Differences in Hickory?

[justsomedude]

I have a lot of available hickory (nashville, TN). Shagbark, Red, Pignut and a few I'm not sure about. Any advantages in selection (other than choosing the best stave)?

[MulchMaker]

I'm not sure but interested in the discussion my bet after looking at the wood database is that most will say true hickory, like bitternut and pignut. But that is just a guess

[BowEd]

I can only comment on shag and pignut in my area here.Not really much diff but if I had a choice and just because the wood data base says so I'd pick pignut.Making like type bows from each I really don't see much diff at all.A few SG points are'nt much.What really makes a difference with any kind of hickory with me here that is a factor is that I like a log from a canopied area reaching for sunlight in a hickory type grove.Where it grew up straight as a gun barrel and slowly with very thin rings.Like close to 30/inch.To get more articulate yet on the north side of a hill.No rules here either just my own intuitions from working with it.I'm sure someone can show me a thick ringed anomoly too....lol.
I would suggest making like type bows from each and draw your own conclusion yourself too.

[Stick Bender]

I have only used the Pignut variety & pecan I made a hickory/sinew hunting bow last year that is really a sweet shooter I got my first sucesfull bow from a board of hickory I think hickory is a great bow wood regardless of the variations I have about 8 staves of pignut & shag bark on the wall seasoning now , Hickory likes to be well seasoned wood & Im real cautious of the wood RH when working on a bow of it , but if I had the choices you do I would just choose the cleanest straitest tree & harvest it in the summer regardless of variety , hickory is a amazing wood & makes a great bow if treated right.

[Springbuck]

I live where no hickory grows and would take all I can get.

The "better" woods are usually more dense, but differences are subtle.  It may let you get away with a bit more.

F'rinstance, I recently made two elm flatbows from two small trees growing near each other.  One is "dream" elm; clean, hard white elm at about .66 SG. The other is a better than average stave of the elm I usually find around here, more heart wood and lighter. About the same diameter, etc.

The bows are 68 and 68.5" n2n. Same limb profile, reflexed and heat treated on the same form. The "good" elm has about 5/8" longer handle, sllightly longer stiffer tip secfion, and pulls 54 lbs.  The other feels lighter in the hand, has slightly shorter fades and pulls 52 lb.  The "good" elm kept maybe 3/4" more reflex,  but the "poor" elm does have a small knot in the lower midlimb that I had to leave stiffer, so.........?

Anyway good luck!

[RyanY]

I've worked with a lot of shagbark hickory and found it to be excellent wood.

[BowEd]

justsomedude.....One thing of course like I'm sure everyone has read about hickory and can speak for myself about the stuff too is that a bow nearly made then heat treated into a couple more inches of reflex will really transform into a top shelf shooting bow.Raising poundage as much as 6 to 8 pounds.A reducing of limb mass from the sides usually works well to get it back to the original draw weight.Still holding at least 1/2 of the induced reflex put on it.So start out wide enough with a good tiller on your profile and you should'nt go wrong.Caramelizing the belly on this stuff I think does to some degree negate a lot of the bad rap about it being a sluggish bow in high humidity too as a double bonus.
Heat treating to any species of hickory I think will react the same way.It makes great snaky bows too.It's a very very tension strong wood no matter what species it is.I really can't say enough about how good a bow wood it can be.

[justsomedude]

Excellent. Though there's no way I am going to wait until SUMMER to harvest

[MulchMaker]

Harvest it now by all means...it's not that hard To take off the bark, just more work in the winter. I've had good luck getting it off while it's still green using a spoon for the inner bark just be careful.

[Limbwalker]

Really all hickory is tough, the term true hickory is a category that has Pignut, Shellbark, Shagbark, Mockernut are comely referred to true. There are more. The common names for Hickories can make it confusing because some people call Carya Glabra a Bitternut Hickory, which is a True hickory. Some people call Carya Cordiformis a Bitternut as well, which is actually in the Pecan Hickory category. So you have True and Pecan Hickory. What is the difference? True hickories which are easy to find have a higher shock resistance, more elastic and are tougher than Pecan Hickories. Pecan Hickories are compared with Hard Maple and Oak by a lot of people, still not bad. True Hickories do not have bands of Parenchyma in its early wood Pecan Hickories do.

It is not required that companies distinguish True and Pecan. If one is purchasing lumber from a mixed source it is real hard to tell the difference without magnifying the end grain. True Hickories are considered ring porous and Pecan Hickories are semi ring porous. True Hickories will have a more abrupt change from early wood to late wood and Pecan will have a slow gradual change. Hard to see with just the eyes, at least for me. True Hickories have a lighter heartwood that almost matches sapwood and Pecan Hickories have darker heartwood that can have a rusty hue and can be a red/brown over time.

[Pappy]

I would wait until at least mid spring to cut, bark is really tough to get off of winter cut Hickory, that being said I prefer Pignut but Shag makes a great bow also, just not as dense I have found.
 Pappy

[MulchMaker]

Thanks for posting this question Justsomedude. The discussion is great. Not only have I learned a lot from our members but some from my own research. Like what linewalker brought up about bitternut. I didn't know that so I started reading about bitternut and found out it is the shortest lived of the hickories, it ONLY lives 200 years.  I realy need to learn my trees, they are  fascinating on there own and I heard you can make a bow out of more than few of them...