Green bow workings: some thoughts and questions

[Kegan]

I couldn't sleep, so I went out last night (technically this morning ) and started chopping out a longbow from a hickory stave I cut yesterday morning. Here are some observtions on working green bows (and also a stave that's only big enough for one bow):

-hand tools not only are easier to use (strength wise) but also they don't seem to tear or mess up the wood as badly on splits, where a hatchet my take the grain into the back. I squared up the sides without issue.

-unlike half green wood, the inside is soft enough to avoid large gouges and messy tears, things I've gotten trying to chop hickory bellies before.

-cutting slots and splitting off belly wood not only saved time (and my father's sabersaw motor), but also yielded two nice slats that could make some nice hickory handles.

Now for the questions:

-I clamped the bow (side to side) down to help dry it straight. I was planning two weeks in the sun and wind, should this be enough or should I try to use heat it too?

-the bow won't try to reflex itself when it's clamped sideways will it?

[radius]

pics, man!

I wanna see how this goes for you.  Do you have a moisture content reader?  Or will you use its weight to determine its rate of moisture loss and so on?

Thought of clamping it to dry in a recurve, or setting back the handle?

radius

[yazoo]

I try to rough out most of my osage blanks green, because it works much easier, seal them with shellac and store them for at least 1 year, then finish them,I dont think you can get a 100% of a hickory bow unless the wood is seasoned,which is different than dry,  you can dry wood in a year , but to season a stave takes atleast 2 or 3,

[Pat B]

Kegan, What Mike(Yazoo) said is true but you can quick dry the wood in a month or so. It may still gain weight as it cures.  I would not, however, place it in the sun and wind. This can cause uneven drying and cause twisting, etc. Place it in the air conditioned house for a week or two them it can go in a hot box or your attic to remove more moisture.

[Kegan]

Radius- I'm doing it for a build along on archerytalk, I'll get a link when I get it started. I do have a moisture reader, but I hate the thing. I usually just go on the feel of the wood, how it works with tools, and then I try Paul Comstock's "brace test" to see if it snaps back to its original position after the first bend to brace on the tillering stick. For this one I'm leaving it straight and simply going to try to make it a big heavy brute.

Yazoo- even after a year my hickory staves aren't dry, so I rough them out and let them sit in a parked car for a month or two, which is what I intend to do here. I'll dry it in the sun for two weeks, then take it off the form and put it in the hot car for a month to a month and a half. Seems to be the only thing I can do around here to dry bows out . As for waiting multiple years, I don't really think that's much of an option since I'll be graduating and moving out within a year.

Pat- I have it clamped down, but I'll keep a close eye on it. It will be a few days after some rain passes before it gets outside anyway. I've done this years prior with hickory without issue, difference being I clamped it this time 

[Kegan]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this bow is really sort of a test of how quickly I can make a "regular" longbow from a tree to shooting bow (my goal is two months). I'm sort of skipping a number of the normal safety precautions in an effort to speed this bow along.

[yazoo]

the wood cells in  hickory are like a sponge, just like osage,, but when osage drys the cells seem to close tighter, and the hickory cells will stay more open, thats why hickory sucks mosture in easier, I have quick dried some hickory and looked at the wood under  a  maganifing glass, and though dry the cells were wide open,

[Kegan]

the wood cells in  hickory are like a sponge, just like osage,, but when osage drys the cells seem to close tighter, and the hickory cells will stay more open, thats why hickory sucks mosture in easier, I have quick dried some hickory and looked at the wood under  a  maganifing glass, and though dry the cells were wide open,

Oh that's cool ! I never knew that. Is that why heat tempering the belly helps with moisture, it hardens and forces them to shrink?

[nickf]

- the wood's softer; you can make way more shavings with less eford
- the stave will be dry in a few weeks after being roughed out. Compared to a few months, or even a few years, without roughing out.

[Marvin Campbell]

You can make a bow from hickory from start to finish in two months.  I have a 68" hickory flat bow that I did in about two months.  My bow did take about 1.5 inches of set and had about 1.5 inches of reflex before tillering.  It is a good quite hunting bow that I have killed 2 deer with.

If you take the extra set into consideration you should be able to get a nice bow in two months.
If you had the time 2 years would be better.

[Kegan]

Did you heat treat the belly on your bow?

[Pappy]

I have made Hickory and IW from a standing tree to a bow in a month.I dd what you have done and left in a dry place for a couple of weeks,then thin some more and in the hot box.Every few days thin more and back to the hot box ,till it was finished.Hickory will dry quick when thinned and the bark off.Don't do it anymore but that is because I don't have to I have plenty of seasoned wood but they worked out fine.The main thing is keeping them clamped for at least the first couple of weeks and after each thinning if possible to keep them from twisting.Good luck and keep us posted.
   Pappy
 

[JW_Halverson]

Many Native Americans pulled the bow outa the stave while green and then cured the roughed out  piece is 1/10th the time it would take for a stave to cure.  Green wood in definitely easier to work.  Subsistence living meant if you could get the same work done for less effort and shorter time then you chose that technique. 

It is easy to understand why a roughed out bow would cure faster than a split log, all those volatile organic compounds have much less fiber to migrate through in order to evaporate into the atmosphere.  Water evaps quickest of course, but the sap has lotsa other compounds that have to dry out, too.  A servicable bow can be made out of a quickly dried out piece of wood, but I'd leave it without any finish on it for a year or so to allow it time to cure further.  I think in many cases the bow will improve slightly

[Kegan]

That's not a bad idea at all- leave it in the white for a while .

As for drying it out, I reclamped it and rubbed charcoal on it to darken it for more light absorption. One day and it felt quite dry to the touch. It should be ready for the car before I have to go on the little trip. It's actually going pretty well .