Hawthorne harvest input?

[shofu]

I am in Pacific Northwest.  Have been given the green light from homeowner to take down a few hawthorn 2" - 4" diameter straight about 15' tall. Never worked with this wood.  Any advice for harvesting/processing welcome.  Zion?
Cheers,
George

[stuckinthemud]

Mind the thorns! It does not split easily, so if you can access a band saw then you'd be better using that. Seal the  ends, keep it somewhere cool, dry it very slowly. Hawthorn is a controversial bow-wood, some people really rate it, some find it disappointing. If your into wood-carving its pretty much the best timber of all for fine detail and miniatures.

[leonwood]

I have done a few hawthorne bows and one of my best shooters is a 54 lbs 64"ntn flatbow.
About drying: what stuckinthemud said;-) If you harvest in the next month split or saw in half. Take the bark off and seal the whole back and the ends because it wil crack if you look at it wrong. Store in a cool place. It might be safer to rough out a blank as soon as possible and still seal the back.
When you start roughing out. Watch out for pin clusters and leave that spot wider otherwise you risk compression fractures around those pins.
Cheers,

Leon

[shofu]

Thanks guys! I will treat it carefully - like plum maybe?
I will post some pics when I get there.
Cheers,
George