Ozbow

I thought I would post this here, as it is the part of the site I am most absorbed in at the moment. I have learned more from reading the various posts just here (and in a run of emails - thanks Yeoman in particular), that I am now as a Newbie feeling a lot more confident about starting to build. Heck, I'm even looking forward to the failures from the learning perspective.

The helpfulness and willingness to share information is just fantastic.

Thanks one and all.

The only lasting question I have is why do some people have success with Tassie Oak and others not?

I GOTTA SECOND THAT.
Great bunch of people and so much info, im suprised there's no membership fee

Hi -----
There are a couple of reasons
Tasmanian Oak is the trade name for any of three Eucalyptus species
Eucalyptus delegatensis, Eucalyptus obliqua and Eucalyptus regnans
Other Common Names:
Victorian Ash, Australian Oak.
And sometimes you may even get other species that when sawn are pale in colour.
Obviously there are differences in mechanical properties for the different timbers and none of them would be considered as greagt bow making prospects as far as Eucalypts go -- also they are notorious for varying in strength from one tree to the next so there will be a wide range in quality even if the species is the same..
Having said all that I suspect that with the appropriate design even the worst variety is capable of making a reasonable bow as it still has far greater strength than the American white woods that are routinely used and recommended.

Graeme

The location where trees are grown have a big bearing on their strengths. I Queensland trawler builders considered spotted gum that grew any further east than Chinchilla was not good enough for boat building. I have found that to be true for building bows as well...Glenn...

Go to the local hardware and look in the dowell section , pick out some that is labeled Tassy Oak and notice the range of density and colour across the stock .Give them all a flex test and you will notice some fine stress fractures appear usually the pinky colour stuff others take on large set usually pale coloured and others appear dense and springy usually grey coloured . These are the dowells I use for arrows and also it may be a handy guide for which lumber to choose for bows , but I wouldnt choose it as as the others have said the quality is variable . regards Perry

here here! i cant agree with you more, have become addicted to this site as I'm on holls cant help but check for new posts at least 5 times a day (usually much more lol) fantastic people who are obviously very generous with their time for anyone willing to learn and ask questions =D
that's my 2 cents lol
bandit