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Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: broketooth on March 25, 2009, 05:20:00 PM

Title: got hickory
Post by: broketooth on March 25, 2009, 05:20:00 PM

i just got a hickory stave from a fellow tg member. i wanna make a new selfbow out of it. ive never attempted hickory and i want to do this right from the beginning. i have made other attempts at selfbows but they ended up in the burn pile. the other woods ive made attempts on were osage and mulberry so the sap wood had to go. not so with hickory to my understanding. i will post pics of the stave later thankyou batman for the hickory. very cool  :notworthy:

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: Roy Steele on March 25, 2009, 09:45:00 PM

Hickory is my favorit white wood.Just keep the moisture content down and you will build yourself a nice selfbow.I have a hickory bow I killed 9 bucks with.It was all time favorit bow.Hunted with it for 5 seasons before I retired it.that was 12 years ago and I still take it down every now and then and shoot it.

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: George Tsoukalas on March 25, 2009, 09:59:00 PM

Love it. My site has info. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: broketooth on March 26, 2009, 09:37:00 AM

is the bark on hickory really thin, brown stuff im assuming is the cambium underneath?

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: Pat B on March 26, 2009, 09:49:00 AM

The wood you want is white white! Bark and cambium are not.

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: broketooth on March 26, 2009, 09:52:00 AM

mr pat , am i doin right by using the draw knife to take the bark off , or should i use a tool that is not as agressive

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: formerbutcher on March 26, 2009, 10:33:00 AM

I use a draw knife. You can leave some of the cambium on it for camo if you want. I'll try and post a pic of one i'm working on.
 (http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/johnkeehn/frontknot.jpg)

See if this works.

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: formerbutcher on March 26, 2009, 10:38:00 AM

Here's another one.  (http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/johnkeehn/fronthandle.jpg)

John

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: broketooth on March 26, 2009, 01:03:00 PM

i spent a lot of time using a pocket knife scraping a lot of the cambium off am i still good to go

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: formerbutcher on March 26, 2009, 01:14:00 PM

Sure !

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: Pat B on March 26, 2009, 01:15:00 PM

The wood under the cambium has ridges and valleys that you have to consider. A draw knife will work fine but work gingerly when you get near the back. John's pics above will show you what you can expect when the bark and most of the cambium is off. If you don't like the traces of cambium on the back you can remove it with a pocket knife or goose neck scraper. I don't mind and prefer the streaks of cambium showing. Works as natural camo.

Title: Re: got hickory
Post by: broketooth on March 26, 2009, 04:30:00 PM

i still plan on using a rawhide backing.but i was wondering . when i soak the backing materialin cold water is there any way i can use some kind of dye in it so i dont have to stain the actual wood