Black cherry recommendations, And boom she goes

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I've got a black cherry stave that is very straight with only 2 knots and 1.5" reflex. It's 83" long. right now I have it taken to a 1.5" square until I fully decide what weight to go for with it and whether or not to leave it full length.
 Which leads to my question, what's a good max weight I can possibly push Black Cherry at that length?
 I'm leaning towards leaving it full length and go for 100-120# at 32". Unless those with more experience with Black cherry warbows says otherwise. If it blows, it blows. I have lots of cherry staves and would like to see what it can take but still be able to shoot it, if it holds. Now that I'm done with school I should be able to get this one finished fairly quickly compared to the first one.

Kyle

[WillS]

1.5" might be slightly too narrow to push it beyond 100lb, but I've never worked black cherry.  I'd have been inclined to make it around 40 or 42mm wide, get it braced nice and early and see what the wood tells you to do as you monitor set and shape.  40mm is my personal minimum with something like ash when going much over 100lb, and I don't think cherry is quite as forgiving as ash, so wider is better.

As it stands, aim for something like 90lb and keep it full length.  If you get it tillered to 90 or so, you can then chop it down to about 78" (if the tiller of the bow and the set allows it) and you'll bump it up by about 10-15lb.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I just took a measurement in millimeters to see what I've got to work with, I've got between 45-48mm in the center half of the stave. I left a bit of wood around my lines I had marked at 1.5"z I can leave it full width and clean it up when I shape it out, so I should have about 44-45mm if I'm careful shaping.

Kyle

[WillS]

Beautiful!  Go for about 42mm which is plenty big enough, and plan to take the sides down quite a lot during the process.  You may well end up around 38mm but it's always nice to have the option of more width, especially early on. 

With that size, and some careful work (don't spend too long arsing about on a long string if you can avoid it) you should be able to get pretty much any weight the timber allows you to.

Good luck!

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips. I'm gonna try to get it roughed out in te morning if it's not raining.

Kyle

[mullet]

I've never seen one hold together over 45#.

[mikekeswick]

My experience with cherry is wide and thin not narrow and thick!
It will be interesting to see what happens with this one

[Stringman]

Take your first full draw in slo-mo. 

Cherry is brittle and I would not expect good things from a 100# in any design.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

It'll be one where I'll be glad my tree has a LONG rope on it. But I saw it mentioned on the English warbow society page as being a good wood, but it didn't go much into details on design other than saying it outperforms other woods in target weight long bows. Maybe that'll be the case with heavy. If it holds up to the poundage and design. We'll see once I get it shaped out and the rain and ice quits.

Kyle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I just chased a ring down on the stave. it was a PITA but worth it. I nicked the back while cleaning the bark off. By the time I finally got a clean ring, I uncovered some pin knota and a big nasty looking knot. Then removed them fully along with some pitch pockets by the time I got it to a single ring. I'm very glad I have a goose neck scraper. There is no way I would've had a clean back without it.

Kyle

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Here's a few pictures of what I got roughed out. It's 83" long, 44mm wide 9" each way from center then tapers to 25mm wide tips. The thickness is 1.5" center to 1.25" at 9", then tapers to 7/8" tips. I gave it a shallow rounded belly for now. It has one knot left in it, I guess two, both showing only the belly side and one will disappear after one or two more rasping sessions. The bigger one is going away pretty quickly too. The link at the tip is from a branch it split from. Those dark patches on the back are the stained scars from knots in the back that went away when chasing a ring. I feel like it's ready do put a long string on and see where it's at.

So how's it look?

Kyle

[mullet]

Put a hard hat on when you draw it.

[WillS]

That big kink at the end of one of the limbs is a problem.  With yew you wouldn't even bother thinking about it, but cherry isn't quite as friendly...

Luckily you've got lots of length so if it gets as far as the piking stage, make sure you only take it from that end, to bring the kink closer to the nock.  Tiller accordingly, so that you don't need to tweak the other limb to balance it.

Nice looking stave other than that though.  Best of luck, I hope this one works out!

[BowEd]

Interesting Mo and wish you the best of luck.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Thanks, I'm excited to see how this price of wood accepts being bent. I'm still waiting for the weather to clear up so I can set the tiller tree back up. It's been rainy and foggy for the last week so I havnt had a chance to set it back up yet.

Kyle