Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Fox on August 25, 2021, 01:01:52 pm
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I have been mulling over what to do with my only really perfect stave, it's hickory, and plenty long and wide for anything. what I was thinking was 2" wide Eiffel tower kinda taper, and a stiff handle, but how long? and I can't decide whether to recurve the tips, I haven't made a good recurve yet, so I can't decidee if I want to just do a swooping reflex like I ussually do.... My draw langth is most of the time 26 or 25"
whatcha guys think? ittle eaither be for hunting for whitaill in laurel and in open hardwood, or possibly for the bow trade if its finished before thats done and better then both of my bows I have for that...
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Ive heard from a lot of people that hunting bows are a bit smaller than a regular target shooting bow. I would honestly make whatever design you are most comfortable with shooting. Since you asked, i would flip the tips or add recurves if you feel comfortable with the stave. But just do what your best at.
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62 - 66" long fire hardened stiff handle with about 2-3" reflex caul during fire hardening. If you lose an inch during tillering, the bow will still have some reflex. Depending on finished draw weight 1 7/8 - 1 3/4" wide for half limb length tapered to 1/2" nocks. There's a few good fire hardening videos on youtube if you're not familiar with the process. Just another option.
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Im liken the way that sounds pasteve… fire hardening is a good idea, I usually use a heat gun but I can’t get the same deep heat treat as a fire hardened I bet… never really done it before maybe I will watch some videos
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Some what’s it look like?
Arvin
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With a good, straight stave, I'm partial to a sudbury profile with wide mid-limbs and slightly stiffened tips, heat treat in a little bit of reflex, and Bob's your uncle. Nicer looking than a pyramid IMO (though pyramids can look pretty nice, too) and shoot great.
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Be careful if you recurve the tips. Chase a ring on the belly at the tip before recurving. That will help with splintering. I have messed up or had to pike some great looking staves from trying to recurve hickory.
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Good advice by Steve.
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You might want to steam bend recurves for hickory rather than using dry heat if they are very sharp ones. Chasing a ring on the belly is smart too.
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If I had a perfect hickory, I’d go straight-limbed flat bow, stiff handle, fire hardened or heavily heat treated either flat or with 1-2” reflex, Pyramid-ish or Meare Heath-ish profile, 66” long at your draw.
Width dependent on the weight...
1.5” if under 50
1.75” if 50-60
2” if over 60
(SH)
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Lots of options…. Statics, reinforced tips with recurves, molle style levers and many other for sure. Hickory gets a bad rap sometimes with bending tips/ recurves. I bend mine in preferably when still little green and clamp to a form and let it remain clamped for about a week or so drying in the sun. I also check it to make sure it gets down to below 10% mc before I fire harden it to minimize the checks. I’ve had good luck with this. On a dryer stave that’s been sitting a while I do what has been suggested already and steam the tips for about 45mins or so depending how thick the tips are. I go a little thicker on the tips about 3/4”-1” depending on the style of bow I make. Not sure how dry your stave is but if it’s still got a moisture content of around 12-15% or more I’ve been able to clamp right to my form right after initial rough shaping and also induce some reflex as it dries further and then go right to baking over coals for 2-3 hours. I’ve found that you cannot steam in recurve once the heat treatment or fire hardening has been done. What you got after heat is it for the most part. I have made slight oil and heat gun corrections after but minor in nature nothing crazy. Good luck on your build!
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Old wooden wheel rims were often made from boiled hickory :) It will bend into a circle if you do it right :)
One growth ring on the belly. No thicker than 5/8ths max. Soak the tips in water for at least a day or two. Then submerge them under water and boil them - not steam.Once removed from the water bend within 10 seconds.
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Old wooden wheel rims were often made from boiled hickory :) It will bend into a circle if you do it right :)
One growth ring on the belly. No thicker than 5/8ths max. Soak the tips in water for at least a day or two. Then submerge them under water and boil them - not steam.Once removed from the water bend within 10 seconds.
I don’t understand what y’all mean when you say one belly growth ring? How do you chase a belly ring? Or are you just looking for parallel ring lines going up the tip with no feathering to next ring?
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I've come to like a pyramid profile with my hickory, using a 4 inch handle and 2 inch fades. I go 66 inches for 28 inch draw. Trap the back and heat treat the belly with a heat gun. Never tried fire hardening, so I cant comment on that method.
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"Are you just looking for parallel ring lines going up the tip with no feathering to next ring?"
Yup, that's right - parallel on the edges. It keeps the edge of a ring from popping up when bent.
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Lots of good ideas here guys! Thanks! :D
My issues with recurves aren’t in the bending in the curves, I’ve never had any issues with that. Tillering is where I go south with recurves I think. Both hickory recurves I’ve made take tons of set, and seem heavy in the hand and sluggish, not sure why ???
I’m thinking I’ll go for a flat bow just so I don’t screw stuff up :)
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That will be because the tiller was wrong, assuming the wood is properly dry. Easy enough to avoid if you post pictures. I mentioned the stuff about bending because others had said that hickory is 'tricky' to bend.