Mulberry Sapwood?

[YoungBull]

Hey guys so i got this mulberry stave drying (60") and I was just thinking if it could be used as a core wood in a horn bow, the stave is mostly sapwood, the heartwood is 1 1/2" wide in one end and 1" in the other , looking at the belly it seems to be wider though i only did a little rough out and sealed the ends cause I didn't want it to check. Could I make the limb width a "mix" of sapwood and heartwood? So what do you think, could it be used?

Thanks

20200514_142035 by Euguem PRS, no Flickr

20200514_142048 by Euguem PRS, no Flickr

20200514_142209 by Euguem PRS, no Flickr

20200514_141859 by Euguem PRS, no Flickr

[dylanholderman]

I’m no horn bowyer but I don’t think so.
The guys who do make horn bows are always stressing how critical perfectly clean knot free wood is and your stave last one to have the remains of several knots and wiggles.
I’d just make a selfbow out of it using the sapwood as your back.

[Tom Dulaney]

I’m no horn bowyer but I don’t think so.
The guys who do make horn bows are always stressing how critical perfectly clean knot free wood is and your stave last one to have the remains of several knots and wiggles.
I’d just make a selfbow out of it using the sapwood as your back.

Scythian bows used 6-7 inch wooden sections for the lower limbs, and the later scythian bows' outer limbs had no horn.

Op could find 6-7 inch sections for the lower limbs, slightly longer sections for handle and outer limbs, and splice them together.

http://www.atarn.org/chinese/Yanghai/Scythian_bow_ATARN.pdf