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Wild apple bow design ?

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freke:
Hi,
I have got my hands over a stave of wild apple, it has dried for about two years and I think its soon time to start working but I have no experience with apple and what dimensions, length with etc so I hope someone can share some advice as I have find very little information, have seen few really stunning bows made and want to try it out.

It is nearly straight and a minor correction in handle section should be enough, and no twist or checks but the back has several small knots that I think should be fine if I can avoid damage em durring build.
The diameter is about 2 1/2",  It has a deflexed center area and if I use the deepest point the stave would allow up to about 72" ntn although I prefer 68" or bellow.
My draw is length is 28" and would target 50-60# if material allow.

My thinking was to keep the natural deflex middy section and add long reflex tips so final result is slightly positive reflexed, what concerns me is that I not really know how wide I need to make the limbs and if the crown is an issue, please advice?

Thanks in advance,
Jonas

Hamish:
I haven't used apple for a bow yet(I do have a bunch of crab apple billets seasoning).
Stemmler, a bowyer, author mentions it as a genuine bow wood. It will definitely make a flatbow, and I suspect it might make a good bow of English design(narrow and thick).

Reported to be very easy to bend corrections with heat.

Gordon:
Wild apple wood will make a fine bow.

stuckinthemud:
It is a great bow wood, the crown is not an issue. It is very responsive to heat and you can straighten out rediculous amounts of bend.  I would cleave that, see where you are and then make a decision.  Apple with that many knots can be very tricky to cleave, so go carefully. Starting the split at the handle can be a good idea with wood like this. Obviously I can't say for sure but it looks to me like there's a fair amount of heli twist in there, be interesting to see how it comes out.

freke:
It will be interesting how well it answer to heat as it need some TLC to get even shape.

 Once I collected the stave and still fresh I removed about half way down to the pit on the back side. I choice the easy way removing the side with the big branches leaving the side with the small - done to prevent check and twist once drying. Added the a picture from the back side, may show better how the wood looks like, but I can't tell if it is twisted for sure but it looks promising.

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