working my cornelian cherry core
After a lot of searching I finally got hold of some cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), which arrived a few days ago. So, I would appreciate advice on working the wooden core of my composite bow. Here are the questions that presently bother me:
1) I intend to create the wooden core from two boards spliced together in the centre, plus mulberry siyahs. My cornelian cherry has a nice straight grain line. But is the orientation of the growth rings also important? I have pieces with lying growth rings as well as some with standing growth rings.
2) Most of my cornelian cherry is sapwood. But some pieces contain both heartwood and sapwood. Does this make any difference for my purpose?
3) I plan to go for a light to medium draw weight., somewhere between 35 and 50 pounds. Does anyone have any advice on how thick I should leave the wood on the bow arms?
4) What glue should be used for splicing? I will prepare tendon glue and - hopefully - fish bladder glue for attaching the horn and the sinew backing. Are these glues also appropriate for splicing?
5) How deep and broad would you cut the grooves on the surface of the wood and the horn if they were to fit into each other?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice.
Regards,
Andrew van Ross
1) I intend to create the wooden core from two boards spliced together in the centre, plus mulberry siyahs. My cornelian cherry has a nice straight grain line. But is the orientation of the growth rings also important? I have pieces with lying growth rings as well as some with standing growth rings.
2) Most of my cornelian cherry is sapwood. But some pieces contain both heartwood and sapwood. Does this make any difference for my purpose?
3) I plan to go for a light to medium draw weight., somewhere between 35 and 50 pounds. Does anyone have any advice on how thick I should leave the wood on the bow arms?
4) What glue should be used for splicing? I will prepare tendon glue and - hopefully - fish bladder glue for attaching the horn and the sinew backing. Are these glues also appropriate for splicing?
5) How deep and broad would you cut the grooves on the surface of the wood and the horn if they were to fit into each other?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice.
Regards,
Andrew van Ross
Hi Andrew
It's kinda late for answering your questions. but I want to put some input in for cherry and learn more about the wood.
1. It doesn't really matter what grain orientation the rings are, as long as they follow the length of the board and dont' run off violently.
2. I'm not sure what the differences are between sapwood and heartwood, hopefully someone will chime in here.
3. How thick is the horn going to be? I think right around 3/8" - just under 1/2" will generally get you around 50#. So maybe 1/8-3/32" wood. What style of bow are you aiming for?
4. Use hide/fish glue all the way. Tendon glue is the same type of glue, and works well. Make sure you don't overheat the glue, it has to be at 140 degrees F. Any higher and you weaken it.
5. If the grooves fit perfectly, you should make it around 10-12 grooves per inch of width. I'm not sure on depth. I am going to just use perfectly flat glue surfaces and see how that works for turkish bows.
Can anyone tell me if cherry would be good for a selfbow? I just got a large piece on discount that I would like to use as handle pieces and as a selfbow. Also, how well does it steam bend, if I wanted to make siyahs from it or recurve a bow?
It's kinda late for answering your questions. but I want to put some input in for cherry and learn more about the wood.
1. It doesn't really matter what grain orientation the rings are, as long as they follow the length of the board and dont' run off violently.
2. I'm not sure what the differences are between sapwood and heartwood, hopefully someone will chime in here.
3. How thick is the horn going to be? I think right around 3/8" - just under 1/2" will generally get you around 50#. So maybe 1/8-3/32" wood. What style of bow are you aiming for?
4. Use hide/fish glue all the way. Tendon glue is the same type of glue, and works well. Make sure you don't overheat the glue, it has to be at 140 degrees F. Any higher and you weaken it.
5. If the grooves fit perfectly, you should make it around 10-12 grooves per inch of width. I'm not sure on depth. I am going to just use perfectly flat glue surfaces and see how that works for turkish bows.
Can anyone tell me if cherry would be good for a selfbow? I just got a large piece on discount that I would like to use as handle pieces and as a selfbow. Also, how well does it steam bend, if I wanted to make siyahs from it or recurve a bow?