Wood heat causing catastrophic failures?

[Alpinbogen]

In my last house, I kept all my bows on the wall just a few feet from our wood stove, which we burned almost around the clock in the winter.  That room was always 75 degrees+ (and sometimes into the 90s when we'd get the thing really going), and dry as a bone.  Though that storage situation was less than ideal, I shot those bows in my backyard all the time through the winter and never had a problem.  On the belly toasting, I can say the first (and last) osage bow that I ever gave a belly toasting was conspicously also the only bow that ever popped a splinter at a pin knot on the back a week or two later. 

[gmc]

Post some pictures of the failure, bet somebody can help sort this out.

[Hickoryswitch]

Here is a pic of the break. It looks to have started at a wrinkle and went from there.

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[George Tsoukalas]

Did you cut into another ring? Looks like it may be. Jawge

[Ryano]

I've had bows break for seemingly no other reason than being to dry here in the house in the winter time. We have forced air wood heat also. I'd keep them away from the heat source and moving air in the dead of winter. There is such a thing as to dry for most bow woods.

[gmc]

Its really hard to say. I'd recommend buying a cheap humidity ga. at Walmart for a few dollars and finding a suitable place in your house to store the bows. I just built a bow rack next to the fireplace to store mine. There are pretty big swings in humidity in my house and it really matters for wooden bows to store them in a suitable environment. Pretty much living in the same area, being too dry is usually not a problem.

I guess we learn all we can and move on to the next one.

[wodpow]

did it delam around the  end of the limb looks like what George said maybe the late growth lost it's ability to flex and sheared in side from the dry conditionand the belly being stiffer than the back and lost inner suport and delamed

[bigcountry]

Downstairs, where my wood stove is, it gets down to 8-10% humidity.  Way low.  even seasoned 3 year old osage staves got splits on thier backs.  I quit storing them down there. 

Best bet is to get a cheap humidty gauge.

[Badger]

   Moisture has more affect on the compression than the tension. Most woods gain more compression strength as they dry, below 6% they actuallystart to get weaker in tension, dangerous combination. Steve

[Hickoryswitch]

 Well I bought a cheap humidity gauge the other day. It has been 32% in my house at 76 degrees. It has been 50 degrees and rainy outside so thats pretty low for inside isn't it? What is too low of an MC for osage?

[Hickoryswitch]

Well I got a moisture meter and checked all my bows. The highest reading of the bows was 7%. The rest fell between there and 4%. So now I have another question. How do I rehydrate these bows to 9% or there abouts? Any Idea how long it would take to rehydrate so I can shoot again?

[El Destructo]

I keep Our House at 50 percent Humidity all Year long...and My Bows are at 10-12 percent all year long too

[gmc]

Yeah, that is pretty low. I bet if you experiment a little with moving your gauge around in the house you will find that perfect place you are looking for. I don't think Hickory will mind much but other woods may want to be a little more moist. At that temp. it would take 50% humidity to yield 9% MC. To me that's still too high for Hickory but it may be just right for the yeller wood, again I don't know. Another option would be to add moisture back to the air as EL mentioned or at least that's what I think he was getting at. Far as re-hydration, that sweet spot you find in the house will bring them back up to EMC in a short time.

Where did you get your moisture meter? Tell us about it, that's pretty scientific. How accurate do you think it is measuring the outside of the wood? Just asking, never used one.

[Hickoryswitch]

 I borrowed the moisture meter from a friend who builds cabinets and furniture. He says it is accurate. It sends an electrical current through the wood and measures resistance I think. It is a Wagner Dual depth Moisture meter. I closed off a room in the house where I can store my bows it is more humid and should do fine.