Most Unique Limb Veneers - PICS?

[Sixby]

They were. When I built that bow I had to sell two sets of those limbs off as seconds because of streaks in the glass that I could not detect. That really burned me. That was one beautiful and expensive piece of wood . I ended up with four sets of veneers that turned out good and two sets that I had to second.
Grrrrr. It always happens with the best stuff LOL.

God bless, Steve

[overbo]

I understand Curt but everyone of those wonderful veneers looks like you rip cut down the heart of the log. IMO, if the heart of the log was centered w/ the width of the limbs, you would get a more dramatic grain flow. In some cases, chevron like appearance. I can see that w/ the method you display, you get more from your material than just taking the heart out. The walnut bur veneers that Troy displays above is a great example. Butt those veneers together and cut out the center and then you a very dramatic limb veneer.

[Troy D. Breeding]

overbo,

The walnut part of those billets was not split down the middle by me to get the wood. That's the way I got it. I cut a 2" thick piece into two 1" pieces then layed them side by side. That's why it looks that way. With the price of some of these woods you have to get the most you can out of a piece rather than picking the best and scraping the rest. Getting one premium piece out of a $30.00 piece of wood and scraping the rest isn't cost effective when you can still have nice looking pieces by cutting it in half.

[Troy D. Breeding]

Just finished my latest run of spliced veneer billets. Waiting on a new batch of saw blades before I start cutting into veneers.



For William that just called. Here is the pics of the walnut and mango we were talking about. The first pic is the billet dry. The second is the billet after wetting with alcohol.





BTW overbo, the walnut in the picture I posted yesterday must not have been a problem for one customer. I just sold him a four piece set from both billets.

[Sixby]

When you cut your own billets out of a large piece you can lay out and get one or two super premium sets. However we have to take what we can buy from the wood dealers. Over the last few years the wood market has changed and the wood suppliers have learned to contract with large musical and furniture manufactures and we get the left overs. That is a fact of life and hard to deal with.
The one super fancy piece of koa I have in stock is just enough to make a riser and some overlays. It cost me over 300.00. That is not thirty dollars but three hundred dollars. Its pay that or not get it.
I have worked hard to develop good sellers that will actually get me good wood as have many other bowyers but believe me when it comes to top grades it is hard to come by.
That super fancy koa with the crazy quilt was 600.00. I got 32 veneers out of it. I lost at least 8 in cutting and grinding. That comes to 100.00 per bow at my cost. Add a 300. riser and in just wood alone , not counting core, carbon. ect you have 400. in materials in a bow like that before you do any labor to it at all. That is just in wood alone. This adds a whole different perspective to the game.
BTW I jumped right on those mango veneers and they were all gone almost instantly. LOL.

God bless, Steve

[Kyle Lancaster]

Had a bow once with Sapele veneers but don't have any pics of it. Anyone else have any? I think Abe builds with it sometimes.

Thanks
Kyle

[Troy D. Breeding]

Sixby,

That's why I'm doing my best to stick with alot of domestic woods. Those fancy exotic woods will get in your wallet fast. I do have to pick up a piece of exotic every now and then, but I try to stick to the ones that aren't so pricey.

[pamike]

Steve thanks for posting those black myrtle limbs. I can't post pics with new phone. Kinda been out of the loop for last couple months. I will take the time to figure it out soon. Hopefully

That Koa is sooo tempting.....

[soy]