Boiling Hickory?

[Christian Soldier]

I've got a short hickory stave (54" I think) that I'd like to make into a five curve. Not as much for performance reasons, I just like the way a 5 curve looks.

Ths stave is reduced to about 1/2in thick most of the length and has been offically seasoning for about a month.
 
So can I boil the entire stave and then form it or is there a better route to take here?

Thanks guys!

[ionicmuffin]

i think steam would be a better choice, but you can also use dry heat with hickory, if the curves arnt CRAZY then it will be fine. it sounds like your talking about mild curves so dry heat would be fine. you could also heat temper the belly while your at it if you want. just make a caul that has the 5 curves and then use the heat gun on the belly to toast it, bending in the wood to fit the caul as you go. If im missing something im sure someone will let you know that im wrong or what not.

[k-hat]

Ya if the curves are pretty gradual i'd temper them into the limbs, go real slow and clamp as you go.  I haven't had good luck with hickory, dry heat, and drastic curves, cracked both tips when i tried to do a mild recurve with dry heat

[tom sawyer]

If its kind of green that will help you, and the 1/2" thickness helps too.  I'd steam or boil, I too have had little luck dry heat-bending hickory.  You just have to work fast when it comes out of the steamer.

I think you need to heat about an hour per 1" thickness, so you only need 30min or so to get it hot through.

[ionicmuffin]

another thing to remember when you are bending wood, make sure the surface to be doing the tension while bending is SMOOTH! AND!! make sure that the surface has NO sharp corners. follow these rules and you will hopefully end up with nothing that will concern you. All the tips that have cracked for me we because i hadnt made it smooth as a babies bottom. honestly thats very important, think about why we smooth the back of a bow and round the corners, so we dont lift splinters! same principal here!

[blackhawk]

Since its green use steam...don't try using dry heat right now on it ...only use dry heat on dry wood

[k-hat]

Ah good point, didn't notice that little mention of it being a month seasoned!  Good eye there blackhawk

[Onebowonder]

Ah good point, didn't notice that little mention of it being a month seasoned!  Good eye there blackhawk

Almost hawkeye-ish one might say...

OneBow

[okie64]

If its been in a controlled rh at 1/2" thick for a month then it should be dry enough to use dry heat. If thats the case then I would do as muffin said and temper the belly as you bend in the curves as long as theyre not too sharp. Like others have said, hickory doesnt like to bend too far with dry heat.

[blackhawk]

I'd use steam for the tips and the setback handle area regardless of how sharp you intend to bend those areas...its much safer and easier for a new person who hasn't done much heat bending wood before....its real easy to mess up n crack it with dry heat if you haven't done it much....especially with the white woods ....then once stabilized temper the working portions with dry heat

[ionicmuffin]

i agree with blackhawk! steam is SOOO much easier than dry heat for me. Just so you know, the piece of wood i was working with was very dry, kiln dried to be specific. It took VERY well to the steam and although it was ash i think that it wouldnt matter that much. This is the thread that i have with my ash that im working on. http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,38538.0.html
on page 2 or 3 i think i have pics of my setup, VERY poor setup and it still did very well! Make sure you use a steel strap when you bend it because that will compress the fibers so they cant splinter! even a thin strip that is still very strong(around 1/16 of an inch is fine maybe thinner if thats all you can find) Just use vice grips to hold the part you dont clamp down and then clamp the other part, make sure  the wood is flat when you do this just to make sure that the steel strap will compress the wood fibers. if you dont understand this process you can look it up on the web and find steam bending ash or in this case hickory.

[Christian Soldier]

Thanks Guys!

I'll get all of the hash marks out today and round the corners.

Yeah, I'm not going for 10" recurves or anything, just some set back, a little reflex, and flipped tips. 

My last hickory bow broke while I was bending it with dry heat so I'll go with steam.

 AFAIK, I don't have any steel strapping handy but I'll see to it that it's really smooth and I'll steam it well.

Do I need to put a finish or anything on it before I steam it?

[ionicmuffin]

I didnt for my ash, so i dont think its necessary.

[crooketarrow]

  DRY HEAT ON SEASONED WOOD
 STEAM ON GEEN WOOD