Hickory Bow... back at it after two years

[Johnny K]

Hi everyone,

I am about to begin work on my first stave bow. I purchased an 80" long hickory stave... what should I do next? Basically, I need advice on the following points:

What kind of bow should I make?
The stave is plenty big enough for a heavy English longbow, I could do that, but would probably prefer some kind of "faster" flat-bow, or a lighter longbow with a little reflex and flipped tips... or would that be a waste of a large stave?

Is there something about hickory I should know before I begin?
As in: can I make a heavy draw weight bow out of it, should it have a round or flat belly, does it respond well to steam bending?

Should I try to get more than one bow out of the stave?

There is about an inch of sapwood on the stave (see picture), is it ok/good/bad if the limbs are basically all sapwood?

Would appreciate any help/advice anyone could offer me!

Thanks,
John 

P.S. I can post more pictures and make a sort of build-along (probably more of a help-along  )... Good idea?

[chamookman]

I suggest getting a copy of the Traditional Bowyers Bible vol. 1. Will answer all Your questions and then some. Have fun and enjoy - Bob.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Leave the sapwood as is. That piece will make one bow. Id make it 68" long, 2" wide for half the working limbs length then straight taper to 1/2" wide tips. That will handle up to a 29" draw and at least 70#.

[George Tsoukalas]

Looks like a nice stave.
What is your draw length and what draw weight do you want.
Jawge

[Johnny K]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for responding!

I suggest getting a copy of the Traditional Bowyers Bible vol. 1. Will answer all Your questions and then some. Have fun and enjoy - Bob.

Thanks for the suggestion, I guess I should get that one. The library probably even has it, come to think of it...

Leave the sapwood as is. That piece will make one bow. Id make it 68" long, 2" wide for half the working limbs length then straight taper to 1/2" wide tips. That will handle up to a 29" draw and at least 70#.

Glad to hear I can leave the sapwood, would have been a job thinning that down... Thanks for the shape-n-size tip too! I will probably go with a 72" length, cause I'm chicken, plus I can reuse my old bowstring... That should be able to handle 75# @ 30", right? 

Looks like a nice stave.
What is your draw length and what draw weight do you want.
Jawge

I draw somewhere between 29"-30". Draw weight, I would love something in the range of 70-80#, but am terrified of chrysals (Did you see my last bow, that failed, the tri-lam)... Can hickory handle the compression forces of so heavy a bow, or am I asking for trouble?

Thanks again,
John

[PEARL DRUMS]

You'll want every bit of length and width you can get for the numbers you want.

[Johnny K]

A tiny step forward: I have the bark removed... I marked on the side-profile picture where in the stave I think I should make the bow, is that a good idea?

On the second picture, you can see a little grain swerve near the top. Do I have to follow that swerve, or can I basically ignore it when I rough out the bow shape?

Sorry if these are stupid questions... I'll learn, I promise!

Thanks,
John

BTW, I have decided to lower my desired draw weight considerably, to increase my chances of finally making a bow to last... I intend to try for around 60# @ 29". With a 72" length, I think that should be easy to achieve... 

[Parnell]

Hickory doesn't like the humidity, but looks like you live in a place where hickory will do well.  Good luck!

[burchett.donald]

  Johnny,
                You must be a big fella, I'm 6' and have a 26" draw using primitive bows. First off if there was a wood that would take violations Hickory is at the top. The last 6" usually don't bend depending on design but it would sure be a looker if you followed the grain...It took me a long time to get rid of the perfect cookie cutter mentality. I find perfection in following the grain now, it's much safer and interesting. Good luck and take your time. Chamookman gave you some good advice and a good read on TBB 1...I made my first bow from Hickory using the TBB 1 years ago. Hickory is some tough stuff...
                                                                                                                                      DON

[Johnny K]

Thanks Parnell! Yea, humidity shouldn't be an issue up here in Alberta...



Thanks for taking the time to reply and answer my question Don.

I'm trying to build a sort of long flat-bow, or flat long-bow. I guess the tips will bend, but not very much, and hearing what you say about Hickory regarding grain violations, I think I will go with the "cookie cutter mentality"... this once... after all it is my first stave bow, and the idea of having crooked tips is somehow worrying...

I guess the grain of any bow starts to run out on both sides when you taper toward the tips... basically, the only difference is that most of the grain will run out of one side in my bow...

About my draw length, I'm actually just shy of 6'... I used the arm-span divided by 2.5 method for determining draw length. It put me at just over 29". I guess that method may not be ideal as far as primitive bows go though, but I have yet to put 1000 arrows through all wood bows... Maybe the problem is with my shooting form/style. Anyway, will see about that when the bow is done, and I finally get some practice...

Thanks again,
John

[Drewster]

Johnny, moisture content is critical with hickory to get good performance from your bow.  It should be between 6% and 8%, so make sure your stave is well seasoned.  A moisture meter is good but I like to cut a small slice of wood and do an oven dry test for the most accurate MC.  If you have a grain scale and a microwave you can do the test easily.

When you rough out the bow profile, you'll have some pieces of wood that will be a good cross section to test.  If it's not dry enough, put the stave in the driest part of your house or a hot box for further seasoning.

And yes, Vol 1 of the Bowyer's Bible will be a huge help.  Good luck and have fun.

[Chief RID]

Hi Johnny,

I am no expert. I built one bow long ago and it started lifting splinters along the edges on the back because I did not follow the grain. It was elm and it took a while and did not start until I let someone else with a longer draw length shoot it. I mention this because in your 1st pics where you can see the grain it looks like one side is perfectly straight and the other side has severe grain running out the stave. It could run back in on down the stave and be fine but I just thought I would mention it.

[George Tsoukalas]

You really need to be sure of your draw length at least eventually, Johnny.
I built an osage bow for a friend with a 33 inch draw and I made the 71
or 72 inches nock to nock.
Somewhere around 72" makes sense and  for your next you can make it less once you determine your draw length.
Have you shot an 80# bow before?
Jawge

[George Tsoukalas]

Hickory is sensitive to humidity. Keep itin AC during the summer.

Hickory is the toughest bow wood  I have every worked. It is practically bullet proof. The closest thing to it is white oak. IMVHO.

Yes, made lots of osage bows, LOL.

More  on my site.

http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/index.html

Jawge

[Johnny K]

Thanks for the replies everybody!

Drewster: Thanks for the advice on moisture content. Will look into measuring it. I am pretty sure it is correct as I bought the stave from the biggest hardwood supplier in Edmonton, who ordered it from somewhere. I know he supplies bowyers in the area, so I suspect the stuff he's got is fully seasoned... but you can never be too careful... Oh, and I have already ordered TBB volume 1 from the library!

Chief RID: Thanks for replying and for the concern. The grain appears to me to be running straight for most of the length of the stave, and then undergoes a little "snake" near one tip. At first I thought I would ignore that, but I am starting to think that if I can get a sort of "symmetrically crooked" tip, I may as well try to have less run off... I guess we'll see...

Jawge: Thanks for responding! I'm glad to hear that hickory is "bullet-proof"... although that also means that if this bow breaks, I am an idiot...  About the 80#: My last bow, (that trilam pyramid that failed, you may have seen the thread), has a draw weight of 75#... I found my arms getting tired after about twenty arrows or so, but was still not happy with arrow speed. However, at long last, I have decided that maybe draw weight does not translate into arrow speed very directly... So I will make this bow lighter after all, and see if a flatter design and perhaps a little reflex will improve performance... I was trying for such high draw weights mainly because I was tired of watching the arrows sail majestically for 60 yards, me looking on and wondering where on the target this one would decide to land... 

I really appreciate all this great info and advice, Thanks a lot!

John