Hickory Processing ??s

[willie]

consider the cellulose kitchen sponge as it dries. It can go from sopping wet to sorta dry without distortion or shrinkage.  after the "free water" ( the water you can wring out),  has evaporated, shrinkage begins.

even thicknesses help consistency in drying

in very dry conditions I have found that not only the ends need to be sealed, but the stave needs to be sealed on all sides for a few inches from the end

your staves may need to be moved to more humid  or cooler conditions when the free water has left, monitor your stash

[Pappy]

Good advice above, that's how I would handle it. 
 Pappy

[ssrhythm]

Press-8 it Hamish and W.  That makes a lot of sense.  I'll probably go ahead and quarter or 1/6 this tree, get better/more even drying, and deal with what it gives me.  I'd love to be able to move my staves to a more humid environment, but I don't have that option at this time.  I do have an insulated shop now with a barn-type ceiling.  I just need to figure out the hanging system I want to go with, and I can move all my staves from my garage to my shop.  I can at least keep it a constant temperature in there, as I have a big window unit AC in the wall and a killer shop heater.  I guess I can add a humidifier...I wonder if anyone makes a room or area humidifier with a receiving thermostat-like....hmmm...humidostat?!...that kicks the unit on and off based on RH in the building so you can maintain a set RH in a shop?  Surely.  If not, someone needs to make one.  Again, thanks for the advice.

[ssrhythm]

Well YES, yes they do...and I even guessed "Humidistat" correctly.  I know, I know...but I take joy in little wins like that!  Doesn't look like a terribly expensive endeavor to get that shop to where I won't be at the mercy of this climate 100% of the time.

[bassman211]

Some good ideas above. I don't store hickory anymore. I just go out ,and pick a nice straight green sapling. Remove the bark ,and floor tiller ,put it on a form,and fire harden. Process takes three days for me, but some guys can get a bow made in one day with good results. See Doug  Shannon, and Clay Hayes on Utube.

[willie]

look at
 https://www.windy.com/-Humidity-rh?rh,2025072109,37.597,-107.227,5,m:eQJaddR
for differences between day and night humidities

keep the staves in a "cool" box in a shady spot
we have had similar problems drying fish too fast as the filets become "case hardened" on the outside.
a baby humidifier on a humidistat in the "smoke house" worked well
(the "smoke house" is more for keeping the flies out, and only gets smoke and heat on a very limited basis)