Kirk, I was cutting a 20" red oak that hung up in smaller trees. I waited a few days before going back to it. After studying the situation I slowly removed the smaller trees that hung up the oak and it gradually lowered to the ground. As I was reducing the oak to firewood size logs a dead pine about 20' behind and not affected by what I was cutting broke in half and a piece about 8" in diameter and 12' or so long fell and hit me. When the bells stopped ringing I drove my truck back home on the other side of our property then my wife drove me to the hospital. The funny thing is I stored my saw, oil and gas under my wheel barrow like I do when cutting wood and don't remember doing it.




This is the culprit that hit me

You are right, Kirk. Only well seasoned wood should be made into a bow.
If that stave was well seasoned it would have made a 45# bow, probably. And, mulberry generally has thick growth rings. And, even with that much sapwood.

I'm no self bowyer, but working with wood less than a month old seems like you are wasting your time, and trying to build a bow from a green sapling doesn't make much sense to me...  

Some more images; in order, the front profile, a close-up of the hinge, the bow on the tree when I first saw the hinge, the growth rings when I cut it, and the cross-section after roughing out the thick end.

Well today i had a different type of wood working adventure. I finally tuned up my big saw and started a bit of wood cutting for the woodstove. But I didn't last long out there. The saw was running great, but the damn chain was seriously dull. I tried touching it up with a file out there, but the file was the wrong size. It cut better, but wasn't blowing chips like it should. 

This Husky 266 XP will run a 3' bar no problem, but i run a 28" bar for more power. When its good and sharp it will pull 3/4" chips and run though a 3' log like butter with a chisel tooth chain. So i quit early and brought it back in the shop where i found the right sized file and got a nice edge on those teeth. I'm ready to blow some chips now!





Funny thing is that this saw sure seems heavier than it used to... LOL

Quote from: Pat B on November 18, 2025, 04:05:42 PMYes, once you cause a hinge you do crush the wood cells. If not bad you might be able to recover from that. Get the rest of the limbs bending evenly without bending the hinged area any more and then heat treat the belly. That might work but it might not. You can learn a lot about the wood if you want to by trying what I suggest.
 How many growth rings are in this stave, sapwood and heartwood? BTW, mulberry can make a very good bow.

It is only 4 big thick growth rings; looks to me like only the innermost two are heartwood. Thanks so much, I may try that.

Quote from: Pat B on November 18, 2025, 09:52:38 AMKirk, a cast iron skillet couldn't have been much worse. And the bell is still ringing after almost 2 months. I've got a call into my Dr. today to see about the dizziness.

So how did you get that knot on your gourd?

Very cool

Here's something I think will be a lot of fun. Zach Ferguson will be setting up Byron's ricochet shot off a slanted board.
Three arrows for $5.00, proceeds to Children's Hospital.

I think this will look great on someone's wall.

Terry Harris

Congrats!