need more advise

[butch]

 ???cut my hickory 10 days ago.sealed,striped and to the shop to dry a little.   anybody trade a bit of sunshine for some of this tulsa rain.
the tree was 7 in. split to 3 pc.  best one with no suckers and only one snake .  i scraped the soft stuff that dried but still a layer of brown, sanding it down it apears silver not white wood. #1. how deep can i sand...standing at the butt it is 4" across and 3" deep to a heartwood,72" long tapering on the left to 3x3 tip. one snake mostly on the left at 46" to 55" . #2 . can i avoid the snake and make a 46" bow, no snake and verry little twist,,. most of the 45 degree propeller starts at the snake . #3.. i understand oil and heat treatment but how do you apply pressure to untwist this thing,,a 3 ft. pipe wrench??? #4. do i unwind it now, still moist, or dry and perhaps shape it first??   any of you folks (primitive types) within an easy drive tulsa ok, i would love to watch you work
this is more complex than makeing my walking sticks..     thank you      butch.

[Robinwho]

???cut my hickory 10 days ago.sealed,striped and to the shop to dry a little.   anybody trade a bit of sunshine for some of this tulsa rain.
the tree was 7 in. split to 3 pc.  best one with no suckers and only one snake .  i scraped the soft stuff that dried but still a layer of brown, sanding it down it apears silver not white wood. #1. how deep can i sand...standing at the butt it is 4" across and 3" deep to a heartwood,72" long tapering on the left to 3x3 tip. one snake mostly on the left at 46" to 55" . #2 . can i avoid the snake and make a 46" bow, no snake and verry little twist,,. most of the 45 degree propeller starts at the snake . #3.. i understand oil and heat treatment but how do you apply pressure to untwist this thing,,a 3 ft. pipe wrench??? #4. do i unwind it now, still moist, or dry and perhaps shape it first??   any of you folks (primitive types) within an easy drive tulsa ok, i would love to watch you work
this is more complex than makeing my walking sticks..     thank you      butch.


You cut a green hickory 10 days ago and you are already working on it ?
If that is so, that is a mistake there already, that should be dry at least 1 year before you do anything to it, even splitting it green is not a good idea, or did I missread ?

[1/2primitive]

No, splitting it is right, you can even work it down to where it is bending already if you want to, it will help it dry quicker. If worked down, you only need to wait about a month for it to dry, maybe less.

      Sean

[DCM]

I wouldn't worry too much about the back ring until it drys.  Regarding the twist and snake, generally if you can place the handle in an area of straight wood of say 8" to 10", the other ends can be formed to that area with heat.  Snake only needs moved enough to ensure string alignment.  Twist I like to reduce as much as practical and 45 degrees is doable.  Get it down to 2" x 1" leaving the handle at least 1 1/2" deep for 10" w/ gradual fades to day 6" and full width.  Seal the belly side of the handle including the fades to avoid checking (notwithstanding your current weather situation).  Then put the bow immediately onto a caul or similar and take as much out of it's charactor as you can.  It will be very pliable while still green wet, but time is of the essense, particularly once reduced.  It will go a long way towards correcting the existing character and helping prevent further warpage.

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/ddmims/sc16.JPG

http://home.midsouth.rr.com/ddmims/we5.JPG

[Hillbilly]

You cut a green hickory 10 days ago and you are already working on it ?
If that is so, that is a mistake there already, that should be dry at least 1 year before you do anything to it, even splitting it green is not a good idea, or did I missread ?

You definitely want to split green logs, if not, they take forever to dry, and often check badly if left in the round. Hickory and many other woods can be roughed out to bow size and taken down to floor tiller stage, and it dries quickly and evenly from there. If you do this, leave the tips full width to keep it from warping, and seal the back if the wood is really wet.

Butch, DCM gave you some excellent advice. I wouldn't try to make a 46" bow, unless you're 4 feet tall and have an 18" draw.  As you get further in to it, post some pics if you can, and we'll give you a bunch of conflicting advice to get you going 

[YewArcher]

I work wet wood all the time. I cut a tree. Split it. Pick the prime staves and rough them into bows right away. I then seal the back and tips witvarnish and let her dry either clamped to a caul or I let them dry how ever and then heat correct them when dry. I would not worry abot the propeller twist. Either clamp it straight to a board now if its still wet enough or wait till it drys and heat correct it. In my experiece hickor makes a lousy short bow  unless you sinew back it. Otherwise it just takes too much set.

I love working with wet wood an will always chpose to work wet over dry because its so darn easy and you can manipulate it with no heat. Wood drys real qucik when taken to bow diminsions. Its when left as a stave or a log that it takes forever to dry.

SJM

[butch]

thanks guys..      this would take many times as long without people who can teach.. slow learning curve on this end but together we can giterdone..