Play that funky music- j/k :0 My lovely girlfriend and myself harvested a wild cherry and vine maple yesterday, the cherry about 5" diameter at the base, got about a 66-70" preflexed piece and a couple about 40" straight with no knots visible. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to remove the bark immediately but not sure as I've never worked with cherry before. I've left the bark on vine maple with good results, but it'll probably be hell coming off later. She wants to make a paddle bow out of the cherry, and I told her it might work (after seeing that 72#@21 shorty on paleoplanet though it's that Michigan Cherry
Hoping to get a serviceable bow, it's mostly sapwood which I'm worried about but she wants to sinew back it, maybe one layer. I'm hearing different things about cherry, like it's weak in tension....or it's weak in compression...is this a species specific deal or is it just about finding the right design? I've read all the threads I could find on this but I'm gonna stir the pot again! Thanks for any input guys, I'll try to get pics up soon.
S.Sprague
