Coyote hunter,
Good advice on the birch. It's good wood. We mill it up here in Alaska. Because of the short growth season, the growth rings are tiny.
It's denser than black walnut. It makes walnut feel like balsa wood.
My trade is composite construction of boats and dog sleds. Some of my resins are way tougher than than some of the composite stocks that I've seen cracked up here. I'm currently experimenting with Alaskan birch lamination using slow-cure penetrating resins and 78 degrees heat. Should survive the 505 gibbs/lead-sled torture test.
