Im new and probably going to stir up a hornets nest...

[mikekeswick]

I know the Mary Rose bows were down there a goodly time but they were all degraded and when the ones that actually stayed together were tested the draw-weights were low. Maybe there is something in doing it for a short time but the MR bows will never be what they once were. Sure they are well preserved but not by the salt water.

[Barkspud]

Yes the stave im going to start with is a saltwater cured piece of white ash. He has had it for several years actually has a few of them and offered one up to me.  Ive ran across alot of bs in my life and figured id do some reasearch and look around on line. Well i stumbled across this site and old posts on this so getting other thoughts on this. Ive always had a interest in making bows just never followed it. I ran into him some years ago and he repeaked my interest. Time will tell ive listened to him talk alot so time to listen to some others. He could be a crazy old dude but i will find out....

[soy]

Regardless of salt or no salt i wish you good luck on your bow crafting and welcome to pa

[Pappy]

Welcome to PA, Their are some very good bower's here that are more than happy to help and can help turn out a good hunting bow if that is your gold.No oppion on the salt water cure,all I can say is their are a lot of ways to make a bow so go for it if that is what you want to try,you never know till you do. The bows I seen in the magazine article seemed to have a lot of set,that is not to say they won't shoot OK,I just don't like lots of set in my bows.
   Pappy

[Dane]

Pappy hit the nail on the head. The biggest sticking point with a lot of folks was not the salt water curing, but the huge amount of set in his bows. They looked strung, they had so much set. Dane

[Will H]

Welcome to PA

[cracker]

Really not to be going down a different path but I would think that borax might a better choice than salt. I don't know the hydroscopic potential of borax but it is used to cure meat so it should work on wood as well. Ron

[blackhawk]

I like to build smokin fast bows so i shoot up my wood with nitrous whilst it seasons  ...shhhhh....dont tell anyone..its my secret ingredient to my recipe

Welcome to the loony bin......who cares how you get from a to b,as long as you enjoy it and are happy with the outcome...even if it is a string followed bow......start building man and try it all and experiment..and youll settle into what YOU like best and what works best for YOU 

[Barkspud]

Thats a good one blackhawk LOL...I here you all on the set and have done some reading on it. Still don't know what tomake of that yet. I do sure appreciate the welcome though...

[Slackbunny]

Perhaps the dissolved salt recrystalizes within the structure of the wood fibers providing a form of reinforement. Of course it could have nothing to do with salt. There is a lot more in seawater than just salt. Perhaps there is another dissolved mineral that is flying under our radar. If I lived on the coast I'd be doing some experiments, that's for sure.

[johnston]

Well I do know for sure that hickory tastes much better with a little salt. Kinda like tequila.

[UserNameTaken]

It's like making sauerkraut.

[JackCrafty]

I agree.  Salt curing makes the wood more tasty. 

[Sidewinder]

Welcome to PA. You will learn much here and the guys are all great. As to the salt water curing, I'm not sure I see any value in it unless you could speed up the curing process. As we all know, with properly cured wood ( no matter your method)  proper design and tiller will bring about great performance.
 As far as crazy old men go, there are plenty old and young ones on here thats for sure, lol.   Danny

[JW_Halverson]

As far as crazy old men go, there are plenty old and young ones on here thats for sure, lol.   Danny

I resemble that remark, Danny!