Hickory and wet climate

[rapaport]

what would the absolute best way to seal hickory for a wet damp high humid enviroment? Looking to build a hickory bow to hunt with in damp enviroment.

[okie64]

Heat treat the crap out of it or keep it in a hot box for a week or 2 prior to tillering. Try to get the mc down to about 6-7 percent and it will take less set and have much better cast. When its time to seal it use marine spar varnish and put 4 or 5 coats on it and you'll still have to reapply it every couple months or so. Its nearly impossible to keep hickory from soaking up moisture in a humid climate but it doesnt hurt to try. If it does pick up moisture you will know it, arrow speed will plummit and it will feel like a limp noodle. If I lived in a desert it would probably be my wood of choice but I dont so I usually stick with osage.

[blackhawk]

Burn it to keep you and your osage bow warm n dry 

[ionicmuffin]

shame on you for suggesting to burn it!  im sure thats part of why my hickory is very set laden. using pollyurthane or using tru oil and then rubbing wax on every once and a while is what id probably do. I live in the most humid place i can imagine...washington rains all day every day.

[gpw]

  Glue it up with a hickory backing with some Perry reflex in it (~3”) .... it WILL take a set , but will end up straight ... 

[turtle]

The trade bow I received in last years bow trade is hickory. I have no idea what the finish is but i hunted with it all fall even in down pours. I waxed it good at leadt once aweek and every day in wet weather. I also hung it up every nighy directly over a vent from my furnace. I never noticed any difference in set or cast from what it was like when i received it. I also left it in my hot box overnight a couple of times after all day in some nasty weather just to be sure it was staying dry.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I just finished a 60# hickory bow that took VERY little set, I have witnesses!

Anywho, I sealed it with 6 coats of satin spar spray.

[hurlbri1]

I went hunting in Illinois (not far from Chicago) a good dozen or so times with my 44 lb hickory pyramid bow 68" NTN.  Not the best made, 1.5 inches of set (better than the 3" of set on my first bow!).  Average humidity over the season (Oct-Dec) was 60% plus on most of our trips.  One day, we sat for a good 14 hours in a steady light rain.  I wanted to stay as natural as I could with my first few bows, so I used that orange oil/ beeswax stuff--4 coats of it (I heated the bottle up in boiling water first).  I did notice some cast difference after the 14 hour rain session.  When I drew, it felt much easier--maybe even as much as 5-8 pounds easier.  So I shot a few arrows while in the field and the arrow dropped significantly after about 15 yards--much more than usual.  I packed it up fearing I lost more cast (dropping below the 40 draw minimum in Illinois).

When I got home, I steel wooled the bow, then left it on my floor heater for 6 days (before next week's hunt), resealed it again with 3 coats of that beexwax stuff and got 44 lbs out of it (this time I measured).  It shot back to normal too.

I have no experience with other woods.  I definitely noticed cast loss after a long day of sitting in the rain.  I always hunted straight from 5 am till sundown every time we went.  I guess I am saying that I like using the beeswax stuff becuase it doesn't smell bad and is easy to use/ inexpensive--non-toxic at risk of it not working as well as other finishes (in terms of keeping the water out).  But I beat up that bow pretty good--staying strung for anywhere from 9-14 hours everytime we hunted and I only lost some cast after 14 hours in a steady light rain...

I don't mind steel wooling it up, then letting it dry over the heater...felt like I got to know my gear better, as weird as that sounds.

We'll see, though,how Chicago area's humid as heck summers treat it...I am not going to be able to throw it over a heater then...

Cheers,

Brian

[turtle]

We'll see, though,how Chicago area's humid as heck summers treat it...I am not going to be able to throw it over a heater then...

Cheers,

Brian
[/quote]


In front of AC will work just as good.