cherry staves??

[fujimo]

i have access to about 3 or 4 cherry tree stems.they are all between 4 and 6 " in diameter.
7-8' long.
pretty straight.
does cherry make a decent bow.
any ideas
thanks
wayne

[hova]

ive seen a lot on here and elsewhere about cherry. i wish i could find some that need...pruned.

[fujimo]

yup, hova.
seen heaps about risers and handles, never actually read anything about self bow staves.
maybe just missed it, dont always get a chance to get on trad gang as much as i would like.

[Pat B]

Do you know which variety of cherry it is...black cherry or choke cherry? Either will make a good bow but I believe the choke cherry is better. The bark of choke cherry makes an excellent backing material.

[fujimo]

thanks for the replies,
pat, how do i tell the difference.
thanks

[Pat B]

Black cherry has a somewhat scally bark and the choke cherry has a smooth, shiny, coppery colored bark and wraps around the tree instead of growing lengthwise like most barks.

[fujimo]

once again, thanks pat
i will look tomorrow before i cut it down, maybe get a few pds before i cut it.
thanks
wayne

[don s]

i have read that cherry is a good compression wood.

[Roy Steele]

I've made 2 bows from choke cherry.They came out nice.It surpised how snappy the 2 th one was.Never used black cherry.

[Treebender]

Hi guys.  Been browsing for a while but have never participated, so here goes.  My mentor who has passed on made several bows from black cherry here in Minn. They were all 66" - 68".  One of them was his favorite bow for quite awhile.

[don s]

in TBB II. in the chapter bows from boards. it states that for it's mass, black cherry is stronger and more elastic in compression than most other woods. but, it is slightly weaker in tension. a bow designed to take advantage of cherry's compression properties will more than likely break in tension. a moderately strong and elastic backing brings tension strength safely up to normal, resulting in a limb of exceptional energy storage per mass. there is also a black cherry pyramid design bow pictured. unbacked.

[fujimo]

i cut the stems today, and will split them tomorrow after work.
so.... are these heartwood bows, there seems to be a heap of sapwood around the heartwood.
chase a ring??, and back with sinew or rawhide.
or plane /spokeshave it smooth and back with bamboo.
i really like buiding longer , bend thru the handle flat bellied longbows right now- 68" ntn at about 60#, and i glue in about 2.5" of reflex in the backing lamination.- they shoot well, and accurately- no handshock , draw smoothly- i sure like em!!!
would this work,
or is cherry better suited to other designs.
does it respond to heat/steam for reflexing tips etc.
i think it is black cherry, the nearby residents say that this tree produces small black fruit about the size of a thumb nail.
the bark on the smaller limbs is kinda reddish/purpleish.grey brown and a little rough on the bigger stems.
white sapwood, dark brown heartwood.
when a 1/2" size branch is snapped, the barks seems to break real easy- bark doesnt seem real tough at this stage.
anyway, any ideas.......

[don s]

here is a picture of black cherry bark and leaves. hope this helps .

[fujimo]

thanks for the pic don,
but dont see it,
on your photobucket profile neither.

thanks
wayne

[Pat B]

Sounds like black cherry. Use the sapwood right under the bark for your bow's back. You will have to work a bit to get the bark and cambium off but that's what you want. You can easily make that bow you described. If you get the back ring clean you should not need a backing but if you are worried about it use rawhide.

[don s]

sorry fujimo. after i posted it i accidently deleted it. i put it back

[fujimo]

awesome pat, thanks
2' wide at the fades going to 3/8 or 1/2 ' tips, or would you run the limbs parralel for half the limb then taper

[fujimo]

thanks don

[Pat B]

I'd go out 6" to 8" at least, especially if it were my first just to get a feel for what the wood can handle. Maybe even go half way out the limb before tapering. Start your tips at 1/2" and narrow them later. I leave tips and handle areas wide and thick until at least the first low bracing incase some minor adjustments need to be made.

[fujimo]

thanks pat
i will try that.