Apple wood bow?

[Lost Oki]

Pat, I tried opening the holes up with a scribe but could not get it to penetrate without a lot of force so I backed off.   Will wait till it dries and look at it again.  Previous pic I posted shows staves I cut with saw rather than split.  Notice crooked staves.  Is this something I can or should fix, if so, since wood is green do I use steam now or wait till dry and use heat?  I could not find any reference on youtube nor on this site.

[Pat B]

Trying to bend a full stave with heat(steam or dry) is almost impossible with the tools we use. If you reduced the raw stave to floor tiller stage or a little beyond I would use steam on green wood and depending on how severe the bend is dry heat on seasoned wood. If the bend is severe, steam is the answer.
 If you take a green stave down to floor tiller stage be sure to seal the back. In a situation like that, shellac is good to use because if you make steam corrections the shellac can survive the heat and moisture.
 Plus, you can reduce stave moisture when correcting with steam. Dean Torges talked about this in his book, "Hunting the Osage Bow".

[Lost Oki]

Thanks Pat.  I have a pot set up for steaming rust bluing so that should work. 

[Lost Oki]

This apple wood stave has propeller twist on one end, approx 90 degrees.  After reducing the size of the crooked limb down to 1 3/4" wide by 1 inch thick I steamed this end of stave for 1 1/4 hours.  Moved to vice, hooked pipe wrench over the stave and slowly applied pressure, stave cracked right down the middle for about 6 inches.  Cut that section off, still showing crack, cut off another 4 inches, still seeing split.  At this point I am at 50" and considering cutting stave down the middle and trying for a short light bow.  I still have the 5 inch limb with ends sealed and bark on.  Plus a curved limb that I have worked down along inside of curve.  Apple wood is definitely a challenge. 

[Pat B]

Every crab apple I cut here had a twist but that is a common problem here on my property with other trees too. . I've never used apple but I've heard it makes great bows. Keep at it. I'm sure you'll get a good bow from this apple.