Apple wood bow?

[Lost Oki]

Neighbor is cutting down an apple tree, not sure of type.  There are 2 possibly 3 limbs that may have potential for a bow.  Pros's Con's and best processing guidelines would be appreciated.

[mmattockx]

People have certainly made decent bows from apple wood. I haven't tried that yet, but I have used some for chisel handles and it is fairly typical fruit wood, hard and tough. The stuff will want to check badly, so be sure to seal it up as soon as it's cut and split.


Mark

[Pat B]

Most fruit woods make good bows and I've seen some fantastic bows made from apple and crab apple wood.

[bjrogg]

It’s on my list of woods I would like to try.
Bjrogg

[Aksel]

I hear it´s very good but I hear it cracks and checks very easily when drying so do some research how to treat it before you the branches are coming off

[joachimM]

Consider this:
an apple tree needs to be capable of holding huge amounts of weight on its branches (just like most fruit trees).
Moreover, branches (thinner than 6-7 cm, 2.5-3") consisted largely of juvenile wood: the grain of the wood fibers deposited is more diagonal, which leads to more spiral grain, but also to more flexible wood (it has lower stiffness and can be bent further).
So there you have it: if it checks more, it's because it is more flexible.

[Hamish]

 If you take the bark off, seal the back, ends, and any big knots with a couple of coats of PVA.

Yes it does crack if left in the round or in really large sections, like quarter  splits from large logs.

[Lost Oki]

Helped them cut most of the apple tree down today.  Ended up with three possible's (my uneducated opinion).  Waxed the ends hope to get to split them tomorrow or Tues. and will see where this takes us.   

[M2A]

I cut a couple last year about the size you have there, in March. I ran out of time to do any more work on them other than seal the ends. They did not check, maybe I got lucky. I dont think splitting is the best option for apple. Like JoachimM says, the grain tends to spiral and in my experience it tends to be interlocking. You may want to cut stave out with a bandsaw or hand tools. Thats what I'll be doing when I start on mine. I'll not be as concerned with the grain as much as with other woods. Just my 2 cents. Nice find and good luck!
Mike       

[Pat B]

Anything 2" or over should make a decent bow. With poles that small sawing them in half lengthwise is probably a better option than trying to split them. You may have to add a riser to some of the smaller ones but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Lost Oki]

M2A, Pat B.  Will have to agree with you.  I split the small one today before I saw your messages.  Fortunately it's a 80 inch limb and it hits 64" right at start of work table.  Next two will get cut with saw.  No band saw so I will have to figure that out.  Thanks for the feedback.

[Lost Oki]

Middle limb in picture above is 3.5" tapering to 3" at 68".  Since it has a bow in the middle and I do not have band saw I used my table saw to split it.  Keep in mind I am very new at this and need all the advice I can get.  My thought is to one of these using a jig saw, following the grain right up the middle...Am I thinking right? 

[joachimM]

that's how I made plum bows from similar thickness staves: cut with table saw.
However, now you will want to peel off the bark, and maybe even rough out the bow shape, or the stave will split through the center and/or create random spiraling checks.  Been there, done that.

When you've peeled off the bark (and sealed the ends really well), store it in a dry but not warm place, so it can dry slowly. Or rough out the bow shape immediately, and measure the moisture loss (mass loss) every day until it's stable (can take a month or so).

Since you don't have that much thickness left at the handle, either glue a riser (which is hard without adequate tools to flatten really well the surface), or make a shorter bow that bends a little through the handle. Apple is amazingly flexible wood.

Joachim

[Lost Oki]

Bark is peeled.  Found signs of bore worms in one spot, no signs on flat side (inner rings)
Is this a killer?  I could cut it off at this spot but would only have 48" for bow

[Pat B]

Fill the worm hole with super glue and keep on trucking. It may take a few times to fill the hole if it is deep but that shouldn't matter.
 Try to reduce the belly of the limb below the pith. The pith is where checks will start if they remain in the limb.