Hello,
I am working on my first bow, using a hickory board (1"x2"x72"). The problem is that in my climate (northern Minnesota) this time of year, humidity inside the house is extremely low. I have a moisture meter, which reads down to 8%, and the hickory board won't even register. I have an oak board alongside it that showed moisture about 9%. I have put the boards in a room in the basement with a humidifier, with the room humidity around 50%, for about 4 days now. The oak board is up to 12%, and at one point the hickory board showed 8%, then went back to not registering. I am ready to tiller the hickory board, but am afraid to start since the board's moisture content seems too low, and I don't want to risk breaking it. All the information I have seen about building hickory bows is about the opposite problem; getting the moisture level down. Also, that hickory tends to absorb moisture too readily seems to be mentioned as a problem, but from my experience, the oak board is the one doing that.
I have thought about building an enclosure for the board and putting wet towels in it, somewhat like a cigar humidor, to bring the moisture up. Has anyone tried this?
Any suggestions about my general problem? I feel I am stuck at this point.
