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Author Topic: Insights into Cherry  (Read 3802 times)

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Offline Dane

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Insights into Cherry
« on: February 27, 2009, 09:14:59 pm »
Hello, everyone.

Just a quick, I hope, question. I was at the lumber yard buying a bunch of 4/4 and 8/4 white ash for a new stand for my catapult, and fell in love with a quarter-sawn cherry board, about 80 inches long and it looks just lovely. TBB IV has highly positive things to say about cherry, with some cautions.

Has anyone ever worked with quarter-sawn cherry, or staves for that matter? I was thinking of a relatively narrow bow, a unique Egytian style self bow, with tips that bend in instead of straight or recurved. A bit hard to describe. The point being, 1, do you think cherry would be a good choice considering it is quarter-sawn, and 2, does cherry like being steam bent or dry heat bent? I have some quarter sawn ash that I will also mess about with to experiment.

The board was only about 22 bucks, so I am not terribly worried about loss. The wood can always be used for other purposes if this doesnt work out.

Thanks much,

Dane
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2009, 09:20:38 pm »
Dane.... the Only Quartersawn Cherry I have ever made a Bow out of ...was a 2 1/4" wide California Styled Paddle Bow....and it turned out awesome....without a Backing too....worked just fine for Me
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Offline JustAim

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2009, 09:29:44 pm »
l've never worked with cherry yet but l was walking around in the woods behind my house and discovered a crap load of cherry trees and they're all purty much straight. l'm thinking about firing up the chain saw and give cherry a try. And l have a question also....can l leave the sap wood on and use that as the back or do l need to take it down to the heartwood?
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2009, 10:08:56 pm »
Quote from: JustAim on February 27, 2009, 09:29:44 pm
l've never worked with cherry yet but l was walking around in the woods behind my house and discovered a crap load of cherry trees and they're all purty much straight. l'm thinking about firing up the chain saw and give cherry a try. And l have a question also....can l leave the sap wood on and use that as the back or do l need to take it down to the heartwood?

Strip off the Bark and call it good....thats what I have done with it......Lots of People believe in Backing Cherry....but for the Mid-Weight Bows I build....I haven't done any more than Rawhide once for a Backing....and that was just due to a Knot I wasn't too sure of.....
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As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another.Why do you think we invented politics and religion.
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Do Or Do Not,There Is No TRY
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Offline DanaM

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2009, 07:25:54 am »
Black Cherry is relatively weak in tension but its also not great in compression either. Its light wood and will
make a sweet shooting bow if you get it right. I would start long and wide and make sure sure lots of limb is bending
with a perfect tiller, in my experience it will fret at the first sign of a hinge. I broke several staves before getting a shooter
and that one developed a ton of frets on the inner limbs where I had it bending to much.
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orcbow

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2009, 07:34:49 am »
I had really good luck with one cherry bow, I left on some sapwood, flattened the back, and glued on canvas for a backing.

I posted this cherry bow awhile back:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,9989.0.html

Good Luck Dane! I would probably back it, especially if it's narrow. With any quarter sawn board it can be hard to read if the grain crosses though the back at any angle.
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Offline Dane

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2009, 08:47:24 am »
Adam, that is a handsome bow. Thanks Dana and everyone, I have decided to keep it wider and back it. The piece I have is 8' long, about 4 inches wide, and 1" or so in depth, and is remarkably light to pick up, not like an ash or similar piece of heavy wood. I'll use a nice piece of quartersawn ash for the Egyptian experiment.

Cherry is pretty stuff, and I think worth the care.

Dane
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Offline adb

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2009, 09:43:31 am »
I've made several bows from american black cherry, all backed with hickory or maple, and they all turned out very well. Keep it a bit wider and long, with good tiller.
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2009, 10:07:07 am »
I guess I should not have omitted....that almost all of My Bow I build are at least 2 inches wide....I prefer Paddle Bows over all else...
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As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another.Why do you think we invented politics and religion.
Think HEALTHCARE Is Expensive Now,Wait Till It's FREE
Do Or Do Not,There Is No TRY
2024...We Will Overcome

nickf

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Re: Insights into Cherry
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2009, 02:05:51 pm »
cherry is one of the fastest bowwoods, as long as you can keep the bow in one piece. At the end most cherry bows break, according to the stories I've heard. Linen, rawhide will keep it alive, so I'd really recommend you to back this board.

Nick
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