Steamed hickory

[Black Moshannon]

Just looking for an average time hickory should be left in clamps/form after steaming out some lateral warp or putting in a small amount of reflex. I’ve been leaving it four hours to twelve hours. I’d like to get this one out as soon as possible and do the other limb. I’m not a patient man.

[Black Moshannon]

I should have specified, it’s 1/14 wide by 3/4 thick

[gutpile]

4 hours is plenty however you have to let completely dry before working.. thats why dry heat works best on minor correction or adding reflex too... and hickory soaks up moisture like no other and hard to get dry again if down south... JMO...gut

[gutpile]

1 1/4 wide is thin for hickory too...1 1/2 is better... where are you located?....

[Black Moshannon]

I’m in Central PA... moisture content over summer ranges from 40 to 70%. yea I have noticed it seems like most make hickory into flat bows but I’ve made those and am now just interested in D profile bendy handle bows... I suppose I could stick with elm but it seems like I could make a decent bow of this design with hickory, given heat treating and all. So this wood was at 7% out of the dryer, is there a good way to use dry heat, like heated over coals or the stove with lard? I don’t have a heat gun.

[gutpile]

well you dont have the humidity I have to deal with.. 7% is too dry though ....8 to 12 is best... a d bow might be ok at 1 1/4 ... Ive never built a d bow so I am not the one to ask about that.. good luck with it... hickory IMO rivals osage when dry enough.. its much lighter in hand and has plenty of zip...if you don't have a heat gun and your going to build bows.. best to go ahead and invest in one...  LOVE HICKORY...but it is a royal pain in the south but worth the effort... gut

[gutpile]

hickory also takes heat treating well... easily corrects twist and flip tips with heat gun also...be sure to get dry again before bending bow.. it will take set when not dry enough..  gut

[Black Moshannon]

Ok thanks for the insight. As I’m doing this thing the old way, beard flappin on my chin, electricitys a sin, this means no heat gun. Ultimately I wouldn’t be able to use this website either but that’s just too hardcore for me just yet.

[Eric Krewson]

I have trouble correcting hickory, I can correct it with steam or dry heat but it goes back.

[gutpile]

thats odd Eric.. I've never had hickory return on me... haven't done major correction just tip alignment and remove some twist on static recurves I've made...  holds well... I boil tips for recurves.. put in closet for a few months..our humidity is way up there... but tip alignment, twists I can do with dry heat and they hold no problem... I remember the bowyers mag... the guy dry heated hickory on a caul to reflex let sit overnight removed clamps and the bow didn't even move... gut

[Selfbowman]

Well yes bow making will teach you some patience. I have learned a lot about patients since I became a bow maker.😁😁😁😁  Arvin

[Black Moshannon]

I have had a lot of trouble getting hickory to stay after steaming. I’ve tried reverse bracing it and over correcting during the steaming but it often goes right back when I put it in the dryer. Right now I’m trying to work it and floor tiller and reduce to almost finished size before I put it back in the dryer. I’m hoping this will help it keep the corrections i steamed in.

[DC]

I'm not sure if this applies to Hickory but I've found that a tight steamed bend( like a recurve) will hold reasonably well but a slight steamed bend( like reflex) won't hold at all. I use dry heat for all large radius bends.

[gutpile]

here is the problem with steaming hickory... hickory unlike most woods and is extremely hydroscopic like bamboo...  it soaks up moisture like a sponge and is very slow to release it... down south it will not get below 12% if left outside no matter how long ... here, you have to bring it inside or put in a hot box.. anytime you work it.. it has to go back inside until finished and sealed.. so steaming is just rehydrating it period... adding months to naturally dry inside.. it takes dry heat well.. for minor corrections and heat treat very nice.. you can take a hickory bow built from a humid climate say 50 lbs.. take to Arizona and will gain up to 5 lbs or more ... just from the difference in humidity... I've heard this many times.. but I believe it ... gut

[Eric Krewson]

I have heated and steamed this hickory stave multiple times, it always goes back.