Anyone used pear for a selfbow?

[Flntknp17]

All,

About 15 years ago, a neighbor lost a large pear tree in a wind storm.  I took the straight part of the trunk and split out a pair of nice looking staves and they have been sitting in the rafters ever since.......anyone ever use pear for making a bow?  I am thinking that it might need sinew or rawhide backing since IIRC it seemed a bit brittle and not terribly dense when I split it. 

Any thoughts or experiences are appreciated. 

Matt

[RyanY]

I haven't seen pear being used. Some fruiting trees make great wood for bows but commercially grown trees can be very soft and unsuitable. Best advice is to keep it long and wide to start. You could take a small piece, plane it square, dry it in the oven or microwave, and measure its density in water to get a better idea of where to start.

[Hawkdancer]

Should be well cured by now!  The fruit and nut trees are supposed to be good bow wood, but as Ryan said long and wide.  I would think a draw weight around 45#-50# would work well, the basic "beginner pattern" Paul Comstock has in "The Bent Stick" perhaps.  Worked well on my first hickory bow.
Hawkdancer

[Ricardovanleeuwen]

I did Read somewhere on here that people used It, typ: " pear as bow Wood primitive Archer" on google and you Will find it

[aznboi3644]

I made a 48” long 38lb @ 23” draw bow from a bradford pear tree that was only 1” diameter.  Heat treated and took less than 1” set. 

[Badger]

  I tried a bradford pear and found it extremely brittle, I never made it to brace height.

[sleek]

I think LEBHUNTFISH did it. I will point him this way.

[Weylin]

I've heard that Bradford pear is pretty junky for selfbows. never tried it myself though

[Flntknp17]

Thanks for all the replies.   I believe this was a Bartlett Pear and not a Bradford Pear.  I was planning on making a basic white wood bow similar to what I do in maple or ash and back it with rawhide before I get too far into the tillering.  Probably will be 66-68" long and 1.75" wide for half of the limb length and tapering to 1/2" nocks.

Matt

[Badger]

  The wood has very nice tone if you decide to make a xylophone instead of a bow.

[lebhuntfish]

I've made 2 Bradford pear bows and broke one with Pearly at Marshall. Out of the three I worked I found it to be similar to working hickory a far as tools go. I think it might be a little weaker in tension and the compression seams to be good though. I found that if the crown is too high it doesn't work out well. On the one adult size bow I made I found that a slightly rounded belly and a flatter back worked well. A flatter wider stave across the back seamed to be the best. All of the bows were selfbows that were unbaked. The wood was very springy and seams to make a nice, very light physical weight bow. A slight trapezoidal shape would be best. A wider back and narrower belly, unlike hickory.

I have a couple more staves. If when I make another one I plan to sinew back or bamboo back it. I think it will turn out really good.
I like the wood but it's not for a beginner. As far as dimensions, I layed them out 2in wide from handle fade out 1/3 of the limb then a straight taper to 1/2in tips. Length was about 66in. As for bending/straightening I used both steam and dry heat with oil. Both worked well for what I need to accomplish. Oh, I treated it like any other white wood. Back of bow, just under bark and cambien layer. Hope this helps.

Patrick