Hickory bow

[Muskyman]

Found this laying around in my shed. I think it’s the first bow I ever started on. Handle is 1 inch wide. It’s a thin on the limbs in width. 1 1/4 to 1 3/8th to about half way down the limb then tapering to the nocks. Probably about 70 - 72 inches tip to tip. The reflex is natural. It’s got a little bit of violations on the back, I think I used a machete to peel the bark off. Didn’t know I could have peeled it when I first cut it at that time. It’s not real bad but I’ll probably back it with rawhide and make a little lighter draw weight bow out of it. A little to much MC right now 11.5 on my meter so I brought it inside to dry for a week or two before I start working on it. It’s at floor tiller now so I’ll probably heat treat it before I start working it down and shaping it up. I’ll probably be asking some more questions as I get into it.
Any suggestions on what you might do with it I’d love to hear them.
Thanks

[Pappy]

That's a good looking start. 
 Pappy

[Pat B]

Yes, a good looking start.  If the violations worry you a soft backing(rawhide, silk, linen) will help.

[superdav95]

Good timing mike. That natural reflex looks good.  I just heat treated a hickory long bow with similar dimensions.  I’ll post my set up for heat treatment for your reference.  I normally use off cuts from hickory or ironwood but just didn’t have enough so went with the 2 bags of bbq brickets it worked good in a pinch.  Not quite as long of a cook but still good cook.  I’ll post couple pics.  Let me know any other questions too.  You can see that my bake has gone through a little over half way into the limb thickness.   About 3 hours to get this cook is good.  I would get it close to floor tiller then heat treat it. 

[Muskyman]

Thanks Dave, I’m pretty much at floor tiller right now. My heat pit is 8 inches wide and deep lined with firebrick on the bottom. I have 8 inch concrete block on the sides. I built it about 7-8 months ago and haven’t used it yet. Point is I’m not sure how far to put my bow above it. I recall a three second rule so I guess whatever that is or a fuzz higher. There is one limb that’s going to need some straightening to line up with the rest of the bow. Not to much but looking down the limbs I can see it’s not in line with the other one. Can I straighten it on my form while heat treating or should I do it before I cook it, or after?

[superdav95]

Ya your pit sounds good and I’m sure it will work good.  Yes the rule of thumb is 2-3 seconds at the height of where the belly of bow sits will be where you can’t keep your hand there.  I use smaller bricks  to adjust the height up and down to keep the toast of belly even as possible.  Low and slow is the rule.   About 2-4 hours total.  I find with brickets you have just enough burn time to get it done.  I also use hardwood coals which last little longer but didn’t have enough to do it for this bow.   You’ll see in the pic I start pretty high up about 12”-14” away from the coals/brickets and then lower it as time goes on.  You’ll have to watch it and babysit it for your first couple to get the cook right.  You want a long slow cook.  A surface scorch is not the same.   You’ll know you get it right when the cook shows through about half way.  I’ve done straightening on a form with clamps to remove propeller twist and dog leg bends too while cooking the bow.  It will hold the shape of the form when done and cooled off.  You’ll notice the clamps almost fall off when cool off as the wood will have shrunk a bit.  You’ll also notice moisture escaping from the tips and may notice some minor splits there.  Not a huge deal.  Only way to help prevent this  is to get the moisture down to below 10% prior to doing the cook.  The bow I did yesterday was a hickory similar to yours and was at 11.5%.  Still was fine but it did split a tiny bit at the tips.  I left them plenty long so I’m not too concerned.  With freshly worked seasoned dry hickory stave you can manipulate the floor tillered piece and remove most bends and twists without any real concern.  Hickory is pretty forgiving.  A lot can be done with heat.   Hope this helps.