# Went Hunting Today and Look what I Caught



## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

The forks are Mountain Laurel and Rhododendrum

The big block is Walnut. (Would this make a good board cut?)


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

That block of wood looks awesome for some slingshots.


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## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

Nice looking forks for sure, and that block, what a nice score that was!

sean


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Some nice looking forks there.


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

I use to have a nice heavy duty industrial Delta bandsaw, that would make short work of the Walnut. All I have now is a small 1968 Craftsman bandsaw (Too much wood).

I have looked at the block for some time and can't decide where to start. There is enough wood to cut several thin SS if I don't attempt to make a recurve/straight wrist SS.

I do believe I'll ask Flippinout to take a look at the block and seek his expertise!

As far as the forks go, I have read several posts regarding "curing/drying" out the forks to begin work. There seems to be some conflicting information that has me confused..

i would like to know the proper steps to follow, from post harvest to first shot.

Thanks in advance!

Bill


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## Rockape66 (Dec 18, 2011)

*Take care, Bill. Mountain laurel is toxic, and I believe rhododendron maybe also. At minimum I would wear a dust mask, and do some research for special considerations. Definately do not burn the mountain laurel.*


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

I grew up cooking my food on laurel and ivey......maybe that's what's wrong with me. LOL

Seriously I never heard anything about it being toxic, like I said, I have cooked with it, made whistles and noise makers out of it and of course slingshots. BTW Where I am from Rhododendron is called laurel and laurel is called ivey, strange I know. Chris


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## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Hello!!!! Those forks are already made slingshots, courtesy of Mother Nature








In Portugal, there is plenty of laurel...it's used in cuisine (the leafs). There are, though, some toxic species of laurel.
The time of drying, in the forks, may depend on the types of wood. Olive tree and other fruit trees are of slow drying. Some bushes too. The eucalyptus, in my experience, dries relatively fast. Chestnut dries fast or slow, depending also of the climate...there was some forks that i've grabbed that dried in a couple of days. But, whatever you do, never leave recent harvested forks on the Sun to dry...it cracks for sure!!


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## Rockape66 (Dec 18, 2011)

*We had a couple of campers from the area a few years ago. Two guys late teens early twenties. They were found dead in their sleeping bags. It was reported that they died from cooking brats and hot dogs on mountain laurel sticks.*


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

Looked it up and it is definitely toxic, however, most of the toxin is concentrated in the leaves and flowers. This is the first I have ever heard of it being toxic and I have never known of anyone getting sick from it. Chris


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## Jesus Freak (Dec 31, 2011)

Those look like they would make good slingshots...that one block looks like it would make a lot of slingshots!


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

I have a couple of Mountian Laurel. Thay never made me sick, but man some Yew did. Just wear a dusk mask, which is advised when sanding any wood. -- Tex


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

wanut makes beautiful slings, i have an manchurian walnut ss drying at the moment, it has really cool grain............................. do it!


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

nice little harvest. looka tha size o that walnut block! it's bigger than your house!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

August West said:


> I grew up cooking my food on laurel and ivey......maybe that's what's wrong with me. LOL
> 
> Seriously I never heard anything about it being toxic, like I said, I have cooked with it, made whistles and noise makers out of it and of course slingshots. BTW Where I am from Rhododendron is called laurel and laurel is called ivey, strange I know. Chris


Chris, some people around here call the Ivy, Laurel, the Rhododendron, Ivy and the Laurel, Holly.Of course, now, we have a huge population of non-native residents and with all the hybrids, it is a landscapers nightmare. When I was growing up,it was Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Ivy and Holly. I too, cooked on it and whittled it. The one thing that I would not do, is tie my Horse up to either. Had a cousin once that tied is Horse up to a Mountain Laurel.The next morning, we all went to feed our Horses, and, all he could do, is, " Kick a Dead Horse "! A Horse will not eat Rhodo, but if you tie them to a Mtn. Laurel, it will be their last meal. Walnut leaves is not good either, but if you keep your Horse fed well it will not eat it. Down here, after an ice storm, and you raise cattle, you'd better get up and check your fence-line for Wild Cherry, it is real toxic to cattle.


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Btoon84 said:


> nice little harvest. looka tha size o that walnut block! it's bigger than your house!


I didn't notice the optical illusion, until I saw the picture on the monitor Had an instructor once that always said, "Subject placement, Subject placement!" Sometimes the picture does come out pretty cool.

The block of Walnut is about (haven't measured) 3" x8"x10". Last week, I had to have some firewood delivered and it was on the truck along with five or six other chunks. This was the most uniform. I am heading to the wood pile to see if there is any more. It appears that Wood Man cut down a huge Walnut tree and busted it up for firewood.


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## adeptus_minor (Jan 20, 2012)

WTBJR said:


> The block of Walnut is about (haven't measured) 3" x8"x10". Last week, I had to have some firewood delivered and it was on the truck along with five or six other chunks. This was the most uniform. I am heading to the wood pile to see if there is any more. It appears that Wood Man cut down a huge Walnut tree and busted it up for firewood.


That's a shame... I hate to see good walnut go up in smoke.
Then again, it might not have been a good lumber tree to begin with.
I'm glad you were able to find a usable piece in that.


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

if you use a froe you could split that walnut into boards. Even a very nice froe is waaayyyy less expensive than a bandsaw capable of resawing a chunk like that. besides froe's are cool!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

The Gopher said:


> if you use a froe you could split that walnut into boards. Even a very nice froe is waaayyyy less expensive than a bandsaw capable of resawing a chunk like that. besides froe's are cool!


I just returned from the Wood Man with five or six more pieces, but none as uniform as this one. There are a couple, that have some knots and curls. I am not sure if they'll make a good SS or not.

I have access to a froe and could split the chunk, but I am sorta thinking of using the whole piece and cutting a "True", "Straight Wrist", Recurve Bow type grip. I will seek expert advice before I cut this piece,


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

Save the straightest piece for splitting into boards, use the less-straight pieces for the custom.


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

newconvert said:


> wanut makes beautiful slings, i have an manchurian walnut ss drying at the moment, it has really cool grain............................. do it!


This is Black Walnut. Where is Manchurian Walnut from? Is the grain and color similar. White Walnut would be nice as well


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

The Gopher said:


> Save the straightest piece for splitting into boards, use the less-straight pieces for the custom.


There is one piece that the grain has a nice twist/curl that just might custom fine. The important thing is to have the forks run with the grain,right?If so this piece may be a real fine piece. It might be a pain to work with.

The tree was dead and the wood has been in a pile for several weeks. How much drying does it need before shaping. How will I know when it is right for carving?

Should i go ahead and debark the naturals?. The bark on these two species is very thin.I do have a wood stove that is sitting on a tile hearth, with 6" clearance under the stove.

Thanks for the advice

Bill


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

yup keep the forks inthe same direction as the grain.

A block of wood that size will take forever to fully dry, i'd rough it to a more usable size/shape and then let i dry some more from there.

As far as the naturals go, I always seal the cut ends with wood glue (i use titebond 2), just smear it on and let them dry naturally for a month or so indoors and you will be fine. I leave the bark on. You could use a microwave too if you wanted to get started on one right away.


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

WTBJR said:


> wanut makes beautiful slings, i have an manchurian walnut ss drying at the moment, it has really cool grain............................. do it!


This is Black Walnut. Where is Manchurian Walnut from? Is the grain and color similar. White Walnut would be nice as well
[/quote]

you know i tried to get more history on this walnut, the only other reference i could find is calling it chinese walnut, before applying teak oil it was bone like in color, now it had rich viens of dark grain and its kinda golden in color, and seems very strong. i did Henries pull test on it and it didnt seem to notice.


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Worked most of the day getting the forks ready for the dryer. The bark on both of these species is real thin, and was scraped off using my custom, Primble Hickory. I have two Mountain Laurel, and the rest are Rhododendron.There is quite a difference in color between the much older, Heavy Forked Laurel and the Natural Recurve Laurel. The largest of the heavy forks is Rhododendron, and is a completely different color than the rest.Both of the "Natural Recurves" fit real well in my hand and my wrist is almost straight. With a small amount of fitting,they should do fine.

I have read more posts where Linseed oil was used as a bath/soak. Does anyone use TungOil? I have used TungOil in many applications and have been quite pleased with it's performance.

Thanks for any and all advice!

I tried to label the pictures. but couldn't get them to up-load. So I'll list them

1-5 Heavy Mountain Laurel

6-8 Mountain Laurel Natural Recurve

9-11 Rhododendron Natural Recurve

12 Heavy Forks

13 Light Forks

14-15 Rhododendron Natural Gangster

16 Pile of Forks with Custom Primble Hickory

Bill


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

The forks are drying nicely, can't wait to begin messing around with coloring.


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## slingshotwannabe (Oct 17, 2011)

I can't wait to see the finish product. Please post some pics when you're done. Great hunting btw


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Thanks, I've got the bug. I just need to learn the "best ways".

It was snowing here, last Sat., and was 70F yesterday. Today it is pouring the rain and 45 F. I may put on my rain suit and go hunting again. There is a nice thicket behind the house.


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

U got some nice forks


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## cheese (Nov 16, 2011)

nice score!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

moved


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## slingshooterman (Mar 21, 2011)

You have a lot of potential!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

slingshooterman said:


> You have a lot of potential!


Thank-you!

Bill


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Moving to the top. Wasn't sure how to link this post to another.

I wanted to bring this post up,to show the conversations about Mtn. Laurel

Bill


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## Tirador (Jun 14, 2010)

I finally found this thread!
I can't wait to see how these turn out!
You are really adding a lot to the community, Bill! Keep it up!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Tirador said:


> I finally found this thread!
> I can't wait to see how these turn out!
> You are really adding a lot to the community, Bill! Keep it up!


IS THIS THE ONE YOU WANT???


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## Tirador (Jun 14, 2010)

Hi Bill,
Yes! Please!
It doesnt matter though; they all look great.
Thanks again!


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## WILD BILL (Jan 26, 2012)

Good Deal! i'll get it on the way. in a day or two. I'll let you know when it goes out.

I was, able to use three of the post and screws on the "HORSESHOE" I am awaiting my epoxy order to arrive, to finish up. I can wait to shoot it, but I must.

Bill


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