Humidity...

[medicinewheel]

Thought about quitting, too  ...but...nah... 

[Cacatch]

It had nothing to do with moisture. The wood was bad. Was it from a board? The only way hickory is going to break like that is if the wood is bad, like from a fungus as stated by PatB. So take comfort in knowing it wasn't your fault. The wood just let you down.

CP

[George Tsoukalas]

I got so used to breaking them that it doesn't phase me. Pick up another stave. These days I don't blame the wood. I blame myself. Jawge

[artcher1]

" Humidity's been down to 35% for a few days now".

"flawless pieces of wood" 

"no splinter had lifted, no glueline had failed" 
 
"felt a sudden stacking "

That last one was a certainly a clue! Man said it was a flawless piece of wood, got to take his word on that! Heck, his inside humidity could have been down to 0% for all we know. No mention of a temp/humidity monitor.

Where you guys getting BAD WOOD? Art

[George Tsoukalas]

The wood around here gets to be 6% pretty quickly in the winter. So what if it is the low humidity unlikely but what if it is? What are you going to do? On completed bows no finish is a complete and total moisture barrier. The wood will reach equilibrium with its environment eventually. There are not many places on earth where bow building is impossible because of low humidity. Jawge

[artcher1]

I have a humidifier running none stop this time of year George. And I can barely get the R/H up the 41-42%. That's slightly less than 8% MC in my bows so I mainly stick with using hickories and Osage bows this time of year. Merry Christmas George! Art

[woodstick]

just move to oklahoma we got more than we can stand. sorry for the luck, it will get better.

[George Tsoukalas]

That reminds me, Art. Got get mine out of the attic. Merry Christmas! Jawge

[Justin Snyder]

I got a moisture meter from Pat a few years back because i was worried about low RH. My garage is not climate controlled but it seems that most woods stabilizes at around 9-10% and stays, hickory around 5-6%.

[medicinewheel]

Whatever the reason for the failure was, low MC had to do with it I'm sure.
Dry weather, fire in the oven most of the time I'm home in the 200 years old house I live in... First thing to do will be installing moisture meters to get a better idea of the scenery.
Bow building for now will be roughing out staves and GLUE UPS (should be the best time to do that...)

[Cacatch]

" Humidity's been down to 35% for a few days now".

"flawless pieces of wood" 

"no splinter had lifted, no glueline had failed" 
 
"felt a sudden stacking "

That last one was a certainly a clue! Man said it was a flawless piece of wood, got to take his word on that! Heck, his inside humidity could have been down to 0% for all we know. No mention of a temp/humidity monitor.

Where you guys getting BAD WOOD? Art

Because a "flawless" piece of hickory doesn't just go "bang". Like PatB said, it would lift a splinter first and you would hear a tick way before you heard it completely let go. A piece of hickory can appear flawless to the eyes but if you don't know to recognize it could be bad wood due to a hidden rot or fungus and consequently go "bang".

[George Tsoukalas]

Cacatch, where do you? Are these board or log staves? Jawge

[Cacatch]

Jawge, do you mean where do I live? If so, I'm in Indiana.

[George Tsoukalas]

Oh sorry. Yes, that's what I meant. I think the climate there is similar to ours. If what you mention is a continuing problem I guess you will have to do what Art does.  But I am still skeptical. Jawge

[Cacatch]

I'm not sure what problem you are referring to, Jawge. I think maybe you are confusing me with what someone else wrote? I just said that my take on it was his hickory wasn't good and that it was the wood that let him down, not what he did with it in this case. 

CP