Author Topic: Preventing/minimizing stave twist  (Read 1120 times)

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Offline Bruce M

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Preventing/minimizing stave twist
« on: July 23, 2024, 12:31:27 pm »
Hey there,
 Just cut down a shellback hickory (about 8-10" diameter). I'm starting to rive or split them down lengthwise, strip the bark and I'm getting stave twist, probably about 20*-25*.
Question; is there a way to minimize this twist? maybe wait to split them down into staves a few days?weeks?
Or is this just a natural entity with internal stresses and it's just what the trees is going to do.
Thanks.

Offline Kidder

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Re: Preventing/minimizing stave twist
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2024, 12:42:58 pm »
Sounds like the twist you are getting is at the time of splitting, is that correct? Assuming that’s the case, the twist is because the split is following the grain. In other words the twist comes from how the tree grew. You can either select straighter trees by reading the twist in the bark or take the twist out later with heat. You can also saw your staves, but then they won’t follow the grain and you’ll be more likely to get a failure as a result - ok with certain woods such as yew with minor twist, but I personally wouldn’t with hickory. Just heat it out when you are building.

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Preventing/minimizing stave twist
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2024, 01:57:43 pm »
Twenty to twenty-five degrees of twist in a stave is chump change. Stop worrying yer pretty little head over this and get to stripping the bark and sealing the backs of the wood. It's gonna be some time to get that hickory cured out, expect to wait at least a year for every inch of thickness.

When it comes time to making bows outa this wood, get your stave worked down to the point that you can start floor tillering and then steam the sections of limb you see the most twist, and untwist it! You can also use dry heat on cured hickory, but my preference is steam. Hickory is one of the easier woods to manipulate, you can take twist out, take out kinks, bends, and warp, too. You can add recurves and bend the handles until the tips line up. In this, hickory is a very forgiving wood.

It is absolutely unforgiving when it comes to humidity.  A hint of humidity and hickory stops being a quick performing bow wood and becomes a sloppy floppy mess.
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline Bruce M

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Re: Preventing/minimizing stave twist
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2024, 06:05:54 pm »
@ Kidder
Yes this twist is happening at time of splitting. This was a log from further up the tree, as I started splitting logs further down towards the base it seems to have straightened out pretty darn close to straight anyway.

@ JW_Halverson
I got it all split up(18 staves), put anchor seal on the backs and the end grain and stowed them away.