salt curing ?

[Otoe Bow]

OK, where did the spewing Smiley come from?  I see lots of potential for that one.    

I tried to steer this towards food early with the ham analogy and it failed.     Sorry about that.

Mike

[recurve shooter]

always good to see a post go in a COMPLEATLY different direction that ins supposed ot, lol.

[D. Tiller]

Anyone actually tried saltwater curing? I think giving it a try might be in order to see if it actually does anything before blowing it off.

[Mike_A]

I have to say that as a novice it's on my to do list along with a lot of other stuff just to see what will happen. I haven't tried it yet so I can't say much one way or the other. Mike

[Rich Saffold]

Tiller, Take the finest 60rpi yew stave ya got, and let the ocean leach out every resin that makes that fine wood what it is, and I bet you will regret this big time..

I have seen wood fresh cut, dried, and everything in between,floating at sea, and have inspected them on the beach, pulled them up from the sea floor to inspect, and I have yet to see any reason to think this method will make it into a better bow.

If this was such a good method every coastal civilization using wood bows would have figured this out centuries ago, especially if there was some even if just a minute advantage..There would have been some documentation of a cast advantage if it actually worked.

We know what was done historically, heat tempering, and bending, laminating, gluing, steam and boiling...By many cultures living near the sea..Not one was tossing their fine bow wood into the sea to make into a better bow..They had already figured it out..

Rich-frequent flier

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Hey Tiller...Like Rich said why dont YOU try it and tell us what happens. Ok yeah, add some Indian mystical beliefs ya dont believe in. "..has anybody tried it before blowing it off ?" Kinna like jumpin' off a 20 story building ? Why dont ya try that before "ta use yer words" blowing it off !" HELLO ya there ?........bob

[Justin Snyder]

So let me see if I understand what you are telling me Rich. Even though Bobs Grandfather and Great Grandfather (yes I capitalized them on purpose) were basically surrounded on 3 sides by the ocean in Florida. And many other tribes lived along the coasts and fished the ocean. Then there are all those Native people who lived in the Pacific Islands and Gulf Coast Islands and other islands all over the globe.  You are saying that all those people who lived by the salt water might have figured out if there was some benefit before a tribe that lived on the planes, far away from the ocean did.  HMMMMMM Next you are going to tell me the world is round.
Justin...slow but learning 

[Hillbilly]

All I need to know about saltwater curing I learned by observing what salt did to the wooden boards in our smokehouse when I was growing up. Anybody need some soft, fuzzy, mushy oak board staves? Of course, we were curing pork instead of buffalo meat, might make a difference. 

[Pat B]

I have never tried salt curing wood but I have live in a humid, salty environment of Coastal GA and SC and have seen the effects of salt and moisture on wood. One drawback I see with salt water curing is that salt attracts moisture and moisture is the least desirable thing for a wood bow. It may have worked for Longbow but its not gonna be in my bag of tricks. I have enough trouble making bows with methods that were proven over many years and by lots of bow builders.      Pat

[robbsbass]

Good morning guys its about 72 degrees up here in Canada and I hope your enjoying this weather as much as I am. As for curing with salt I tore apart an old violin with absolutely no sound and have it it sitting in a sea salt solution, just guessed on how much to put in. Hope it makes a difference,It can't hurt it,so I had an idea for doing the same for a bow or stave,, by taking a piece of 6" pvc piping and glue on an end cap on one end and a screw on cap on the other would allow you to control the time and the amount of salt the bow or stave was getting. Just a thought.

                       Robb

[D. Tiller]

So, if I understand all this then none of you have tried saltwater curing. I live next to a lot of ocean and I will be giving this a shot sometime. I will give this at least one a try before throwing it in the rubbish bin.

[mullet]

 David, While you are at it. Don't forget to add 4" of set and a quarter inch of rawhide backing so you can attain more speed and cast. That was my last post, this got old last time and I'm not sitting bored in a motel room.

[Dano]

So.. D.Tiller, ya gonna try this with a good bow stave? Heck I'll give you a primo osage stave to try it with, just send me $80.00 for the shipping. Seriously, you can try and re-invent the wheel, but as you know that would be a waist of time. Our passion, this primitive archery, is just that, nothing new, nothing that space age technology can make any better, that's my $0.02. 

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

You guys are brutal

[DanaM]