Serviceberry Sapling Bow

[juniper junkie]

another awesome bow! I am going to start on one of the serviceberry staves we cut at the gathering. it has lots of pin knots, not sure if these will be a problem. are you going to the TAO banquet? hope to see you there.

[Gordon]

Dave,

Pin knots in serviceberry can be a challenge. If they are close to the edge and extend through the side of the limb they will tend to crack under compression. One potential way to deal with this is to radius the belly slightly so that stress is more concentrated toward the center of the limb. Of course that solution can lead to other problems if you are not careful. Good luck!

Gordon

[Shaun]

YOU might be able to "go anywhere and find a stick that will make a bow" but not every one. Once again you have set a very high standard for the rest of us to reach for. Glad to see the hat is back - missed it on a recent bow draw photo of a different bow. I really like that your full draw photos show FULL draw, too many 2/3 draw photos posted by others. I could look at your tiller profiles all day. Once again, well done sir!

[servicebeary]

Gordon,         hey I'm having a tough time visualizing just exactly how that comes from such a small sapling.  Not saying that is doesn't, just looks so flat from the pics.      Could you post a close up of the side by chance so I can see where the back ends exactly?
                                       thanks again, nick

[Gordon]

Sure, though it may be challenging to see the dividing line clearly because I radius all my edges.

[Gordon]

Nick,

I went back and measured my stock of remaining serviceberry staves and they are all 2" in diameter or slightly less. You'd be hard pressed to find serviceberry larger than that in this area. So it's possible this one was 2" - I really didn't measure it carefully before I built it.

Gordon

[Blacktail]

nick,you have to know that gordon is an artist...he goes by natural curves like on a lady 

[servicebeary]

hey, thanks a lot, that helped a lot.  I actually have a place where I consistently find 3" staves, but a lot of them have terminal twist and I get really tore up literally belly-crawling through the "Serviceberry forest" to get to good staves.  The best one I had I gave to a friend and it just happened to be absolutely strait with an impressively flat back.  I have to admit I didn't think it was the best of the bunch   got what I deserved I guess.  I need to give him a call and see if he finished it yet.   
     -nick

[Gordon]

Nick,

A buddy of mine once found a serviceberry tree that was about 3" in diameter and I made a bow out of it for him. But that's a pretty rare find around these parts. That's my buddy holding the bow.

[stickbender]

     Gordon is Serviceberry considered a white wood?  Or do you have to go to the heart wood, and chase a ring?  Also are the berries eddible?  Thanks.
                                                                                             Wayne

[Pat B]

I'll have to try some of our eastern "sarvis". It grows up to about 6" in diameter(I've seen some bigger but very few). I sent Old Bow a 2" Sarvis pole a few years ago but one limb broke(I believe) and he may have joined the other limb to a western variety of service berry. (East meets West)
  Gordon, when I cut the eastern sarvis I'll send you a stave to try, for comparison.      Pat

[Gordon]

I read that the fruit is edible, but I have never tried it. The serviceberry variety we have in this area has a light colored wood that is very dense. I understand that some varieties have a brownish wood with a distinct lighter colored sapwood.

[Barrage]

I believe serviceberry is the same as Saskatoon's, which we have here.  If so they are definitely edible - my grandma makes a mean saskatoon pie, and jam.  Never thought to make a bow out of a sapling though.  Going to have to keep my eyes open...

[DanaM]

Serviceberry or June Berry as some call it is most definately edible, I tried some off the tree this year before the birds got em all
anyway they didn't really have much flavor. If you look up service berry you will see that there are many different species but most of
them are very similiar. Heck You would have to be Hillbilly to tell em apart I've found them here up to 6" in diameter but it seems
like the bigger they get the more twist they have and I for one can't see the twist as they have such a smooth bark. I cut about 20 last year and
I may have one or two that aren't to twisted to use.

[BryanB]

I'm finishing up a serviceberry bow that has a fair amount of prop-twist in it.
Don't give up on the twisted ones, they can still make a very nice bow.
Bryan