Plum

[Badger]

       Well tomorrow morning I am going to pick up a piece of plum I have been dreaming about, 3 1/2" X about 12 feet, straight no branches. Not sure about twist I can't tell by looking at it. But the tree grew up between 2 tall building very close to each other so grew very straight.
       I have searched for years for a piece of plum big enough to make a war bow. In my opinion plum seems to have the same qualities as the best of yew. What I am looking for here is the type of demension that might be used on good yew for a heavy war bow in the 150# class. I plan to start this one on these demensions and then just see what I can get out of it whether it be more or less I just want to max the bow out without breaking it down.
     So if anyone might have some demensions handy that have proven successful i sure would appreciate it.

[criveraville]

Sounds like an awesome plan!!

Cipriano

[Ian.]

I have not heard of a heavy plum bow to that weight, the only one I know of is a 100lber made in the EWBS. I think heat treating is paramount with this wood though.

Dimension wise there is the table of the average Mary Rose bow dimensions, would that help?

[Badger]

     I have made a lot of plum bows in the 50 and 60 pound class and have always been impressed with how deep and narrow I can make them without taking any set. Most of the branches I have had to work with were only about 1 1/4 wide max and very high crowned.
    Just knowing how wide at the handle for a very heavy war bow would help a lot. I am thinking about 1 3/8 or 35 mm. approx.
    Biggest challenge I have had with plum is drying it without it cracking so bad I have to trash it. I am going to try cutting it down to near demensions and then wrapping it in saran wrap. If the bark is removed or the branch is split it will crack to the core within a couple of hours.

[Ian.]

The average Mary Rose dimensions are,

  Centre Width 39.5mm 1.417"   Depth 33.2mm  1.297"   
 
  With an average length of 77.5"

[Badger]

  Thanks Ian, thats very helpful, I will rough it out today to 1.5 X 1.5 X 78

[Marc St Louis]

Steve
I've made some Plum bows and the wood is much more dense that HHB, more like Osage.  I think that a 150# bow will have very small dimensions, much smaller than even the best of Yew

[Badger]

  I think you are right Mark, I roughed out a bad piece of plumb today just to try it out. ( full of bug holes) It barely flexes when I sit on the middle of it. I think I will start at 1 1/4" and go from their just to see where I end up.

[Marc St Louis]

Try it the middle of those 2 numbers Steve, go for 1 3/8".  You can always reduce the width but it's pretty hard to add some after.

[Ian.]

Are you going to heat treat it?

[Badger]

  Ian, I will put it on a cawl and get it very hot while straightening and slightly reflexing, not sure if that would exactly qualify as heat treat. I quess I will try 74" as the wood is fairly dense, anything above 120# I will be happy with.

[toomanyknots]

     I have made a lot of plum bows in the 50 and 60 pound class and have always been impressed with how deep and narrow I can make them without taking any set. Most of the branches I have had to work with were only about 1 1/4 wide max and very high crowned.
    Just knowing how wide at the handle for a very heavy war bow would help a lot. I am thinking about 1 3/8 or 35 mm. approx.
    Biggest challenge I have had with plum is drying it without it cracking so bad I have to trash it. I am going to try cutting it down to near demensions and then wrapping it in saran wrap. If the bark is removed or the branch is split it will crack to the core within a couple of hours.

I wouldn't do that just cuz of mold, I have been down that rout and had to throw away a sycamore because the mold got actually inside of the wood, and that was with big breathing holes and everything. Then again, sycamore is a white wood that is very susceptible to mold. At least that is what happened to me. For staves that are hard to season without checking or splitting itself apart, ones like the size of the one you described, the best success I have had is to make sure to either split the wood to the pith or to remove the excess belly wood to the pith. Then, season it slowly inside your house in a room that does not have a window open, or an air conditioner in it. Maybe tucked away like in a corner. I have seasoned staves like honeysuckle with no problem this way, and that wood seems to be impossible to season any other way. I think you might of been the guy that actually told me how hard it is to season honeysuckle,... if you were, man were you right,  . With that stuff, you have to decide where your back is right after you cut it and remove the belly to the pith if you want the stave to stay together for more than an hour.

[Badger]

  Knots, you brought up a good point, all my smaller staves have always split right to the pith, Once I half the stave it may not have that tendency. I won't be getting the other stave till monday, if it is as twisted as the one I picked up yesterday I may just saw my stave out and wish myself luck.

[Marc St Louis]

I've cut a few smaller diameter Plum and just cut them in half while they were green.  Never had any problems with them splitting

[Badger]

  Mark, are harvesting wild plum varieties or domestic?