Planning a hophornbeam build

[Aaron Brill]

Hello everybody, I've been checking out the site for the last couple days and decided I should join up. I notice a few familiar names from a couple other forums I frequent, I'm looking forward to sitting around the campfire with you

This past weekend my son and I were in the woods, not even looking for bow wood, but I noticed a whole bunch of hophornbeam that to my eye looked good for bows. I ended up cutting one to bring home. Other than a dogwood sapling bow I made when I was 15 (violated every rule of bow making I'm sure!), this will be my first selfbow build.

I reached out to Bjrogg and he gave me some pointers on getting the log split and sealed, so we got that taken care of the other night. 2 staves in particular look pretty promising with some natural reflex in them already. I've been checking out some old topics here on HHB bows and I'm excited to get started!

Aaron

[Pat B]

Welcome to PA, Aaron and your son.
HHB is an excellent bow wood. Don't know where you live but the bark may just peel off giving you a pristine back. Be sure to seal the back and ends well and give it time to dry before stressing it. You can take it down to floor tiller stage for faster drying without adversely affecting it.

[ksnow]

HHB needs sealed well, it checks very quickly.

Some staves I have split out have reflexed a massive amount. Now I bundle the tree back together and tie it with rope after splitting. They will still reflex a bit.

It is one wood that I try to cut in the dead of winter, to minimize checking.

Good luck with your build and great to see the young one involved.

[Aaron Brill]

Thanks for the tips! I did seal the ends with a few good coats of shellac, as of now the bark is still on. I'm in Upper Michigan and the sap is only recently starting to flow, I tried peeling the bark some on the waste end of the log and it was resisting a bit yet. I've heard of a couple tricks that may help, but worst case scenario I leave the bark on while it dries.

[ksnow]

I use a draw knife to get the rough bark off when I cut in the winter, then apply a few generous cots of shellac on the backs and ends.

I have lost a few staves to bugs over the years, so I like to take all bark off as soon as I can. Sometimes on HHB, I also miss seeing woodpecker damage with the bark on. With the bark off, it is easy to see the woodpecker damage.

[bjrogg]

Welcome to PA Aaron.

Yes my next step would be to try removing bark and cambium. It does tend to invite bugs leaving it on and come off harder when it dries on tight. I like a power washer for winter harvested. Like Kyle said though you can just use draw knife for bark and scraper for cambium. You don’t need to even remove all of the cambium. Some people myself included kinda like the camouflage look it gives leaving the cambium on the low spots. Try not to damage first growth ring though.

Also you could dry in a cool place for a couple weeks and also reduce belly side closer to bow dimensions to avoid checking.
Bjrogg

[Aaron Brill]

Sounds like a plan! As soon as I get a little free time I'll get the bark and as much cambium off as possible and seal it good.

Up until now, I strongly favor shooting and hunting with my Hill style longbows, so I'll be trying to make something along that basic idea. I imagine I won't be able to get the limbs as narrow as a typical 'glassed Hill bow. I draw about 26", so my goal is to fall somewhere between 45-55# @ 26", and 66" nock-to-nock. In the end though, I'll be thrilled to end up with a shootable bow!

[bjrogg]

That should be a very doable bow Aaron. You can get pretty narrow tips, but I like to leave them a little wide till I get a string on. Gives a very more options for string alignment. Same with handle. I like to leave mine square till I get strung and drawing a bit.
Bjrogg

[ksnow]

I just might have to pull out a hornbeam stave from the pile and have a go at it.

Its been some time since I made shavings in the shop.

[Aaron Brill]

I was able to spend a couple hours with the draw knife and scraper tonight, I got the bark and cambium off one stave without too much trouble. I don't think I got down into the grain much if any, I didn't put much of a hook on the scraper so it pretty well skated across the sapwood. Other than some pin knot clusters I don't see any defects that'll be a problem. I tried to be real careful scraping around the heads of the pin knots, but there were a couple that were invisible until I got down to them that I'm hoping I didn't rip the grain on. If I did, is that going to be a deal-breaker?

[Aaron Brill]

Here's a couple progress pics so far, I still plan to thin the belly out a little yet. One other stave is nearly a twin to this one but I need to debark it yet.

[bjrogg]

Aaron I can’t really tell from pictures on my phone. It looks to me like you stayed above them leaving some cambium maybe? I say carry on. Make sure you seal that back. Right away. Then reduce that belly.
Bjrogg

[Aaron Brill]

Yes, I left some cambium around all the knots except for a few that were obsured and it came off as I scraped. Looking at them I don't see any grain damage, but I can't say 100% sure. I slathered the back with shellac as soon as I finished scraping the other night, my plan today is to get the belly worked down and begin debarking another stave.

I think I'll just proceed with this stave in hopes of success, but either way it'll be a good learning experience at the very least.

[bjrogg]

I’m liking your plan Aaron. Get them all to that point and you’ll be in good shape. You will be able to speed up the drying process by following your plan. Weight stave if you can. Write weight on bow. Keep weighing every couple weeks till it quits losing weight. It should be dry then. Don’t bend it before that.
Bjrogg