Breaking in a new hickory flat bow

[old foul dude]

Sorry if this is an old subject, but I'm an old man ( and a new member) I'm waiting on delivery of a new hickory flat bow from Siege Works of Texas. They are a vendor for SCA types I found on ebay. The last wooden bow I owned was a lemonwood American flatbow back in about 1960. Other recurves and longbows since then have been wood & glass laminates. What I mostly shoot is my Bear 60# Super Kodiak & Jerry Hill 50# Apache longbow. Siege works states in the add that their bows are fully tillered and finished with tung oil. How will heat, cold, humidity, or rain effect performance of this bow. Should it be " warmed up" before I bring it to full draw? Being a mixed blood mut, ( Scots, Irish, Welsh, English, and Cherokee)  I'm interested in trying some of the bows my ancestors used. I'd really like to try out a black locust Cherokee D bow sometime, anyone making those?
             Thanks, 

[DanaM]

I always warm my bows up with partial draws, if its been unstrung for an extended period I may take 30 minutes to work it up to full draw.
Hickory is one of the worst woods as far as humidity goes, in high humidity it can absorb moisture and lose draw weight and get sluggish. On the other hand it really
shines in dry conditions No finish is water proof at best the finish slows down absorption of moisture, you can wax your bow as an additional layer of protection,
good ol turtle wax works fine Yes lots of folks make D bows out of a myrid of different woods.

[Pappy]

I do about like Dana,maybe not as long to get to full draw.Just seal it the best you can.I usually use tru oil,6 or 7 coats and then wax also if I plan to hunt with it.When not in use keep in the house or some dry warm place and you should have no problem.I also never leave it strung unless I am using it.  Hickory is tough but it will suck up moisture if it stays out in damp rainy weather for extended amounts of time. 
   Pappy

[dragonman]

I've made a few hickory bows and I keep an eye on the hickory I have in storage with a moisture meter and like they said it really takes in moisture in damp weather, in texas its probably no worry but in damper places I'd definately urethane it to seal it I dont thik tung oil will keep all the damp out personally

[sailordad]

ya i do the same,pretty much.
a bunch of partail draws working into full draw.
i always use tongue oil,if you hand rub in about 10-12 coats it does become quit
watr resistant,not proff just resistant.
but like others have said,no sealant is water proof they will only slow down the hygroscopic effects of hickory.
i do put carnuba wax on top of the tongue oil.

[old foul dude]

OK, I'll need to stay with something that is compatable with the tung oil already on the bow. Has anyone used lemon oil on a bow? I wax my muzzleloaders with Kiwi boot polish , sounds crazy but it works great.
Thanks

[George Tsoukalas]

Welcome! Nice to have you join us. What I usually do is put the bow outside for a few minutes before I start shooting it. That way it gets acclimated to the heat or the cold. NH has very dry Winters so I try to protect my bows by leaving them in the AC during the summer even then they take some set then especially hickory. If you put wax on the tung oil, which is ok (your choice), you won't be able to give the bow additional coats. You may find "Selfbow Care and Tuning" of help. Jawge
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[old foul dude]

Thanks George, very informative web site, I bookmarked it.