first fire hardened bow

[Enharrington]

hey guys.  i just wanted to share my results with my first fire hardened bow, using keith shannon’s method. i used american elm and it came out to 45 at 28.   i am far from a great bowyer and my tillering skills are enough to make an alright bow.  even with this it’s the first bow i’ve made that returns to an inch of reflex immediately after in stringing.  it just feels more responsive in the hand. and is a good light bow.  now the performance is good but living in the north east the best part is the hydrophobic quality.  i left it in my basement for a few days with no finish in it to test it.   i strung it immediately after and shot it repeatedly and had no negative effects.  the relative humidity in my basement was 65 percent.   this isn’t exactly a scientific experiment but with raw elm this would have followed the string excessively after.   can’t wait to experiment with different woods.   i’m gonna try fire hardening some of  my other finished bows and see what that does too.     thanks - erick

[Knoll]

Interesting to read your result.

[Deerhunter21]

even with this it’s the first bow i’ve made that returns to an inch of reflex immediately after in stringing.  it just feels more responsive in the hand. and is a good light bow.  now the performance is good but living in the north east the best part is the hydrophobic quality.  i left it in my basement for a few days with no finish in it to test it.   i strung it immediately after and shot it repeatedly and had no negative effects.  the relative humidity in my basement was 65 percent.

Thats a nice bow! from what i can see the tiller looks nice and Its great you got a good bow!

Edit: Stupid comment. Took it out

[Enharrington]

that’s a good point.  i’ll have to give it a good soaking next time.   in his video keith submerges an unfinished bow for a few days.   after a 24 hour drying period the moisture had returned to i think 9 percent. 

[Deerhunter21]

that’s a good point.  i’ll have to give it a good soaking next time.   in his video keith submerges an unfinished bow for a few days.   after a 24 hour drying period the moisture had returned to i think 9 percent. 

I dont even know if soaking it for a couple of days will actually penetrate a good bow wood Im not suprised it went back to 9 percent in a few days.


Edit: sorry i ment good heat treating not good bow wood.

[PatM]

"Good" bow wood varies wildly in moisture uptake.  The selling point for heat treated wood is that it doesn't get wet again like normal wood, not   that it dries faster the second time around.

[PaSteve]

Thanks for posting your results. Nice looking bow. I'm currently working on a fire hardened hickory bow. Two things I've noticed are that the wood is definitely harder than untreated hickory. The second is that while tillering, the draw weight is still pretty high but the limbs are getting thin. I'm hoping this amounts to less mass in the limbs giving me a faster more efficient bow.

[Enharrington]

hickory and american hornbeam are my two next to try fire hardening.   let me know how your hickory bow turns out.   i love a good sturdy hickory hunting bow.

[Eric Garza]

I have a couple hickory staves drying, and look forward to trying my hand at fire hardening later this spring. Did you use coals outdoors to fire harden?

[PaSteve]

Yes Eric. Can't speak for others but I roughed out the stave until the limbs began to bend.  Then clamped to a caul and fire hardened over hot coals for about 2 hours checking every 10 - 15 minutes making adjustments as necessary. Left it clamped overnight and there was virtually no spring back after unclamping.

[timmyd]

I have had unsealed hickory staves go from 6% to 12% in less than 2 days. I love working it but I have to leave them in a drying box. Even when they are done I'll put them in a drying box for a day before I string and shoot. Even with a good finish on them it's hard to keep them under 10% and I like them around 6.

[Enharrington]

timmyd that’s been my experience also with elm and hickory.  then i’d take it out and hunt small game for a few hours after a few humid days and it’s a wet noodle.   so far so good with this one but the humidity has been low.   i’ll know better this wet season how it holds up.    i also used charcoal  in a cinder block pit.   i’m wondering if the smoke along with the heat and extended time over the pit helps to add to the hydrophobic qualities. 

[bradsmith2010]

maybe it makes it more like osage,,,

[maitus]

i’m wondering if the smoke along with the heat and extended time over the pit helps to add to the hydrophobic qualities.

Brain tanned hides are usually smoked to make them waterproof. I believe it work for wood as well.

[PatM]

That's more so that they dry soft again.  I'm not sure anyone would call buckskin waterproof.