fresh. I use a dullish draw knife. Shellac the ends and back and give it a year. Try to keep it in a humid spot for the first couple of months. I think mid winter is the best time cut because it can slow cure for a few months. Cut more than you need because some will self destruct. It's a nice wood to work. It doesn't seem to help bark removal to cut it in the spring. I've cut lots and I've had one piece where the bark actually peeled off, the rest had to be scraped
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Well there is a ton of it here and it grows big here, so guess I will start hoarding some since I am constantly removing big bushes of the stuff. Been taking it to the farm to make into mulch, guess I won't be doing that anymore haha. It doesn't have much appeal to me, but worth keeping some to play with later and possibly some trading stock. Mainly trying to find the yew trees right now though. We have them here, but cannot seem to find any so far.
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What kind of diameter are you talking. Where I collect OS is it in the second growth Fir/ Balsam and it can get 20' tall but it rarely gets over 2" dia. If they are over 2" they are usually short sections that branch strongly.
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Constantly find them up to 4" diameter and 10-15 ft tall. Almost always pretty dang straight too. It literally grows like a weed on my little island here. Last week I took like 10 bushes to the farm and about 70% or better had diameters of 2"+. They grow in these straight vertical bundles here, sitting on a treasure trove of OS staves basically since people seem to not like it very much here and are constantly having it removed. Pretty sure I still have some to remove from a property, might be able to snap some pics later
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I think I’ve made somewhere between 40-50 OS bows. The only issue is the wood is so hard and dense it’ll SOMETIMES collapse on a weak pin knot. Finding thicc 😏 and y’all pieces is all good but the best shooters have the cleanest bellies.
A good heat treat can raise the draw weight 8-12lbs which is kinda cool. I’ve found it’s density to by just more that Osoberry-0.89SG, and Oceanspray-1.09SG
Don is right, drying is a b&$ch I cover the whole stave with shellac and forget about it for 2-4 years
this one is 1 1/8" at the handle and is 60"long #55@27" dont take much to make a solid bow
(https://i.imgur.com/VT7ng5y.jpg)
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@Bryce
Good to know, I was kinda wondering how it would take to heat treating. Looks like I will start collecting it and in a couple years will likely have more OS staves than I will ever want 😆
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I'm beginning to think that the longer it dries, the better it is. So go out and get a lifetime supply now. Ten years from now you'll thank me ;D I have popped the occasional splinter on the back. Always an "H" shape with the cross going through a pin. If you can arrange the bow so that there are no pins down the middle of the back they are almost bulletproof. If you really push it, it will chrysal
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,41218.0.html
Also take a look a "Zions" posts. He doesn't post anymore but he made quite a few OS bows
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I have only done 3 bows from OS but I loved it as a bow wood, mine were slightly over 1" wide at 50#. I would have preferred a little wider and a smaller crown but they still made great shooters.
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It's incredibly stiff wood. Makes good tool handles, mallets and fish bonkers.
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I’ve made around 10-15 ocean spray bows, and echo what everyone here is saying. Like Bryce said, pins and knots are a weakness no matter where they are on OS bows, so it’s really tough finding good pieces.
I like to cut it in the winter, remove belly wood to the pith and seal up the handle/fade area and dip the ends. I love using it for kids bows.
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Idk how to make attachments smaller in size on my phone lol. Even in this thicket of smaller ocean spray I could see a good 3 staves or so( probably more, but accounting for failures during seasoning)
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Don't forget splicing. There are so many OS pieces that are just a touch short for a bow but make great billets. The large diameter ones quite often fall in this category.
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Don't forget splicing. There are so many OS pieces that are just a touch short for a bow but make great billets. The large diameter ones quite often fall in this category.
Could not agree more.
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Don't forget splicing. There are so many OS pieces that are just a touch short for a bow but make great billets. The large diameter ones quite often fall in this category.
Good point, literally sitting on a mother load of the stuff here then lol. When hardware store is open on Monday I will have to grab some shellac so I can start gathering and sealing
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Idk how to make attachments smaller in size on my phone lol. Even in this thicket of smaller ocean spray I could see a good 3 staves or so( probably more, but accounting for failures during seasoning)
If you email the pictures to yourself, you should be able to select a smaller size. Then you can use the smaller pictures to post on here. That is what I do all the time. I hope that helps you.
Mike
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Will try that for pics, if not then guess there is imgur. Too tired to fiddle with that today lol.
So I mean I expect the answers are it is not worth it, but curious about drying some OS in a hotbox. Like I will have heaps of billet material and I know the likelihood is high for checking... That said if I wanna try to get something workable sooner and I have it to spare?
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I've never tried it but if you've got lots, go ahead. The thing is, the wood is so dense it just takes a long time for the moisture to travel through it.
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Corvus, Ocean Spray is a great bow wood, and you're dang lucky if you have lots of 2" diameter 10-15' tall shoots available! Are you in the San Juans?
I've made a few bows from OS, some more successful than others. But I have 2 tips which might be helpful:
-If you are dealing with really nice large (and by large I mean >1.75" ;D) diameter OS, you might want to consider trapping the bow back a bit. I know it sounds crazy on a stave that narrow, but the wood is so ridiculously tension strong that even with a pretty high crown and heat treated belly I've still had chrysals form where I wasn't expecting any.
-OS really likes to split, as others have mentioned, which is a pain for drying in the round, but with a big knife/junk hatchet/hammer you can split most any piece of fresh OS straight down the middle if you're careful. If you're lucky you can get two staves this way! If you're not aiming for two staves, or on smaller diameter staves, you can try splitting off ~1/3 of the piece, and then use a sharp knife to carefully score down the center of the exposed wood. I've had great success getting that initial cut to split straight to the pith, without having any other cracks form. Then clean out that crack in the handle section after the piece dries and then fill it in with epoxy to make a stiff-handle bow without laminating anything.
Hope that helps, and good luck! Excited to see some epic Ocean Spray bows soon :D
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Will try that for pics, if not then guess there is imgur. Too tired to fiddle with that today lol.
So I mean I expect the answers are it is not worth it, but curious about drying some OS in a hotbox. Like I will have heaps of billet material and I know the likelihood is high for checking... That said if I wanna try to get something workable sooner and I have it to spare?
I think your gonna be pretty shocked when you see how bad it’s gonna split open.
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Will try that for pics, if not then guess there is imgur. Too tired to fiddle with that today lol.
So I mean I expect the answers are it is not worth it, but curious about drying some OS in a hotbox. Like I will have heaps of billet material and I know the likelihood is high for checking... That said if I wanna try to get something workable sooner and I have it to spare?
I think your gonna be pretty shocked when you see how bad it’s gonna split open.
And how soon :D
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Another thing. OS bends pretty well with steam but not far. Trying to make sharpish recurves has resulted in failure for me every time. Kerfing is the only way I can put decent hooks in an OS bow and even then the wood can only be 1/4" thick either side of the kerf.
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Another thing. OS bends pretty well with steam but not far. Trying to make sharpish recurves has resulted in failure for me every time. Kerfing is the only way I can put decent hooks in an OS bow and even then the wood can only be 1/4" thick either side of the kerf.
A soak and a boil will get yah a bit more bend. And of course a proper thickness taper and smoothed edges.
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Corvus, Ocean Spray is a great bow wood, and you're dang lucky if you have lots of 2" diameter 10-15' tall shoots available! Are you in the San Juans?
Yep, exactly lol. Out in these isles OS is basically a giant weed
(Had to super crop to get size limit, will figure it out later. Not sure how resize from phone. Email did not change the size)
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Never tried to post pics before but here goes. The first is a heavy takedown. The second is a decrowned silk backed almost ambush bow.
Ocean spray https://imgur.com/gallery/QXoXhr9
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Nice, I like the partial bark back. :)
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Google a bowyer named Curt Brisky. He makes a lot of ocean spray bows and I bet he'd enjoy talking to you about them. I never shot one, but they do look pretty!
T
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Never tried to post pics before but here goes. The first is a heavy takedown. The second is a decrowned silk backed almost ambush bow.
Ocean spray https://imgur.com/gallery/QXoXhr9
Those are awesome looking bows