A big thanks to JD Duff and others here for the inspiring posts on Crabapple as a bow wood!
Well I'm fairly new to bow making having started last winter. I have been searching for a local wood to work with and found a few references here at PA on Crabapple. My first few Crabapple staves were from the mouth of the Thorne river (Thorne Bay SE Alaska) they were really lumpy and had a lot of red heart, not very good for bows but pretty wood. As the snow melted I was able to get away from the shoreline and find Crabapple that was a much better grade for bowyering. I think that being right on the bay the saltwater had something to do with the red heart I found in my first staves
example of red heart notice how little white wood there was in this character stave (this one ticked on me):
here is my more recent bow made from non red hearted Crabapple:notice the stave is deflexed
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/dscf0002.jpg)
this pic shows the set it has taken
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/aset.jpg)
I worked in a little pistol grip on the handle
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/hndl1.jpg)
mahogany tip overlays
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/tip2.jpg)
pics of the bows back
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/scf0004.jpg)
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/scf0003.jpg)
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/aback.jpg)
strung shots
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/abackb.jpg)
Did I mention its a bear bow ![Wink ;)](http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/abear.jpg)
the bow is 63.5 long 62 3/8 ntn 70# at 26 inches I was trying for 80# @ 28 but never pulled the extra 2 inches
![](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/stonecarver/3.jpg)
I hope you enjoyed the pics!
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