first selfbow ever making

[nsherve]

I saw a downed hickory tree this spring but just recently got the time to cut it up. it wasn't completely uprooted, so it still had leaves and such this summer so wasn't dead. I've been getting the bark off, which is not so easy. I've read about putting it in the shower for a while to make it easier. I've been thinking about putting it in my pond for a day or so to see if that will help, instead of a shower. any thoughts of this?
thanks for any help.

nate

[Blaflair2]

It's the steam of the shower to rehydrate the bark, if u out it in ur pond u may as well just leave it in there. IMO . A spoon can peel bark and not cut the back up if ur careful.

[Pat B]

It is probably too late to get the bark off easily. I'm afraid you'll have to take it off with a draw knife or whatever you have to work with. 

[nsherve]

ya'll figure it will mess up the wood?

[mhof86]

Just go slow with the draw knife I'm pretty sure I butchered a maple stave with mine  . Never thought about using a spoon I will keep that one in my back pocket for next time.

[Pat B]

The cambium will be a dark tan when it dries and the hickory wood itself is very white. Just take it easy and if some cambium is left on it won't hurt anything and some folks use it as camo.

[nsherve]

yea, I was wondering about the cambium, also. I used the shower on one for the under bark. it helped but still took a couple days (stay at home dad, 3 kids). still has a good bit of said cambium. used a drawknife on the outer bark, put it in the shower for the under bark and used my pocket knife. i'll try a spoon on another one. I may put one in the pond that has knots too big for me to try a bow out of, and see if it helps. do ya'll think they should be weathered/ in the barn before  a hotbox?

[nsherve]

also, how do you get the cambium off?

[Springbuck]

  Scrape.  Carve the corky outer bark off carefully with a sharp too, but don't go deep.  peel and lift whatever you can, and then start scraping with a spoon or very dull scraper.  When you get down to whitish, stringy inner bark, you can wet it with clean hot water for a minute, let is set a few, and come back to scrape off what it will let you. Repeat.

While you are in the inner bark you might think, "this kinda seems like wood, is this wood?"  But when you hit wood, you will think, "oh, that ain't bark!"

[DC]

Get a nice comfy stool, put on some tunes, use all the methods mentioned and plan on spending a few hours. I use a wetish sponge. Dampen an area and work on a different spot for a few minutes. When you come back to that spot it will come off easier. Just fiddle away with it. After you get the knack you can kick your brain out of gear and the next thing you know you have a nice back on the bow. Possibly your back will be sore but it's worth it. Then a nice nap and you're on your way

[ian79]

Post a pic of the pond?

[nsherve]

thanks for all the responses. I just did the bark removal with another one, used a spoon. it made it pretty easy and quick. fairly certain the cambium cam off with it all...whatever's left hasn't changed color from white, anyway.

i'll post pic of pond if I can find wife's camera and figure out how to post them. i'm not particularly computer literate..haha

[Ghost308]

This is easy to answer for me because I found the easy way on here ,,,,,,,,,, stand it on end and use a hammer and a old wide tip screwdriver, just hammer it in and it will split off fast and not a lot of work and you won't have to soak it. Once you get a good part peeling off move around the stave and do some more. I did a 7 foot stave that was cut last November in about 15 minutes and that was after I spent 2 weeks with a draw knife and hardly made a dent in it. Oh and keep the bark and shaving for your BBQ pit  lol