hickory in high humidity

[WhistlingBadger]

Interesting.  That's part of what draws me to juniper--it is so resinous it wouldn't be affected by moisture, but the sinew backing would be.  I think that's one of the reasons people in humid climates (like Ryan Gill, who backs almost all of his bows) tend to back their sinew with snakeskin.  I like the idea of just hanging the bow up in the lodge smoke every night, and I suspect that's what the Natives did...but Mrs. Badger won't let me build a fire in the tent.   

Home improvement projects are seriously cutting into my bowyery this summer, but if I ever get around to building a chokecherry bow, I'd like to back it with dogbane fibers and add some tannins to the hide glue to make it more water resistant...

[Aaron1726]

Hope you get a chance to try the cherry with dogbane backing.  I'd be interested to see how that turns out.

[bassman211]

Work carefully with with wild choke cherry. It can be a dangerous explosive wood. It is smart to back it with something. Natives backed it with sinew. Not my favorite bow wood, but it is excellent for arrow shafts. I had one let go after about 300 arrows give, or take. The top limb shattered, and hit my glasses breaking them  in two, and bruised my right eye. It was a self bow.

[WhistlingBadger]

Work carefully with with wild choke cherry. It can be a dangerous explosive wood. It is smart to back it with something. Natives backed it with sinew. Not my favorite bow wood, but it is excellent for arrow shafts. I had one let go after about 300 arrows give, or take. The top limb shattered, and hit my glasses breaking them  in two, and bruised my right eye. It was a self bow.

Yeah, I wouldn't do a chokecherry selfbow--I've heard too many stories like that.  But I've heard it's a snappy wood if you back it.  I plan to use either dogbane fiber or rawhide.

[organic_archer]

I’m in southeast Nebraska. The humidity here is already pretty extreme and gets worse in July/August. Expect to lose a little cast with hickory. I fire harden hickory bows halfway through the limbs and seal them up real good. Takes several days for it to soak up humidity that way.

If they feel a little soggy I’ll rotate them by hand over a bed of coals until hot to the touch. Nothing crazy and not enough to pull out heat corrections. A pvc tube filled with rice sounds like an excellent idea.

[WhistlingBadger]

I got a bunch of silica desiccant packs.  I plan to put three or four of them in the storage tube and "recharge" them in a microwave every couple days.  Should help.

[superdav95]

I got a bunch of silica desiccant packs.  I plan to put three or four of them in the storage tube and "recharge" them in a microwave every couple days.  Should help.

Another great idea.  Let us know if the microwave idea works. 

[WhistlingBadger]

I got a bunch of silica desiccant packs.  I plan to put three or four of them in the storage tube and "recharge" them in a microwave every couple days.  Should help.

Another great idea.  Let us know if the microwave idea works.

The silica packs say that microwaving 7 minutes on defrost recharges them.  So...we'll see.  Off to heat gun some waterproofing into my bows.  Wish me luck, and thanks for the ideas, everybody.

[JW_Halverson]

So, are all white woods affected thus by moisture, or is hickory unique?  I'm thinking of making a chokecherry bow eventually, and I'm also interested in trying birch and ash.  (that's about it for local bow woods)

I had a green ash bow with about a dozen coats of TruOil drop from 43 lbs to 30 lbs and took 5 inches of temporary set when I went to a high humidity event. It recovered after a few weeks when I returned home. Just remember that it is temporary.

[WhistlingBadger]

So, are all white woods affected thus by moisture, or is hickory unique?  I'm thinking of making a chokecherry bow eventually, and I'm also interested in trying birch and ash.  (that's about it for local bow woods)

I had a green ash bow with about a dozen coats of TruOil drop from 43 lbs to 30 lbs and took 5 inches of temporary set when I went to a high humidity event. It recovered after a few weeks when I returned home. Just remember that it is temporary.

Same thing happened to my hickory pyramid bow when I hunted in the rain last fall.  It took about an inch and a half of set, which it mostly (but not completely) lost when it dried out.