Hickory question

[mutt]

I cut about a 3" hickory 7 days ago for a couple kids bows. Split it, removed the bark, sealed the ends and clamped the two halves to a 2x4 with a little reflex and they have been sitting in my airconditioned garage.
I ordered a moisture meter and got it yesterday. Wherever I check the moisture on either stave I can't get a reading much above 10%
Is this normal? does that mean they are dry enough to make bows already?

[gutpile]

where are you from has a lot to do with it.. hardly believe it has dropped below 12 in 7 days... takes months inside in south east...gut

[mutt]

I'm in WV its been hot and humid here since end of June.

[bownarra]

Those things are of limited use in bow making.
That reading is simply for the surface wood, which may well be 10%. What matters from a bow making point of view is how dry the stave is in the middle
The simplest way to check your staves moisture loss is to weigh them. As the water leaves they become lighter Keep a check on the weight until it stabalises for at least a few days. Then rough out the bow and repeat the process.
After a while you can do it by feel alone.
Another thing you can do is to remove a piece of wood and weigh it. Then oven dry it until at 0% mc and again weigh it. Then work out the %age of m.c.

[bownarra]

Also get yourself an hygrometer and then google emc charts, temperature versus r.h.
These will tell you what your wood will get to in your specific climate.

[DC]

I've always been suspect of moisture meters. I think they(well,most of them)just measure the surface dryness. I'd put the stave in a plastic bag for a day and then quickly measure the MC. I'll bet it goes up a lot.

[Pat B]

Hickory is very slow loosing moisture. Set them up in a safe dry place and come back next year. You'll never get them too dry.

[Black Moshannon]

I’m learning to use hickory right now. I’ve been cutting the staves down to almost bow size and letting them dry strapped to a form I made. With the wood being that thin its only been taking two weeks before I put the stave in the dryer. RH here in Central Pa  has been nice though, 40-50, temp around 80.

[Eric Krewson]

I have a pinless meter that tells the whole tale through and through, they tend to be a bit pricy though.

I put a seasoned hickory bow blank in my drying box the other day to see how dry i could get it. It never went below 12% on my meter, I had forgotten about the conversion chart for different species. When I checked the chart I found it was actually at 8%.

[mutt]

The meter I got was a 30+- dollar pin type from amazon.
It has calibration modes for different species of woods. Brand name was Tavool I think.
Im going to split one of the staves and check the fresh split and see what I get.

[gutpile]

just remember.. hickory is very sloooow to lose moisture ,but will soak it up like a sponge too.... always bring back inside after working... ALWAYS.... once completed and sealed you are good to go.... gut

[Pat B]

...but still bring it back into an environmentally controlled area after use.

[loefflerchuck]

Do you have a quality moisture meter? I got a cheap one years ago from ebay and it is garbage. Says the same thing usually and very often the reading was 0%.

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, they give a surface reading but you can get around that; as you work the stave keep checking. When you get a reading above 10% stop and let it dry more.
Jawge

[mutt]

I just split it.and the fresh pieces.were 18-19/% trust your gut instead of.a cheap moisture meter I say!