I have a hackberry stave that I am looking to start on tonight. I already laid the bow out and started to reduce the side profile. It is a 64 inches tip to tip.
My question is about the wood itself. This is only the second bow that I am starting out and haven't used it before. the stave is already debarked but has a differnet back that has some darker spots on it. Is this ok to have as my backing because I like the look of this or is this the sap wood that needs to be removed. I am looking to end up with a bow around 45-50 lbs for this coming spring turkey season.
(http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x344/bowhntineverythingnh03743/100_0763.jpg)
You can see the hackberry is the lighter staves in the bunch... Any advise would be super helpful! Thanks guys!!!
Thats cambium and it wont hurt a thing. Hackberry always has a cool cambium pattern left behind. I love the wood myself.
I'll be watching... I've got a Hackberry stave that I'll be on shortly. It will be my first white wood bow... It has the same marks on it. It should look great on a finished back.....
Your spec's are almost exactly what mine will be. What are your planned dimensions, if you don't mind me asking?
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c210/coaster500/Finished-1.jpg)
Hackberry is an easy wood to work so take your time. you can bend and tweak hack with grease and a heatgun. I usually use crisco. hackberry has a nice nutty smell when heat bending. What type or style of bow are you building?
I've got one sketched out on a hack stave as well. Waiting on it to dry more before I start.
I've made several hackberry bows. They are really light and shoot great but they will take set. It's a light wood so it's not very dense. Also, keep it dry. Like most white woods it will suck up moisture.
I noticed that the cambium layer has a bunch of divots in it so I thought of scraping it off and reducing it to a different ring... it is hard a hell though to tell the difference between them... I am going slow but any advice would be appreciated
My hackberry turned a dark camo.
(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/clintanders/SDC10107.jpg)
I love working with hackberry, but i to have a problem with set. The last one was 64" 2" wide at the fade basically paramid to 1/2 tip. after shooting it takes about a 2 1/2" set. sometimes more. but after overnight it set in to about a inch to inch and a quarter. Besides than i love working with it. I have a four inch reflexed stave with a bit of sinew drying now.. hoping to get my own hackberry hammer with that.
A good, deep heat treating will help with the inevitable set.
Pearly is right, that hackberry does well with heat. I built a molle out of hackberry and it was a fantastic little shooter. Sinew backed it and it really had some snap.
the little islands of cambium layer on the back is normal and adds to the camo pattern once stained. i would suggest not to chase a ring on hackberry.