Jatoba or cherry, which one?

[djOBX]

Hi everyone, first post here! Been keeping up with you guys for years now. Let me first say that I am or was a custom boat builder,so I have most of the tools and a bunch of wood hanging around that I need to use up. I have 1x3 x6ft cherry, 1x10 x5ft light to dark plank and a box of jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) plus a fill 1in x8in x3ft jatoba stair tread, plus a bunch of teak 1/2 in x3 in decking. Which in your opinion would make better laminates, or would a combo of both work. Just getting my energy back from 32 radiation and 7 chemo treatments. Ready to do something. Dean

[Buggs]

You planning on making glassed bows?  If so, I am sure you will find all those woods useful. I've not used Jatoba, but I'm probably the exception. I know Black Cherry will make good lams. I don't know about Teak for lams, but it will make a nice riser and you being a boat guy, should know the tricks to a successful glue up with gooey woods!

[djOBX]

Thanks for the response Buggs. I am using .040 clear glass, I'll probably use the jatoba for the first build and maybe some of the teak and lighter cherry for the riser. Been studying this and you tubing this for several years now.


 

[kennym]

The jatoba is heavier than the cherry, so I probably would reverse that for myself.

Chad Holm loved cherry laminations.

[Kirkll]

I wouldn’t use any of that wood but the cherry for core lams, and be careful how you use the teak. It has a lot natural oil in it.

The Jatoba makes excellent riser wood. I’ve built quite a few take down risers with heavy limbs with it. Jatoba is
Very dense, very hard, and it burns easily going through the drum sander. But we’ll worth the time working with it.

We are all here to help ya along the way any way we can brother, and I’d gladly send you some bamboo lams for your build to go with the cherry wood. Just need an address.

I sincerely wish you the best out come regarding the treatments. That’s hard core stuff.     Kirk

[djOBX]

Thanks for the comeback guys, I'm sure I'll be asking a bunch of questions in the future just have a little patience with an old man. One thing I ask, PLEASE wear a respirator, the tumor that I have which is in my sphenoid sinus cavity could have come from wood dust, fiberglass dust,epoxy thickeners from my years of boat work a good possibility the drs say. They also say I am doing great and don't need to see me until end of March. Got 3 months off to get this bow done!!!

[djOBX]

I forgot KIRKII, my address is 4082 Mill Landing RD Wanchese NC 27981. Please let me know yours also so I can send you a check. Wanchese is the fishing village is where the Wicked Tuna North v South is filmed

[Kirkll]

I forgot KIRKII, my address is 4082 Mill Landing RD Wanchese NC 27981. Please let me know yours also so I can send you a check. Wanchese is the fishing village is where the Wicked Tuna North v South is filmed

Please let me know if you have a drum sander and capability to mill your own tapers…. If not please. let me see your limb design, and I can help you get the right taper rate, and stack height going,  and I’ll mill them for you.     Kirk

[Buemaker]

I have found Jatoba to be a very good wood for I beams, very strong and stable in service. I hope you heal up well.

[djOBX]

Kirk, my plans are very similar to the Bodnik Slick stick but I plan to put an inch more deflex in it and make a 62in bow plus change the riser a little. I am kind of thinking of 18" riser with .355 stack at riser fades at 1.5" and .300 at the string groove.That's close to a 45# 60" rd longbow that I now own, Trying to get a weight of 38 to 40#, just something I can shoot more comfortable, I just turned 70 this past week and things don't work like they use to. We never needed a drum sander as we always used vaneers on our cabinet work. I plan on building a sled to do my lams and gluing formica on top edges and after cutting lams close hand blocking to flush on sleds. Am I dreaming or can this be done? What taper should I go with, .001 or .002 or higher, thanks for all the help already!! Dean

[Kirkll]

Of course you could make your own tapers by hand, but it’s going to take time and may not be as accurate as as milling with a drum sander.  Before I got my first drum sander I rigged up a taper jig for my edge sander and ran them trough by hand…. It worked ok, but I found that the steady feed rate was critical for getting the lams thickness the same.

How about I send you some lams with different taper rates that you could use for jigs to make your own, or use in your bow. .001, .0015, .002. With these 3 different taper rates you can do just about anything…..

Do you have photos of the bow unstrung so I can see the limb shape? I looked at the Slick Stick design strung up and have the impression that limb has a lot of curve to the limb shape, but without seeing it unstrung I can’t say for sure.

I played with tweaking long bow limb shape and design a lot years ago. There is a fine line maintaining vertical stability as you increase the deflex towards the belly.

Look at this video and it explains what I’m talking about.

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

I made a bow for my son with some really figured Jatoba and zebra wood riser. It was gorgeous. 

The Jatoba dulled every tool I used on it....even carbide.