Wednesday 6 July 2011

More Scavenging

I went back and tidied up the last badly sawn Hornbeam and took a scrawny length of the bit which had been cut down. One whole side of it had been chaffed away, with no bark and was rotting. You wouldn't think it was worth picking up, but a few minutes with the axe chopping away the bad stuff has given me a stave to make a quick primitive bow with a D shaped back.
It will allow me to have a try with the Hornbeam as it will season quickly. I painted the ends of all the timber with PVA builders adhesive to stop it drying too quick at the ends and splitting (checking), I've read that Hornbeam is prone to checking. I also picked up a nice fat bit of Hazel, a bit of rot has started at one end, but there should be a stave in there.
The beauty of picking up stuff like this is that you can try it out without the worry of working some carefully glued up stave or a precious bit of Yew which you've been seasoning for a year, it's also good to dry different woods.

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