Dry Weather Wood

[JackCrafty]

My juniper staves are getting brittle.  My sinew strings are shrinking and fraying.  My paints are drying on their brushes while I'm working and my nose is always "crusty". Arrrg.

This is the first time ever that I've lived in a dry climate.  I've been in West Texas since April now, and all my wood is acting "funny".  I've broken my last two juniper bows and I'm hesitating to work on the next one.

Here's my question:  What wood(s) are suitable for bows in dry weather?  I know hickory works great (and I've built up a good supply) but what about other wood?  I guess any whitewood will work out here?  Are there any that I should stay away from?  Thanks.

[Auggie]

OSAGE!!!!!!

[armymedic.2]

well, i just finished an ipe bow in iraq, and it pulls and hits very hard.  i keep checking for signs of stress but have not found any.  i overbui;lt it a bit to make sure i stressed the wood as little as possible, 69 inches tip to tip, and i left her a little wide with a nice rounded belly and no sharp edges.  have not shot her a lot yet, but i sealed her out here and put her in the mial home bound today so when i go hiome on leave she is waiting for me and some rabbit hunting.  i will let you know how she breaks in after a few hundred shots but so far all seems like it went well.  doesn't get much dryer than the desert.  course we are getting close to rainy season now :}

[sailordad]

  doesn't get much dryer than the desert. 

ya,just come to mn in about mid january when winter is in full swing,the rh gets low, ver very low.even with a humidifier going in the house you still get the "crusties" in the nose etc.
static electricity gets painfull it gets so dry,the rh outside gets so low that when i worked out doors years ago, the skin on your hands would get so dry they would just split open at the
finger tips. deserts are dry but so is the midwest in the winter time,summer it can be like a tropical rainforest at times.

[Justin Snyder]

Junipers can be a little brittle anyway.  I like Ipe better than hickory for a real dry climate.  I also think any of the oily woods are well suited since they have a hard time getting too dry. Stay away from Yew.  I have had problems with Yew here and suspected it might be RH related.  I checked the RH of the wood in my garage the other day. The Hickory was 8%, the Osage, hornbeam, Ipe and locust were all around 9-10%.  The Yew was about 6%.  Keep in mind they were all stood in the same corner in the shade in an insulated garage.  If I keep them outside they all get too dry. Working it then bringing it in the house at night will help some.  Justin

[Gordon]

Stay away from vine maple in a dry climate like that - it needs a little moisture or it's apt to explode. I bet hickory would work well though.

[armymedic.2]

true sailordad, i actually get the same type of thing in new york in the dead of winter, too cold to hold moisture i guess, also i run a wood stove, that sure dries it out in the house!  i stand by my ipe suggestion.

[a finnish native]

Back your juniper staves with sinew. lots of it, and they will perform great. Gull winged profile of course. syringa I believe doesen't work that fine in a dry climate. or ti might, until it blows up.

[Marc St Louis]

Elm will also tolerate dry weather as it is tension strong wood

[JackCrafty]

Thanks everybody!

So, here's the results so far.....listed in order...with best (or worst) at the top:

Good In Dry Weather:
Ipe
Osage
Hickory
Elm
Oily Wood
Lots of Sinew

Bad In Dry Weather:
Yew
Juniper
Vine Maple

I suppose bamboo works well in dry weather too?  I haven't used bamboo for backing yet.....but Cowboy just gave me a bunch and now I've got to try it.

[David Long]

Don't know if this helps but here is a figure lifted from the Wood Handbook. It basically says, as I am sure you already know first hand , that over the range of say 6-12% MC tension strength drops but compression strength (and stiffness) rises with dropping MC. So low RH favors woods with high tension strength, and high RH favors woods with high compression strength. Take a bunch of woods and do some bend tests after they equilibrated to your local/preferred RH. Dave

[attachment deleted by admin]

[JackCrafty]

Thanks David....I likes charts....