back of hickory bow

[sadiejane]

morning good bow folk
a few days ago someone here made a comment about a hickory bow failing(lifting a splinter i believe was what was said) if the back wasnt smoothed down properly.
tried to find this comment again but failed...
this hickory bow im working on has the back as it was after the barked was peeled off.
there is some nice natural texture left that i intended on keeping,
but if will compromise the bow, then of course i want to do what is needed to insure the bows survival
(well, i guess that can never be totally insured but you know what i mean)
do i need to take all this texture off the back of the bow?
thanks for your knowledge in these matters



the texture doesnt really show up as well as i wanted.
its is "ribbed" the entire length and side to side

[BowEd]

Absolutely not sadie.....I like that look a lot.Looks like a person just plucked it right out of the tree.....ALa natural.That back is good to go for a bow.

[blackhawk]

Yup...Leave her be n make a bow as is.

[sadiejane]

cool! thats what intended till i read that comment.
then i got nervous.
yes, the back looks lovely just as it is and i so wanted to keep er thata ways
thanks!!!

[BowEd]

Now you can do what you want but I had fun with my hickory backs like that when I dyed the back a color then lightly sanded the top ridges to bare wood then dyed that a different color.Gave it a fiery streaked look to it.Looked cool,but it does take nice creamy color away.Anyway I was thinking camoflauge when I did that.

[okie64]

The back on this bow looked like what you have there before I did some light sanding on the high spots. It had shellac on the back but I lightly sanded that off the ridges and left it in the valleys. It ended up looking pretty good.

[BowEd]

Yep that's what I mean.That's a look that I like.Glad you showed that okie64.Thanks.

[briarjumper12]

I've 4 or 5 staves that have texture and I was planning on leaving as much as I could. I like that look too. Can't wait till those staves get seasoned a little more.

[George Tsoukalas]

You should leave all of it or you will violate the back ring. No need to not leave it anyway. Jawge

[Pat B]

Right under the bark is the best back for a hickory bow...just like it is.

[Weylin]

I did the same as Beadman. I liked how it turned out.

[sadiejane]

some sweet looking bows there fellas.
yup, was thinking of using some walnut ink i made and wiping on then sanding off lightly so most of the stain was left in the valleys.
looking forward to finishing this one up and shooting it.
will be the first bow outta other than osage i have completed

get this one shooting and maybe i can start thinking about the yew, ash, hackberry, dogwood, walnut and oak staves sitting in the corner...
osage i know(not saying im an expert at making osage bows but i understand the wood and the process)
but these other woods sorta intimidate me
have a really lovely straight and straight grained stave of white oak and i have no clue how to start
the ash, dogwood  and hackberry appear to be much like working the hickory
the yew is such a gnarly bit of wood it i continue to hesitate and put it back in the corner every time i get it out
the walnut was only cut about two months ago. got it split peeled and sealed. will let it wait awhile.
in the meantime a pal just gave me a perty nice snakey osage quarter that will easily yield two bows
that wood was taken down in '03 so ready to go

thanks fellas
really do appreciate your knowledge and input

[NTProf]

Now I am going to have to find a hickory stave!

[okie64]

The biggest difference in osage and the other woods you mentioned is that osage is much more forgiving in compression. It refuses to take set whereas other woods will take a lot of set if you get them bending too much in the wrong places. Try to get that hickory stave down to around 6-7% mc and it will make a great bow. The main thing is to take a little more time tillering the other woods and they will all make fine bows. You're gonna love that hackberry, its easy to work and it has a great smell to it.

[Pat B]

One of my favorite colorations for a hickory bow and most whitewoods is hand rubbed oil with finely ground charcoal. The charcoal concentrates in the grain and gives a gentile but effective coloration. After the oil has had time to dry somewhat(a month or so) you can add Tru-oil over it if you want or just continue with the hand rubbed oil.