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Hawthorn for warbows?

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FilipT:
I stumbled upon secluded place not near my house with hundreds of dogwood saplings and dozens of good hawthorn saplings. Since I never experimented with hawthorn because of their unavailability near me, I picked two saplings 6 cm wide. I plan to make warbows from them in the future.

My question is, what are your experiences with this wood? This wood is extremely hard and looks good with its dark heartwood and beige sapwood, I would like to make heavier bows in the future from it.

stuckinthemud:
I've  got  a stack of hawthorn drying, and a sliver I cut off a branch as a tester.  My timber came from the trunk of a mature tree and does have a lot of bark inclusions but the wood is one of the best carving timbers I ever used, dense, exceptionally easy to shape, very difficult to split and is supposed to be as good in tension as it is in compression; I believe it is rated as a first class bow wood.  I am also hoping for a war-bow or two out of it.  My sliver bow is nearly at brace - I'll be posting some pics soon.  Incidentally, my timber does not have a dark heartwood. Oh, and it takes for-ever to season, don't rush it as it is very prone to checking due to being so dense, just leave it alone for a really long time - I think a longer drying time than yew, for instance - I did try forcing a small test piece and it split apart quite spectacularly!

FilipT:
I thought about leaving it till spring next year, then debarking it and shaping it closely into bow shape then apply my fast drying technique. I think it will lost till spring lot of moisture and when I roughed it in, it won't check.

stuckinthemud:
Just took the sliver bow to brace and it went bang - see thread in bows - no warning, so if any of the hawthorn has knots, I'd suggest leaving a good safety margin of wood around them. Strength is slightly up on hazel, I think.

stuckinthemud:
Leave the bow shape too long as any checking will be in the ends and then you can cut away any damage and still get a good bow out of it

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