Bug damage on hickory stave?

[Woody roberts]

I had a couple hickory staves in the barn with the bark on. When I removed the bark there was some bug damage in the cambium. However some of the damage is in the outer layer of wood.
I know Hickory can take more back violations than most but can it take this?
Can I decrown this stave which would remove all the damage?
Is this just shovel handle material?

[Fox]

I would think there would be no issue decrowning it if it got rid of all of the bug holes, you could decrown and back it too... a friend of mine made a locust bow that had several little wormholes all the way threw the bow, he just wrapped them with sinew and its still shooting fine
 

[superdav95]

Not to be a downer here but I’ve had bad luck with hickory (shagbark) staves with leaving the bark on and hoping no worm or bug damage under the bark.  I can’t speak for any other species of wood other then yew in that regard of bug damage where I’ve managed to work around damage and make it work.  I’ve had failures in hickory if that outer layer on backside is violated in any way.  Just my 2 cents.  Btw I’ve had better luck with hickory with removing bark easily providing pristine back in harvesting my staves in the spring.  Just slips right off.  I then use a water based poly sealer on the back and ends allowing the wedge part exposed to air dry. 

Best of luck! 

Dave

[Morgan]

I had a couple hickory staves in the barn with the bark on. When I removed the bark there was some bug damage in the cambium. However some of the damage is in the outer layer of wood.
I know Hickory can take more back violations than most but can it take this?
Can I decrown this stave which would remove all the damage?
Is this just shovel handle material?

Woody, another alternative to decrowning if the split stave is deep enough, is to flatten the split side and use that as the back. You would essentially have a quartersawn (split) board bow, but it’s better than the alternative of not having a bow from the stave

[Don W]

You could also chase a ring down. Personally I'd decrown along the length to make sure the grain was consistent. I'd probably back it with rawhide but it's probably not a requirement if it's a clear stave.

[Woody roberts]

I went ahead and roughed it in. Bug damage is worse than I thought. At least one goes through to the belly.
MC is at 17% so it will go in the drying corner where it will probably stay.

I’m ashamed, I have 4 or 5 more of these that I have let ruin because of negligence. Will not be making this mistake again.
On the bright side, the woods is full of Hickory.

[Morgan]

I went ahead and roughed it in. Bug damage is worse than I thought. At least one goes through to the belly.
MC is at 17% so it will go in the drying corner where it will probably stay.

I’m ashamed, I have 4 or 5 more of these that I have let ruin because of negligence. Will not be making this mistake again.
On the bright side, the woods is full of Hickory.

Not necessarily negligence. I can’t tell you the number of hickory and pecan trees I’ve cut that had some sort of spade headed grub under the bark and throughout the first inch of wood under the bark. If that was the case with your staves, the damage may have been there in the standing tree.

[Woody roberts]

Morgan
That is what I had.

[bassman211]

I ran into that with American Hornbeam saplings half dozen times. They look good till you hack into them. Some  were full of ants to the core wood.

[Pat B]

This is where summer cutting of white wood, peeling the bark and sealing the back comes into play. You pretty much eliminate any bugs or bug eggs that may be in the bark. You still have to be concerned with powder post beetles but under the right storage conditions you can come out with good, clean staves.
Fungi and bugs that eat wood are excellent at what they do so it's up to you to make your bow staves unpleasant for these critters.