Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: blackhawk on January 15, 2013, 05:41:56 pm
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This is a Pin Cherry bow known as prunus pensylvanica...aka fire cherry,bird cherry. Its basically a shrubby tree that grows in a nasty mess. I walked a 200+ yard hedgerow of this stuff and only found one semi suitable stave. I could not find any documented use of this kind of cherry for bows,and we can now check this one off the list. ;)
This is an unbacked bend in the handle cherry bow 52" drawing 70@27".....weighs 12.4 ounces....osage tip overlays.... red dye on the back....and a natural yellow hued belly.
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0740.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0748.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0750.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0758.jpg)
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0760.jpg)
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That is a beauty, and powerful too.
Beauty and the Beast.
Grady
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Really cool bow Hawk. Surprised at the draw weight with such a low mass. That must be some strong wood relative to mass. Did you heat treat?
Gabe
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Great finish work on that one, sweet braced profile to. The belly has Yewey look to it. And where is the full draw pic of this "bow".
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ooops....I forgot the full draw pic.....forgive me guys
here it is
pfhahahahahahahahahaha :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: LMFAO!!!!!!!!!
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0761.jpg)
I cant believe my wife caught it....funny stuff...im ok...got a welt on me hand tho. lol :laugh: weird thing was I had just shot some arrows out of it right before the full draw pic....timing is everything and impeccable....ok...the real stats were 54" drawing 45@25"....i was going to try and mess with you all and wait to put up the real stats n full draw shot tomorrow,but my conscious just wouldn't allow me to fool a bunch of folks...im just too darned honest... I had put close to a hundred arrows thru it...held it back at full draw multiple times to prove its self before I sealed it. it was a pleasant shooter...lol.
heres a detail of the break in tension
(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x436/blackhawk28/100_0762.jpg)
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Sucka!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely love it! And so do you! I heard it was super wood capable of screaming fast bows, like no other. Must be you gotta bad piece.
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So this is that cherry.WOW!!!Great color finish/weight,length and tiller.The handle's a bit wide for me but still a great example of what that wood can do.Nice job.Do ya think it's as dense as choke cherry?It must be in the .80s.
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I'm sorry it failed, but that's one heck of an action shot!
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Bummer there BlackHawk - maybe some Eye and Ear protection next time O:) ! Bob
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That sucks.Who messed with who now......LOL.
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your right pal....I do love it :laugh: I think its hilarious
ed ...might wanna take another look at that tiller....it don't look so good to me ;) :laugh: it was only an 1 1/4" wide at the arrow pass,and the limbs were 1 1/2" wide for 2/3+ before I tapered to the tips....I didn't tiller per mass with this one,but I did do a calculation after the bow was done n shot in,and it came out two ounces heavy,so there was some safety factor built in it....yet it still blew because its cherry and its crappy wood. I made this one unbacked on purpose knowing fully well what I was getting myself into. gotchya buddy ;)
don't feel sorry at all adam.....I don't feel bad about it at all...altho I did drop the F bomb pretty loud cus it startled me like a gun shot being fired behind me without me knowing.
yeah maybe chamookman...its all fun n games till someone gets there eye poked out ;) 8)
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I was like "WOW! Kuul Stats! ...but where's the FD pic? BH knows better than to leave off the FD pic! He gives people heck for failing to provide one!"
...and Then POW! Sorry Mr. Hawk sir. While I'm sure most of us can't appreciate your humanity and think you to be something just short of a deity when it comes to Bowyering; ...I feel certain that in some small place in the back of your mind and heart you ache and cry just like us mere mortal bowyers when one of your babies blows up. I'm sure each one takes a slivered bit of your soul with it as it passes into the flames, or becomes a tomato stake, or gets sawn into bits to make tip overlays and handles.
...of course by now, you must have a very thin and whittled down soul! ::) ::) ::)
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Hahahahahahaha OMGOSH! That was great!
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Man, sorry for the break. Great looking bow with a lot of great work put into it. I find myself wearing safety glasses through the entire build process, even through the shooting in period. Not very "primitive," but I've filled my shorts with just enough bow explosions to learn my lesson. Hope your hand heals up soon.
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Well thats a drag Chris :(
Having tested it and shot her in and then putting a finish on it and then having it blow on you. Not to mention harvesting, seasoning,
and working it into a bow. That bow was a beauty too, I was oohing & aahing as I was viewing those first few pics and thinking 52"
and 70# from cherry? Never worked any kind of cherry myself and may never after seeing that. It was pretty cool that your wife
caught it on camera though. Glad to hear your not to upset about it. ;D
Greg
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Your wife deserves an award for that one! Sucks that happened but I am still laughing!
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What's the Ol sayin... If you ain't breakin u ain't makin... Oh well. Go grab some sage and get back on the horse. :)
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Oh well, lesson learned and proved to you and us all, although cherry makes nice furniture wood..!
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I think that braced tiller looks good.No full draw pic so can't tell.Must of been working too much on the inner limbs by where it broke or did it migrate from somewhere else like the handle?.Or just a bad spot in limb there.Well your way ahead of the average I'd say for successful bows anyway.That still is a heck of a picture your wife caught.
The sinew from that ERC that delaminated on me turned into a shallow C like an Asiatic bow.Still got wood stuck to it throughout the length of the sinew.Turn it around to brace and it looks like a strung Asiatic bow profile......LOL.I hung it up in the kitchen on an antler rack for a conversation piece....LOL.
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Onebow...I do have a very thin soul...this ain't my first,second,third etc..to blow...well you get the point. Its really no big deal...I was just glad my wife got it captured on film.
Thanks Bryce...glad I could entertain ya ;)
Thanks 4est...yup..this is the reality of building bows...I've had my fair share go as well...I still don't do the safety glasses thing yet tho.
Greg not a whole lot of time really went into this one...it was a simple straightforward build,and I didn't have to get the heat gun out...I just made it as is. But I still had fun building it n shooting it while it lasted,and that's one of the things I really enjoy.
Paul I told my wife she deserves an award for getting that pic..it came out a lil blurry cus it was so loud and startled her as well...glad your laughing too :)
Yup will ole buddy I think I'm gonna go grab me an osage stave now ;)
Bow101..the lesson is cherry is too brash and a last resort wood...if you live in an area that has 3 dozen better available woods..why use it? Can it make a bow? Sure..but its like a box of cracker jacks...ta never know what your gonna get inside...too unpredictable when I have so many other woods that have a much higher success rate.
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That picture is one for the archives, aaawwsome!!!
Ok, when you have a tension fracture does that mean you could back it, and the belly was stronger in compression than the back in tension?
chuck
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Chis, with it's break do to a tension fracture, do you think that cherry would work with a sinew back?
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Sure was pretty while it lasted.
Grady
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Yeah, never put cherry on my list to try even though its abundant here, probably forgo an attempt at it myself. I have enough trouble
with the more tolerant woods let alone something fickle. Not trashing cherry as a bow just not confident I want to try a wood that will
fail if I made a few mistakes and unlike you Chris Im pretty slow at building a bow no matter what bow design or wood I choose.
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That was a sweet looking bow.
Rob
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One of the best action shots I've ever seen! That was a beauty.
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Hey, remember guys, if you aint breaking you aint making! even blackhawk needs to break a few to be a bowyer!
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Chuck..most all cherries are just plain weak in tension...they are ok enough in compression,and there can be several factors that can lead to a tension break
Dave I think some cherries wood be ok with a sinew back and wood be a fine bow,but I think there's still other better woods to use sinew on than cherry...I'm sure sinew would've held this one together if 3 or more courses were used to take ALL the tension,but I doubt rawhide would've even kept this one together.
Thanks Grady..yeah it was pretty,and cherry finishes really nice under a finish
Yeah dont waste your time Greg ;)
Thanks rob.....WAS is the key word...lol :)
Yup Hrothgar...glad we got that shot ;)
Yes muffinman....I am human and I do break wood just like everyone else...its inevitable,and if you continue to make bows its bound to happen eventually no matter how well you design and tiller a piece of wood.
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Let just hope your build-a-long bow doesn't end up like that.
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Ha. Way to make some fun out of a bad break. Looked really good. Too bad it didn't work out. It sure is the worst to have one break even after shooting and finishing.
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...osage tip overlays....
just so you don't get lost, I presume...
Very nice, very light, very short for it's draw. that must have been a fast little bow. I like the shape, will try to copy that some time, but with a lighter draw :P
Makes me want to go down to the workshop right now.
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Sweet pic of a bad event...way to break new ground >:D
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That was a beauty,WAS being the optimal word. ;) :) :) Great picture,glad no one was hurt. :o Man I hate that bang/pop,we have had several of them scares lately at the club. :) Way worse than the normal tick you sometimes here. :)
Pappy
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Clint it could happen..ya never know...playing with character staves is playing with fire and a bigger gamble than a clean straight stave..even if it is osage.
Yes it WAS pappy..lol. and yeah it was one of those unexpected breaks with no warning at all,no ticks,splinters lifting,or frets beforehand.
I didn't trust the thing yet a 100% even after finishing it,but I thought I proved it enough to get a couple hundred Arras at least out of it...boy was I wrong.
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Ya I know what you mean,Jon's Seagrape done that Saturday,we had shot it several times and was just tweaking the tiller,I braced it and was exercising it , pulling about 1/2 draw and BANG !!!!!!!! Wow ,what a suprise. :) Wished it had been him pulling it,I hate to break someone elses bow,mine like you not so much. :) I just say O well that didn't work out so good and move on. ;) ;D ;D
Pappy
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Oh man pappy...so you were the one who broke jons bow :laugh: that sucks..ya Musta got a lil red in the face :-[ lol :laugh: sounds we all just need to grab a nice piece of hedge and get back to the "real" bow wood ;) ...yeah it sucks cus it startles ya and can make ya gun shy on the next bow,but ya know after doing this long enough ya just say oh well and move one, and laugh about it. Its not like I am in desperate need of a bow and in need of it for my survival,I got plenty of dependable bows around if need be. ;)
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If only your wife was a little faster with the camera you could have put that beauty up for BOM. Lol
Sorry for your loss though. I recently had a mullberry go into five pieces. Luckily I wasn't hurt just had to deal with that are you kidding me feeling. If you every try that combo again is go Osage with cherry tips. O:)
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That was too funny blackhawk. Those phony stats had me thinking I needed to go find some cherry.
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That was too funny blackhawk. Those phony stats had me thinking I needed to go find some cherry.
Yup, phony stats can be very deceiving for sure. Even dangerous in the wrong hands.
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Sorry about the break man, we've all be there.
I've got a choke cherry stave in the making right now, I'll be sure to be very carefull with it. :)
Its a good bit wider and the backs clean so hopefully it'll turn out allright. I really like the red dye contrast with the belly and the overlays, I think I'll do the same.
You guys will find out in about a month if mine holds together. :)
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Christian id back yours with rawhide at the very least. And go long n wide.
Yeah Carson...go get yourself some ;)
Yeah dvs...it is the cherry BOM...lol...good one :laugh:
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I should know better but I'm going to challenge myself and keep it a self bow. That, and I hate doing backings. ;D
I figure if this guy can do it with such a narrow stave, I should be allright with a wider stave. I guess we'll find out. :)
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/50402
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Christian Soldier, that's my bow :) the one i mentioned on your post.
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I should know better but I'm going to challenge myself and keep it a self bow. That, and I hate doing backings. ;D
I figure if this guy can do it with such a narrow stave, I should be allright with a wider stave. I guess we'll find out. :)
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/50402
Good luck on winning that lotto ;)....at least its chokecherry tho,and that gives ya better odds...
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That was a sharp looking bow, Chris. Glad your ok and didn't get hurt.
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Dang it! It was pretty while it lasted.... That is the best bow busting photo I have seen in a while. Thanks for posting BH. I can go ahead and scratch cherry off my list now. If it didn't work for you, with your tillering ability, I ain't messin with it.
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Hilarious! I was also thinking "what? no full draw?" Beautiful bow. As funny as it is and as ok as you are with it breaking...I wish it didn't. Looks really cool. Thanks for a good laugh and thanks for sharing your work. Awesome!
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i thought it was a cool looking bow.i am sorry that it didn't hold together for ya.
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Dang that was a beautiful piece Hawkman..... That wood needs a re-visit
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I guess its not "ok" then is it Roy
Howard if you don't like losing when ya play the lotto,then yes,you can scratch this off your list..lol
Your welcome arrowind..and thanks ;)
Don't be sorry Steve..its no big deal
I don't know Kip...it was hard enough to find one suitable piece of this stuff..I think if I did try again id have to get two pieces,and splice them together for a longer bow whose limb aren't bent as far as this ones was. I had done bend tests with this wood,and they just don't bend very far at all before they abruptly snap without warning.
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Christian Soldier, that's my bow :) the one i mentioned on your post.
Oh, Looks good man. :)
I'm going for a 48lbs at 27in so we'll see how it turns out. Its been awhile since I've broken a bow anyway and I've got a backup oak stave thats about in the same stage of development.
I like living on the edge anyway so unbacked cherry kinda works out then. ;)
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Too bad, this was a pretty cherry lady. luckily you are o. k.
last November a friend of mine wa sshooting his osage shorty (had already developed two hinges, but still shoots for years). He had sudden break in both limbs - incredible, I've never seen such a flying apart on an osage.
Simon