Guys have a few Black Cherry staves. Can you make a  selfbow out of Black Cherry. Or should it have a backing. Dean

Hey Dean
The bowyers bible says that any fruit or nut tree will make a bow if the tree can produce a long, clear stave. Doesn't say wether it needs to be backed or not.
Brian  

I would back it. Jim Taylor makes a lot of hickory backed cherry bows.

I've got a friend with a couple unbacked cherry bows.  They're long (68-75 inches), but seem to hold up well despite his less-than perfect tillering jobs.

That said, I tend to always back bows as an insurance policy, so i'd probably back them.  Either way I think they'll make good bows.

Say, you wouldn't be interested in trading one of the staves for some sinew would you?

-Eric

I've recently inquired about BC on another site and it seems that BC makes a really sweet shooting bow, but is not real strong in tension and has a tendency for sudden failure. It was basically the same advice your getting here;
It can be done, but backing is a good idea for insurance.

Hey Dean,
  as has been said, cherry is better in compression than tension.  It makes a good backed bow especially with hickory if the backing is kept thin enough.  Cheers, Matt

Eric  sorry  for being late to answer you. I got plenty of sinew. But thanks anyway.  Dean

Hmmmmm, Cherry for a selfbow! My last unbacked one made it through 2 hunting and 3-d seasons before it gave up the ghost. If your looking for one that will last, I think backing would be a good idea....Terry

Looks like backing Black Cherry is the what most people would do. And it sounds like Hickory is the backing of choice. Thanks guys for the info Dean

...and Dean has a nice supply of both hickory backing and first class black cherry staves...  
Have fun Dean...maybe someone here will want to try some of it too.
Bob

Would bamboo be to much for the Cherry?  I just think it would look sweet...

Sir_h_c- I would think bamboo would be too much for cherry unless you could keep the bamboo ultra thin, but hey give it a try!  It would look pretty sweet. Cheers, Matt