hawthorn limb

[mox1968]

i found this hawthorn limb a few weeks ago,its about 6ft long 3" wide and straight for about the first 40" length.because straight hawthorn is hard to find ,i dont want to mess up so what design would you guys use for this stave and would you try to split it to make 2 staves?

[batman]

Nice find, i myself am waiting for my fully tillered hawthorn self bow to season, it had a similar natural reflex like your stave there, so im making into a bit of a reflexed selfbow, it looks to be working out nicely, perhaps you should consider utilizing that reflex for something similar maybe? either way hawthorn is a great bow (and arrow) wood, i look forward to seeing what you make of it

[Pat B]

I think I'd find the optimum sides and split that pole in half and seal the ends. If you don't, it will check at the ends and decide for you where to split.    I have never seen hawthorn that long or straight. Nice find.

[OldBow]

Two but as Pat says, absolutely seal it up

[mox1968]

thanks guys will split it tommorrow ,i already have the ends sealed with white glue too.as far as design would you do a flat bow or longbow type cross section??semi stacked d typesection?also would you kerf it before splitting,dont want to ruin it!!

[Pat B]

If it grew straight, it should split straight. If it grew with a twist your splits will have the same twist. Kerfing won't resolve that.
  I would treat it as any whitewood and make a flat bow with a flat belly.

[mox1968]

i reckon it did grow fairly straight will know after tommorrow huh?flat bow it is any idea of how short i,d get away with for a 26" draw length?

[artcher1]

If the log's heart is centered you might want to consider making billets out of the straight end. Just a thought..........ART

[Ryano]

The bark looks diferant than the hawthorne we have here.

[mox1968]

well i split it and got one good stave and one pretty rubbish stave,the rubbish one might yet make a kids bow but the good one should be fine.was surprised at the amount of moisture in the wood when i split it ,it was absolutely soaking wet inside there.might need a while to season!!ryano dont know if its the same stuff but as the wood gets older on this tree the bark gets a lot rougher looking and becomes a different colour too like a dark brown colour.the bark also is kinda flaky on the older trees.

[Ryano]

Maybe that's it, I Googled hawthorn and there are also about 50 different variety's of it so it might just be a different type.