hickory board long bo

[dave young]

I have only made a few hickory board bows and have found a local place with air dried hickory lumber for sale. Would quarter sawn lumber, be the best for bows? Also if anyone would have suggestions on the best dimensions for hickory bows, from 35 to 45 lb, I would appreciate it as well.

[dave young]

Any ideas on using quarter sawn lumber for bows?

[PEARL DRUMS]

1/4 sawn is great for board bows, the best in my opinion. Assuming you want a 27-28" draw I would go 66-67" long overall, about 1 5/8" wide. The handle would be 4" long, on center with 1 1/2" long fades off each end of the handle. I would measure 20" from center both ways and make my limbs a parallel 1 5/8" to that point, then straight taper to 1/2" wide tips.

[lesken2011]

What Pearly said. Bubby has a hard maple build along that would also get you pretty close as the hard maple and hickory I have used have had similar white wood characteristics. Here is the link.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,3531

[George Tsoukalas]

All 3 of the board cuts will make a bow. Grain is always important. There is no best just different things to look for which I'll get to. The best way to determine which one you have is to look at the butt end. This is flat sawn . This is 1/4 sawn (||). This is rift sawn (\\). With rift or flat you can look at the face. A couple or run ups on each limb for 50-55# are ok. Not so with 1/4. Look at the edge grain. It must be straight all along the edge with no run ups allowed. Jawge

[bubby]

one thing to keep in mind is with riftsawn you will sometimes get some limb twist, a little aint to bad, if it bothers you, cut a backer srip and glue it on in the opposite direction, Bub

[George Tsoukalas]

Also, make sure there are no knots present. Board bows, if starting straight, should not twist. If they do, look to uneven wood removal as the culprit. Provided the grain is good as described above and on my site boards don't need to be backed except by beginning bow makers who should consider backing their first few for safety and confidence. Jawge

[bubby]

jawge the only time I've had them twist like I said was on rift sawn boards, pyramids with an even taper, taper cut on a tablesaw, I've noticed they only twist when the angle is more than ////

[dave young]

I called him and he said he does not have quarter sawn hickory, everything is flat sawn. I am going to look at it tomorrow.