Mulberry Short... But How Short?

[arachnid]

Hi guys.

Today I cut my first log!!!
 Its mulberry, about 3.5" in diameter and 54" long.
I still need to split it but I was wondering if its long enough for a stiff handle pyramid bow (I only worked with boards
until now). My draw length is 26" and I want a 40-45lb bow. (I might want to add a bit of reflex at the tips to avoid stacking).

Another thing, how does mulberry reacts to "force drying" (meaning I roughly shape it to
a bow shape and then let it season)?
If I do so, is it critical to case a back ring now or can I wait until the bow blank is seasoned?

Thanks,
Dor

[Prarie Bowyer]

Sap wood has more moisture than heart wood and shrinks more.. so you'll be doing yourself a favor ti chop most of it off.  I'd seal the back and the ends at least.

[Springbuck]

Red mulberry or white?  I find them pretty different.

Red mulberry seems to want to pretend it is mediocre osage.  I'd chase the ring and make a 54" bendy handle bow, not a pyramid.  Should be ok at that draw and weight.

White mulberry wants to act like really good white wood.  It can take some set, but loves heat treating, and sapwood and heartwood are both fine.  Small logs and sapling staves usually have lumps on the front and a streak of heartwood on the belly.  That could make you an ALMOST pyramid (crowned front), but you'll need to leave ti as wide as you can, make the handle tiny, fades abrupt, and a few stiff inches at the tips.

[arachnid]

Thanks for the info guys.
Can you give me some actual dimentions?

[Jodocus]

I'd make the handle bendy, especialyy if you add some reflex.

[arachnid]

I never built a bendy handle... I'd love some dimensions...

[Josh B]

With a 3.5" diameter piece of wood, you'll want to use the first ring under the bark if you can.  The more rings that you chase, the higher the crown will be.  Bendy handle is definitely the way to go. You'll want to keep as much width as you can without creating a knife's edge down the side of the limbs.  You should be able to make it 1 3/4" wide through the center third of the bow , depending on character issues.  The outer thirds should be a straight taper in width to 1/2" tips.  That should yield you a nice start for a d-bow.  However, 1 3/4" at the handle is a lot of width for the arrow to bend around and will be very picky about arrow spine.  What I would do is narrow the handle section a bit.  I would recommend about an 1 3/8" wide for the center 5".  This will need to be thicker due to the reduced width.  Also it will need to be tillered to bend slightly less than the rest of the bow to prevent set in the worst possible place.  Also make sure it is smooth transistions from the wide part to the narrowed part.  Basically you'll be making a bendy handle pyramid if you can make a mental image of that.  Josh

[arachnid]

I think I got it josh. Thanks.
How thick should I make the handle section? I'll probebly use cork to build up the handle.

Does the 5" section inclued some sort of fades?

[Josh B]

If you leave the handle section stiff until you have the rest tillered to about 24" and then start working the handle and transistions (fades), the tillering will establish the proper thickness.  Remember the narrowed section needs to bend slightly less than the rest of the bow.  At full draw the side profile should look like a full compass bend with a slightly flatter spot through the handle area.  Not flat, it needs to bend.  Just not as much as the rest.  Josh

[arachnid]

24" with long string? Low brace? Full brace?
Does the handle itself bent at all or just the fades?

[Josh B]

Full brace.  You should always go to full brace early on.  Long string, low brace and full brace all exert stress on the bow differently.  Lingering on the long string too long causes whip tiller.  Whip tiller is the worst to correct because you have to remove so much wood that you end up with extremely low draw weight.  Use the long string to get to brace and then put the long string away until you start another bow. Josh

[Josh B]

Sorry, I missed the handle question.  Yes, it bends as well.  The bendy handle pyramid is a bit advanced.  The tillering is tricky.  If you aren't quite ready for that, the straight sectioned d-bow will be much easier to tiller.  It just requires more precise arrow spine to shoot accurately.  Don't let me talk you into something that you're not ready for and end up ruining your stave.  That's the last thing I want to happen!  Josh

[arachnid]

The last thing I'll do is blame you for a ruined stave. You helped me a lot already. I'm up for chalenges...

About the long string, I usualy tiller with long string down to 20" and then brace the bow.

[Josh B]

I like your attitude!  Challenges are the way towards improvement.  I don't know how many inches I pull the long string as I only pay attention to how far the tips move to decide if the bows ready to be braced.   So I can't really say if that's too far or not.  If you've been using 20 inches as your benchmark on longbows it might be too much for this shorty.  You might consider tip travel in the future.  That method works on any length of bow. 
Also, I would split the stave and seal it up immediately.  The longer that you leave it in the round, the higher your risk of it checking.  Where I live, I would also get the bark off and seal the back immediately.  Otherwise the bugs will make short work of it.  Josh

[arachnid]

The ends are already seald, haven't got time to split it yet and I still don't have a drawknife (I working on it.... ). I hop I'll have some time today or during the weekend.
Is it possible to split it and wait with the ring chasing or should I do it right away?