Hickory stave question

[Woody roberts]

I have 2 hickory staves curing. Ive whittled them down to 69” long, 2” wide x 1-1/2” deep with the bark removed. I plan on taking them on down a little.

About what dimensions would youns suggest for a pyramid type bow pulling 50/55 at 28”?

[Pat B]

64" to 66" by 1 3/4" to 2" at the fades, leave the tips at about 1/2" to 3/4" until first brace to see how the string lines up then you can reduce to 3/8" or less. You can take it down to floor tiller stage now for faster drying. Also, hickory lover belly tempering. I would wait til further in the process for the tempering.

[Woody roberts]

What do you guys thin the limbs to starting out? Ive been going 5/8” just out of the fade tapering to 1/2” at the tips.

After tillering usually end up 9/16” tapering to 1/2”

Does this sound right?

[Flntknp17]

That sounds about right.  I measured one of my 50# hickory bows yesterday and it is 0.550" at the fades and 0.350" at the tips for a 66" bow.  I would make sure you allow a bit of extra on these dimensions though because certainly not all trees yield identical wood.

Matt

[Hawkdancer]

Post pics, keep your tools sharp, and your fingers safe - well, keep all of you safe!  Good luck!
Hawkdancer

[bownarra]

3/4 thick at the fades to 1/2 at the tips.
Main thing when reducing staves to dry. Don't reduce width much. Keep the whole stave 2" wide. This will drastically reduce the chances of warping.
Thickness is the thing that will slow your drying times down. As long as you thin the limbs apprioriately it can dry quickly.Most importantly the handle area. Keep that full width until you string the bow at a low brace for the first time.
Once you have the bow braced you know where the string naturally wants to run through the handle. You then redcuce the handle to the strings natural alignment. No messing with heat trying to bend the handle or limbs to line up the string.

[Blake bridges]

Wasnt sure how to post on here but I was taking the bark off of a hickory stave and I violated the back . what do I do considering the growth rings are so small I dont think I can chase a ring?

[bambule]

Hickory sapwood loves heat treating as said before - I would do it.
Hickory tends to take set even if you work slowly - you can avoid it with a good heat in about 2" reflex.
The chance to get a dead straight bow on drawlenght after unbracing is much more higher with heat treating.
And you also have to work slowly because Hickory is sluggish and needs time to notice that it has to bend on the right spot.

Cheers,
Cord