Cherry for a bow stave?

[amberb_57]

Hello out there!  I was wondering if wild cherry would make a decent bow stave.  I was able to obtain a piece of cherry that is mostly straight and about 6 feet long, probably about 5-6 inch diameter at the small end.  I didn't see any obvious knots in this piece of wood.  The only problem it has is that when I split the log down it's length, I discovered it had a bit of a twist to it, I'm guessing about 45% or so from end to end.  I'm not sure how that would affect it either.  Any thoughts on this?

[tomtaker]

Cherry makes a very light and fast bow, the only thing with cherry is it likes to explode for no apparent reason. But if you get it to hold together it will be fast. The twist may be ok or you could heat it up and straiten it out.

Jeff

[amberb_57]

If it's prone to exploding, will putting a backing on it help with that?  I've done my first bow with linen and I'm going to put linen on my second bow, both from oak boards, so I can do that with the cherry also if it would help.

[Keenan]

Cherry will make a bow but be cautious with backing as cherry is fairly bad in compresion and will Chrystal easy

[Kent D.]

I have made several cherry board bows.  When you get one that does not snap, they are fast and snappy.  I have noticed when I have a bow fail, it is usually due to some inperfection hidden in the cherry.  I alway analyz where the break is and usually find some crazy grain or a small void spot.  I have had cherry bows that were spot on tillered and shot for about 5 shots and blam.  I have a love hate thing with cherry. 

[Cacatch]

I've only had the opportunity to make 1 from cherry. It never exploded, was relatively fast, had twist like yours does, but I never could shoot straight with it. I ended up giving it away as a wall hanger. But I like cherry for bows. I have some more cherry drying right now and I can't wait to make me another one. I like to leave them a little wide and on the longer side, and also leave the belly slightly rounded. As said, they do like to chrysal and while the 1 bow I have made from cherry never exploded on me, I have always had a sneaking suspicion that cherry might be kind of that way, where some will and some won't, because the wood is light and has a powdery feel to it before it is finished. I say go balls to the wall with it like you would any other wood. Don't hesitate. Post yours and I'll post mine when I get around to making it, which probably won't be far off.

CP

[NTProf]

I have made two cherry bows, one backed with hickory, the other with linen. Both survived and were some of my best shooting bows. They both came from the same board, so maybe I just got lucky and got a good board.

[sulphur]

cherry is certainly a heartbreaker.  i have made a few from boards, one backed with hickory and one with ash.  both bows were unusally fast for their weight.  i have heard of guys backing cherry staves with rawhide or linen to make them tension safe.  just take it easy. tiller slow and deliberately.  if you over stress any part of the limb during tillering it will chrysal.

[amberb_57]

What happens when the wood "chrysal"s, is that a compression related failure?

[Far East Archer]

It will look like a wrinkle on the belly side of the limb, sometimes very very small and not noticeable until finish coat is applied. It is good idea to keep the belly relatively smooth during tiller process to be able to see signs more easily.

[amberb_57]

I wonder if a belly of maple or oak would take care of the compression problems.  I'm thinking- limbs of half cherry and half maple or oak, and tillered to thin the belly to the draw weight.