Heya gang- I've been pretty quiet on this forum, but I think it's time I get social and introduce myself. And what better way than a build along? I'm cutting some chokecherry tomorrow, and plan on starting something right away.  I'll be drying the wood fast, and probably doing a pretty simple design.  Would anybody be interested in seeing that? I'll also be working on some chokecherry arrows with Jaeger-bottle knapped points, too.

got my attention!

I'll make some popcorn!  

Do you even have to ask?

: )

Bring it on!
                          KY  

Got my ice in the glass and pouring the whiskey

Okay, some interest! I'll have the first pics up by dinner.  Peace  

Got a choke cherry on my property. Let me know how this works out. I'll send you a whole darn tree!!!!

Tunkel -- down here in SW Colorado, right now the mountain air smells of chokecherry blossoms. I have dozens within yards of my cabin that are 1" -2", all bent over under the weight of gorgeous buds ... but don't really want to cut any until the fruits come and go and the birds go nuts on them, or maybe a bear. Is this the best time to cut? In any event, here's another attentive student. Gotta have lots of clear pics, leaving out no critical steps, to make it work. Thanks! dave

Is there a bow in here?

The lucky piece

My splitting method


Peeling the bark off is easy. I'm saving it, I hope to rett it later and maybe make a quiver.

And, here's the stave with a couple of branches that may or may not make good arrow shafts.  They look good to me at this point, we'll see how well they straighten.  It will be cool to have a bow and a couple arrows from the same tree.

Just a rough layout, with a pretty generous width taper.  I'll probably end up with something closer to a pyramid profile by the end.  I plan on just letting whatever bow is in the stave come out, I'm not too attached to any particular outcome at this point.
Now I'm just getting it to a very rough profile with the hatchet.  This way there isn't enough wood to cause any warping as it dries.
 

And, this is where I'll leave it for today.

My kind of bow,,, primitive!

Keep the pics coming!

Nice!!!
How long do you let it dry for?
Bakes

Yeah, primitive and pure are what this bow is going to be.  That's how I feel right now, so that's what's going to get expressed. This stave was actually cut memorial day, and split yesterday.  The last chokecherry bow I finished I started immediately after the stave was cut. I kind of took my time with the rasp once it was roughed out, so by the fourth day it was ready to start floor tillering.  At that time it was already pretty dry, I'm guessing 10-12%, so I just put it in my bathroom with the heater and a fan going for a day, then started tillering.  I'll probably follow about the same timeframe with this one. I hope to get it rasped to near finish dimensions tonight, and leave it in the bathroom while I'm at work for the next couple of days.  In the meantime, I've got some arrows to straighten and a Jaeger bottle to smash and knap  

Man the chokecherrys here in WY are shrubs not trees. Cant make a bow out of them.

Lucas,

I found that a car is a wonderful hot box at this time of the year. And it doesn't cost you anything!
I have 2 roughed outs driving with me everywhere  

F-Manny

Yeah, I usually keep a few arrow shafts on my dash when it's warm, and straighten them at lights or whenever.     I don't really have room in my single cab pickup atm.

Well, did some more wood removal with the rasp today.  When I went to snap pictures my camera kept shutting off, and I just put in a new battery, so who knows. Here is a pic of the shafts I'm working on.

Cherry on top (heh) then 2 chokecherry, and 2 viburnum on bottom.
I'll be sure to get the camera situation sorted, and a pic or two of the bow up tomorrow night.  It's already starting to feel like "something." You know, the feeling when you start getting a sense of the bow's personality. This one kind of feels like spring bear and turkey season.  I might shoot for high 50's for a draw weight, and since it's 65" long, I'll probably be keeping all the width I can in the limbs.  Who knows, still real early   .  I'm glad you guys are checking in on this, hope you enjoy it.