mostly for the european community (i guess)...

[medicinewheel]

gentlemen!  -  any of you ever checked on sloe/blackthorn (prunus spinosa) as bow wood?? - have memories of it from childhood, made way better bows than hazel    i made some bows out of two even shots spliced in the handle by drilling holes in a square piece of oak and than glue in the limbs.
read it somewhere: if it carries fruit, nuts or thorns it will make a bow; well sloe carries fruit AND thorns...

...keep pondering about that wood lately!

what do you european guys think??

frank

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[medicinewheel]

ps: it's a eurasien hedge sort wood; i guess you don't have that in north america!?
pps: related to prune (see latin name) and roses

[Dustybaer]

if i recall correctly, AndrewS has experience with it.  a bitch to work with but excellent bow-wood is what i remember him saying.

[medicinewheel]

it will be a bitch to cut with 2 to 4 inch thorns on it! 
wouldn't make for a one piece selfbow i guess, but spliced...?!

[Cromm]

Hi, I had one made for me years ago by my Grandad it was only a small boys toy but worked so well a big fat kid nick it then broke it!! P.S. I bumped into the guy again a year or two ago. By the end of it he wished that he had not taken the bow!!!! But like i told him " Hey the two missing teeth and bent nose will be all the look in Rome next year!! P.P.S. Apple wood works very well also.

[AndrewS]

Blackthorn is very dense wood. I have one piece in my shop, it is full of knots and thorns and a little bit twisted. I had to glue a grip on and may be  back that piece of wood with sinew!?
I must have a very good day, to start

[sumpitan]

Prunus spinosa is under discussion right now down at the Paleoplanet forum. Asier from Basque country has made bows from the wood and loves the stuff. I only have small test pieces (doesn't get big enough here) but can tell that the wood is seriously dense, strong and hard as well as visually impressive.

Tuukka

[medicinewheel]

that's how i remember the wood, really hard! i have it grow big in my area! thanks for the paleo-info, i'll check.

frank

[markinengland]

Blackthorn was used by the Irish for their Shillelagh fighting sticks. Heavy, dense and tough.
So far I haven't found a bit good enough for a bow. The wood is a real toughy to get out and dry and split and oftens seems to have areas of rot in a piece big enough and straight enough to make a bow. I have a few bits that might make something one day when I feel up to the challenge. I have heared good things about it and seen some quite good small bows made from it.
Sloe gin is very nice by the way!
Mark in England

[Hillbilly]

Looks quite similar to our wild plums (Prunus americana, P. angustifolia, etc.) They have hard wood, thorns, and fruit similar to your pic. It usually grows really crooked and twisty, though. I've been on the lookout for a while trying to find a piece straight enough to make a bow from.

[medicinewheel]

mark: the biggest pieces i found the other day are like 4" diameter and for sure no problem to find to pieces to splice in the handle! - so i'm going to harvest some and see what i can do with it...

hillbilly: that's how most of them are around here, too, sounds very similar; but i really found some promissing pieces lately.

thanks, frank