Black Cherry

[ranger 3]

I just got home from cutting a piece of Black Cherry about 6' and around 18" across. I split in half and found it has a little twist. Will this be good for a bow? Oh yeah I sealed the ends.

Howard

[Dano]

I have never tried cherry, here's a link to what Tim Baker thinks about it.

 http://onemississipp.googlepages.com/bowwoods

[Roy Steele]

I've only built one black cherry bow when I first started.The stave was given to me.I built it 64"s 60#s @26's It was made just under 2"s becauce a knot.It worked out fine I used it one season and shot it for another 4 or 5 years.

[limbcracker]

I've made about a dozen self bows and backed bows with air dried cherry boards, I haven't had access to any staves, I really like it for light bows up to, say 45 lbs, I can usually get it to shoot 5 to 10 fps, above average for wood bows. Above that it starts to take a lot of set and I've had several breakages. It is a bit weak in tension but seems exceptional in compression strength, so it performs best in either a long bow, at least 68" NTN or backed with a thin 1/4 strip of hickory or a 3/8 strip of ash. I twisty limb is, in my opinion, mostly about looks, my favorite cherry bow had a nasty twist in the upper limb, about 3" out of line at full draw, but it was one of the smoothest drawing, most accurate bows I have built. Cherry shoots best long. I build a bow 66" long, 45lbs, it shot an arrow 155fps. I wanted more so I shortened it to 64", it drew 48lbs, and shot the same arrow the same 155fps. More weight, more limb set, no speed gain!  I'm guessing that nice cherry stave you have will make a better bow than any board, as you will have no rings violated. I would use about half sapwood on the back, half heartwood on the belly. Good luck and let us know how it does. Kirk