advice for a new guy

[colt]

well, I'm new to the forum so i'll introduce myself. my name is colt, and i recently rekindled my forgotten love of bow making. when i was 14, i tried and failed to make several bows. discouraged and out of money, i put it on the back burner for a while and decided to waste my money chasing girls. six years later, i caught i fine gal, have some spare money for hobbies, and after stumbling into slingshots, i just sort of remembered how much i loved the thought of making bows. i now have a couple red oak board bows in the works. one similar to the "poor folks bows" build along and the other will be a 66 inch bow of an undecided configuration. now that I'm back to make a second attempt at bow making, i need a bit of advice choosing wood.
I'll soon be going to  houstonhardwoods/lumber to buy some wood and would like some suggestions as to what i should buy. i am attracted to hickory and ipe. I've heard good and bad things about hickory. though, i would think hickory would be a general step up from red oak. also, ipe seems to be shrounded in mystery. can i back it with hickory? would it defeat the benefits of ipe to back it with silk or rawhide? i can't easily get bamboo. should i try another wood as well? any advice would be appreciated.
thanks, colt T

[gstoneberg]

Welcome Colt.  The challenge with hickory in Houston is the humidity.   PeteC does it and he's in humid east Texas so it can be done, but osage might be a better wood to start with and it is common in north Texas.  On that note, I have a solution for you, but it involves driving.  Talk that bride of yours into taking a road trip up to Dallas.  When you get up here stop by my shop and I'll send you home with a couple osage staves.  My wife is lobbying for me to get some wood off the driveway so you'd be helping me out.  So, you'll have gas costs but the wood is free.   Maybe Houston Hardwoods has some dimensional osage?  You can order bamboo slats off the internet, or trade for it here.  Also, there are other good woods at the hardwood store.  Hard maple, white oak, ash.  The other guys will be more help to you with board bow wood options than I as I only make stave bows.  But, having said all that, there are beautiful red oak bows posted every month.  Check Jawge's site out for help.  http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/  Be especially careful of the grain orientation of the wood you buy.

Good luck,
George

[crooketarrow]

  I agree with George go see him. Although boards will be easyer for you to get staves are far more forgiveing. Exspecially OSAGE if I was just starting OSAGE stave is deffently the way to go. If you can drive there to the next best thing pay the shipipng and let GEORGE send it to you.

[blackhawk]

My only advice is to immediately go check yourself into the loony bin  cus this bowmaking stuff can be obsessively crazy to most who indulge.

But seriously that's a GREAT offer from George and sounds like that's a great wood to get your feet wet with.

[Buckeye Guy]

Welcome to the great addiction !!
Take George up on his offer son , that is not an offer that is easy to come by outside of this forum !!
And don't miss the part about taking your bride along ,cause you will want her involved in this adventer, for your life is about to change !!

[colt]

humidity was something i was worried about with the hickory. i have heard it gets sluggish over time. guess it's off the list. George that is an extremely generous offer! i didn't mention Osage because i figured it would be too hard to obtain. i drive through that area on my way to some family owned land in Bowie Texas. sadly, i don't think I'd be able to make that drive any time soon. i love going there and I'd love the opportunity to help you out George. maybe i could compensate you for the shipping costs? or perhaps I'll check on the offer again when i do make my way up there if you don't feel like shipping. Houston hardwoods does in fact have dimensional Osage as well as ash, maple, and some variety of exotic woods. so my list now has Osage, maple, ipe, and I'll try and trade for some bamboo. also, she's not my wife yet .
 

[gstoneberg]

Don't scratch hickory off your list.  It's a great bow wood and a good backing for about any type of wood, ipe included.  You might have to store it in the house though.  Sure, I'll ship a stave to you but it's more fun to talk bows in person.   I'll PM you to get more information.  A stave isn't as straight as a board so I need to know what your tolerance is for twist, knots, chasing a ring, etc. 

I'm northeast of Dallas so it'll be a little bit out of your way to to Bowie.  I have an uncle in Denton so I go over that way every now and then.

... also, she's not my wife yet .

All the more reason to let her see the obsession so she understands. 

George

[bryan irwin]

welcome aboard ive made a few ipe backed with hickory works good havent blew up yet .

[colt]

I agree. I'd love to come chat about bows at your shop. I'm sure I'd learn a thing or two. as far as my tolerances for knots and twists are, i don't know yet. i've seen some examples of gnarly Osage saves that are worked into bows pretty well but i have done zero stave bows myself. it would be a learning experience. i will be going to bowie this summer at some point this summer so i could meet you to pick it up, or you could mail it to me and I'll show you what i've done with it on my way up. I'll leave the choice up to you since you're being the nice guy .
 I think I'll still save the hickory for later though. i don't have very good equipment for making backing strips anyway.
and she knows. she's well aware of my addictions to other hobbies

[Weylin]

I'd like to chime in to defend Hickory. I'm not an expert so take it with a grain of salt. I live in Portland OR which has it's share of humidity and I made a hickory bow from a stave that has no string follow and really zings the arrows. Im not saying that humidity is not a factor with hickory but it doesn't mean that you couldn't make a great bow out of it if you are careful. that said, you're in osage country so I'd take advantage of that if you can. Good luck and have fun.

[colt]

I'll get some hickory at one point or another. i am simply looking for the most suitable woods for me. i live in a Houston burb which has an almost constant 90% humidity. maybe if i really penetrate it with thin oil and seal it really well it will stand up to the humidity. also i had no idea i was in Osage country i wonder if i could start a little Osage orchard in bowie lol. i do have 100 acres at my disposal. there are also a lot of pecan trees there. i wonder if pecan handles humidity better than hickory.

[Weylin]

Yeah, I'm not saying hickory is your best option I just wouldn't mark it completely off your list because it has some really good qualities as well. And as far as I know, pecan is essentially the same as hickory, Home Depot will often use the two names interchangeably for the same wood.

[colt]

i've heard that before. the home depots around here only have red oak and poplar. thanks for the advice guys. it was just the ticket. i'm going to the wood shop tomorrow. we'll see what i end up with.