Osage vs Yew??? why not Hickory vs ???

[osage outlaw]

For me, it is the moisture and humidity.  I have a hickory bow I roughed out 2.5 years ago.  I started weighing it last year to see what it was doing.  I wrote the weight on the belly of the bow each time.  The last time I weighed it was 8/16/2011.  It was 33.5 oz.  Since then it has been tucked away under my bed.  I just now got it out and weighed it again, 34.4 oz.  It gained 0.9 oz. while it was in my house.  It has rained off and on over the last couple of days.  If I ever cut down another hickory tree I will have to make a hot box.

[Buckeye Guy]

Clint
I wish you wood have had a Osage same size same time to see how much differance was between them!
I keep my bows under my bed to keep them from drying out to much !!
I wish I had some scales to weight them with !!
Have fun !!
Guy

[bambule]

Hickory is my favorite!!!
It's so nice to heattreat and makes very fast bows.
You can have a standard piece of cheap hickory and can build such a durable and fast bow for five bucks.
If you sealed it right you will have no prob with high humity.
Osage is also great cause it will mostly give a bow - but I have to buy it very expensive about 100$ a stave so it's not reallly a choice :-).
Yew is a Diva - sometimes she doesn't want to be a bow...

[Chicknlady]

What would be the better finishes for hickory?  I have a stave roughed out, still trying to figure out how I want to shape it, but you guys are scaring me with the moisture-thing...

[blackhawk]

Any of the known finishes will work fine chiknlady...and hickory will work just fine as long as you keep it in a dry place while working it,and keep it stored in that same dry place when your not shooting it. I'm just a stubborn opinionated pot stirer around these parts..lol   honestly don't sweat it...its a really small issue that gets over inflated by folks like me

[vinemaplebows]

The fir that was referred to was heart wood from old growth if I remember right....fir in general is not that great of bow wood especially second growth.

[Danzn Bar]

Weylin....................I have just about got that hickory done that you asked for on the first reply.  It ended up just shy of 60" ntn, 55# @28", 8 1/2" of stiff handle area, from the fades out to about 6" it's 1 7/8" wide tapered to 3/8" at the tips.  Reinenforced the belly at the tips and did overlays with cow horn.  I'm real happy with only the 1/2" string follow i ended up with, it being only 60" long.  I weighed the bow on scale I had and it weighed only 19 oz .  I have a hard time beliving that, but I did trapped the back some, I'm sure that helped.  By the way,  it really spits out a 500 grain arrow.

Wanting to stain it a very dark black (ebony).  Hickory sometimes is hard to stain black, they end up gray with black streaks.  Does any one have any suggestions as to a black stain I could use?  I'm incline to paint it black, but would rather have "some" grain show through.
Thanks
DB

[Bryce]

Try black leather dye.

[osage outlaw]

I have used RIT clothing dye on hickory before and had good results.  I haven't tried black yet.

[rps3]

I have used black leather dye on hickory, it will stain it dark and let some of the grain show.

[Danzn Bar]

pinecone  and rps3..............I have tried water based leather dye before and it had a green tint.  Did you use water base?

ogage outlaw.......did you use the powdered rit dye or the liquid?  I've heard of using rit with denatured alcohol.  Would that bethe powdered type?

DB

[Bryce]

Let the dye dry then apply another coat. Until you get the result you want then brush lightly with steel wool.

[osage outlaw]

I mix the powder with denatured alcohol.  I turned a hickory bow purple with it one time.  It was what the wife wanted her bow to be.

[Danzn Bar]

Thanks Guys appreicate the info.....................I'll post it when I get r done.
Thnaks again DB

[BowEd]

I fool with a lot of hickory here.Rough em out then let them set in front of a fan in front of a dehumidifier while working on them the whole time[that can take weeks] unless you got a hotbox.Seal em up with a magnalac lacquer finish.It's hard to beat hedge over all but hickory heat treated or sinew backed becomes a bow that any self bow maker would like.I leave mine strung for at least three hours at a time hunting like hedge and they hold up great even in the mist but do store them by that dehumidifier like I do all of my bows.If I was to go on a long remote hunting trip with one I would bring along a 6" PVC pipe with silica bags.Which to me is a good I dea no matter what type wood bow you take with you.Leather dye works good for me on it.Sharper bends should be steamed otherwise it is very stubborn IMO to bend dry heat bending.Shagbark and pignut mostly.I hav'nt said anything different than everyone else here which says SOMETHING for old hickory.Top five in my book I'm sure because I've got it all around me here.