Staves from Black cherry

[beetlebailey1977]

Has anybody used this and had good results?  How should I treat it if I cut it now or in the next few weeks?  Remove bark?  Rough down?   Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[Kitsu]

Has anybody used this and had good results?  How should I treat it if I cut it now or in the next few weeks?  Remove bark?  Rough down?   Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

cherry has potential to be a GREAT wood, but also has a potential to be a nightmare, even to a skilled bowyer it can blow up on them for no apparent reason

if you decide to start it, be cautious and do not worry if it does not work out that well, start another, or go and try to find some hickory, that stuff is about as easy to break as a bridge

[acker]

Com on guy's where are the fine Black Cherry bows ?
I think, that wood hats me, I had two failures on nice clean stave's , well a bit fine ringed they were.
One broke and the other one was  a , yeah what was it , a bit to elasticity 
I would like to see some photo as well.
acker

[beetlebailey1977]

The reason I am asking is because I have a few good tree that my Dad wants cut down and I would like to use them.....I can't help it I look for bows in all trees now.

[Kitsu]

The reason I am asking is because I have a few good tree that my Dad wants cut down and I would like to use them.....I can't help it I look for bows in all trees now.

if he wants the tree down, and you aren't wasting your money on it, go ahead, don't have much to lose at that point, and if you make a bow from it, it will be not only beautiful, but hopefully a great shooter (not a 'sploder)

[beetlebailey1977]

Yeah thats what I was thinking....I was just wanting some suggestions on design to use and such.  Or anything to look for other than the obvious.

[Kitsu]

Yeah thats what I was thinking....I was just wanting some suggestions on design to use and such.  Or anything to look for other than the obvious.

um, not much you can look for unless you have X-ray vision,

there are 99 times out of a hundred, that cherry will hide some sort of flaw, my suggestion, just be careful, get helpp from someone better, i am not the best after all

[chamookman]

My very first bow was Black Cherry, backed with Cherry bark. Came out around 44lb. @ 27" - it has propellered a bit over the years, but still a shooter. Cherry bark makes a GREAT backing, plus very pretty ('specially on Osage). Bob

[Far East Archer]

Some years ago I use to see quite a few cherry bow, but as they say it is difficult if not much care taken.

If its me I would either back with:
sinew
rawhide
ash
elm
maple
birch
oak

Maple, oak and ash wood are slight higher density in .60~.70 range so maybe only use with denser cherry. Birch and elm are lighter, .50~.60 though either will work. Ive seen some with hickory backing too but I think that wood is too strong. Either way, I would make wide, 1 3/4~2 inch wide depending on draw weight and long length of 68~72 inch for classic flatbow design. You can use smaller dimension with the sinew, rawhide must be wide too however.

[beetlebailey1977]

Thanks yall glad to get some input.     Hopefully when I do start them I will have learned a lot more.

[Cacatch]

I'm currently in the finishing stages of a black cherry, unbacked, pyramid bow, wide-limbed, 63" tip to tip, nearly 62" NTN. This is to replace the previous bow of nearly the same description that was a good shooter but I gave away to a friend. I'll let you know, and post when I get it finished and shot it.

CP

[beetlebailey1977]

Ok when I cut and split these do I need to remove the bark and seal them to let them dry or do I leave the bark on?  Should I rough them close to size?  Also how long does it take to dry?

[Hrothgar]

Another thought, Dan Quillen from Georgia (?) used to produce quite a few hickory-backed black cherry longbows, that might be an option.

[Cacatch]

Well, here's the report on my cherry: I have it reduced down to rough dimensions, and as I started to clean it up and file away the thick spots, I noticed it was splitting on the side. Not on the back, not on the belly, but on the side. Almost like it was delaminating its rings. To me, this indicates junk wood. I've seen Osage do this before when I picked up refuse wood, that was blown down or half dead. I learned my lesson after making 3 bows from that Osage tree and all 3 blowing up or failing generally. Now I see the same thing in this cherry (which is also refuse wood that I salvaged after the tree blew down). So I believe it will be firewood now. I won't even mess with wood anymore when I see the delamination of rings.

I do have 1 more stave out of this tree that I might play with and see if it's worth putting any effort into. But I doubt it. If different staves from the same refuse Osage tree can't get the job done, I don't think different staves from the same refuse cherry tree can either.

CP

[hedgeapple]

Cacatch, cherry make good wood for smoking.  So not a total waste.  You might not get a bow out of it, but you could get a very taste smoked venison shoulder.