Author Topic: twisted hickory staves (Read 5885 times)

Don · « **on:** December 07, 2008, 01:26:40 pm »

Morning All.
Moving some stave's this morning and noticed my hickory stave have twisted pretty bad.

I cut these this summer, debarked and spilt in quarters. They started out about 8" to 10" in diameter.
Camera on the fritz right now so no pictures.
Should I fire wood these and start a new next summer or can I straighten with dry heat or steam when I get to floor tiller?
Won't work on them till spring, job gets in the way.
Need your ideas.

Don

DanaM · « **Reply #1 on:** December 07, 2008, 01:33:34 pm »

Nice thing about hickory if its no good as bow wood you can always smoke some ribs

I wouldn't give up on them yet,
its amazing what a little heat can do to straighten a stave, I would at least try one and yes straighten after floor tillering. It may take
3 or 4 tries to get it straight.

George Tsoukalas · « **Reply #2 on:** December 07, 2008, 03:04:04 pm »

What kind of a twist? Propellor type? Jawge

Don · « **Reply #3 on:** December 07, 2008, 08:07:22 pm »

Smoked ribs do sound good.

Yep propeller twist.
Next one I cut I'll peel and split only once, leave dry a couple of months then split once more.

Don

sailordad · « **Reply #4 on:** December 07, 2008, 08:17:38 pm »

i wouldnt give up on them just yet,or if you do send one my way

i aint afraid of a little twist

tim

Hillbilly · « **Reply #5 on:** December 07, 2008, 09:41:01 pm »

How bad are they twisted? A little twist doesn't hurt anything.. If there's more than you can tolerate, just floor tiller it down, then clamp it to a caul and heat treat the belly, I've gotten some pretty bad twists out like that. The hickory will like the heat-treatment, too.

George Tsoukalas · « **Reply #6 on:** December 07, 2008, 11:17:50 pm »

A little twist won't hurt. In fact, it makes wanna do the twist. "Come on baby- let's do the twist." Aerobow (hop hornbeam) approaches 40 deg. of twist. This year's hickory was close to that. Both bows shoot well. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/archer.html

adb · « **Reply #7 on:** December 07, 2008, 11:22:11 pm »

Maybe next time you split them into staves, leave the bark on. Works better for me, as far as reducing prop twist when drying. Also, make sure you coat the ends of the logs as soon as you cut them, before you split them into staves.

Pappy · « **Reply #8 on:** December 08, 2008, 07:05:03 am »

I just don't spilt them to small,maybe in half then let them dry a few months then spilt them on down.You can straighten them with dry heat,just rub on some cooking oil and over twist a little passed where you want them to be and you can get most of it out ,if not all.We do it all the time.
Leaving the bark on may help but I never do,to hard to get it off after it dries.

Pappy

rkeltner · « **Reply #9 on:** December 08, 2008, 09:21:24 am »

o.k.,this is kind of in line with this discussion. i have 2 or 3 osage splits that have 90 degrees of twist(thats how they grew) following this line of thought, would they respond well to heat treating on a caul to get the twist out, or should i just c0ntinue with my plans of knife handles and firewood? (if this qualifies as a hijack, let me know and i'll start a separate thread)

Pappy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 08, 2008, 09:28:42 am »

Yes ,they will react nice to heat,if they are real bad try doing it in a couple of sesions and you
can get it out. If it isn't seasoned a couple of years I steam it the first time then heat to tweak
it.I also seal it wit some kind of good sealer before I start bending,this will help with te checking as well as help hold the heat in.

Pappy

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #11 on:** December 08, 2008, 10:13:40 am »

I have never taken propeller out completely by clamping a stave to a caul. A pipe wrench and a 5 gallon bucket full of assorted C clamps and bags of lead shot will correct it every time.

Pappy · « **Reply #12 on:** December 08, 2008, 10:24:06 am »

That will work also.I use to do that with the pipe/austable wrench,Now I have wedges cut so I can shim under the caul, between the caul and the bow back so I can over pull when I clamp them down.It works good for me.Either will do it.

You just have to go passed what you want,it will
recover some when you un clamp it.With a little practice you can guess pretty close on how much
to over bend.

Pappy

cowboy · « **Reply #13 on:** December 08, 2008, 10:32:32 am »

Yup, that all works on osage/hic or just about any wood most likely. I've used steam for the most part then dry heat to tweak the little spots. I steamed the area with the most twist, clamped the handle and torqued the limb by hand (with gloves) till it stayed where I wanted it. took about ten minutes after steaming.

Don · « **Reply #14 on:** December 08, 2008, 06:15:07 pm »

Thanks Guys.
So I'll work it down to floor tiller and then use dry heat? Correct.
I've straightened Osage with dry heat and the wrench trick. Piece of cake.

Yes the next hickory I cut will only get split once, dry for awhile then split again.
I think I will still remove the bark at cutting, it stick real well after it has dried awhile.

I'm still new at this and got a little anxious with the splitting.

Don

Primitive Archer