Hickory bow set

[hedgeapple]

My roughed out bow had 1 1/2" reflex now nearing completion it has an 1" set with some string follow.  I plan to back it with rawhide.  My question could I heat the limbs, put it in a caul to add a bit a reflex then apply the rawhide backing to help hold the reflex or with that just caus the rawhide to pop off?

[yazoo]

how dry is the hickory? if it is a mosture problem,the reflex will pull out of it again, hickory needs not only to be dry but seasoned, there is a difference.how old is the hickory?  also if the bow is a good shooter dont worry about the set,

[hedgeapple]

Yazoo, I got the hickory stave in a trade from some who had gotten it from a 3rd person.  It's supposedly a couple years old.  I got in Feb.  So I think it's seasons.  It's 65" ntn, 60# at 26".  I shot it 6 time a couple days ago and I like it ALOT.  The handle area is a bit long, 8 /14".  It was slightly bending in the handle.  I could feel it bending slightly in my hand.  It was starting to stack.  I knew I need to do alot of sanding to remove tool marks.  From suggestions on another post with pics of the bow, I sanded about 1/8" off the handle and lengthened the step down from handle to the fade area.  So, not the "handle proper" is about 4 1/2".  I'm putting it back on the tiller tree tomorrow to see where I stand.

I wasn't to concerned about the set, but was just thinking since I"m putting rawhide on the back it might help correct the set, also.  It might do it naturally as the glue and rawhide dry.  I don't know?

Here's a pic of the bow.

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[DustinDees]

for me hickory seems to like to set even if you dont give it a reason to. you might heat it back, back it and toast the belly, might add a bit of weight if you do. i love the way my first hickory shot and it kept a good 2.5" of set. i dont know what you personally should do, i would back it and live with the set, i know hickory is good for it even not being very good at compression. Take the advice for what it is, im new to building comparatively, have 11 months under my belt.

Dustin D

[Hickoryswitch]

How wide are your limbs? Can you show a pic  of the front profile of the bow? My first couple took a fair amount of set. My first one has 3'' but still shoots fine. You could heat treat the belly and put in the reflex then back it. Either way an 1'' of set for a 60 pounder aint bad not at all.

Wayne

[hedgeapple]

Hey Wayne, I hadn't seen you on here in awhile.  This bow is from the hickory stave you gave me.  Thanks I've enjoyed working on it.  The bow is 66 t2t, 1" wide handle that's 1 1/8 thick. 1 5/8 at fades tapering to 5/8 at tips.

I laid out a d-bow yesterday from a side split from the same stave.  And I'm going to use the belly split as backing for a sassafras bow.  I think I'm getting the most out of that piece of hickory.  Thanks again.

I'll post pics later today.
Dave

[Hillbilly]

I shot it 6 time a couple days ago and I like it ALOT.

Then why mess with it and take the chance of messing it up? People get way too worked up over set. An inch of set in a 60# hickory bow is better than normal, and if anything, it'll make it shoot better (read accuracy and stability.) Also, if it's from a good stave, I'd definitely leave the rawhide off. It shouldn't need it unless there are back violations, and the rawhide will  soak up moisture and likely make your bow spongy and mushy in the summertime.

[hedgeapple]

Here's some pics of the bow.  It seems I lost quite a bit of weight in my final sanding.  It's now 52# at 28.  I might gain some weight back when a heat the belly and ad the rawhide backing.  My goal was build a bow between 50 and 60# with 55# being the optimal weight.  I got pretty close, so I'm pleased.The pin knots doen't go all the way through the limb, but I left extra wood around them for safe measure.

This is my first bow from a stave and only the second bow I've made.  The first was an oak board bow that snapped after about 300 shots.  Hopefully, this one holds together longer than that.

I've only shot 6 arrow through it so far.  It shoots great.  Seems nearly as fast as my compound.  I'm just learning to shoot a trad bow, but all six arrows were within a 6" diameter at 15 yrds.  The last one (I concentrated more on the shot than on the bow) hit bullseye.



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[Hillbilly]

Sounds like it's gonna be a good shooter. Like I said, you more than likely don't need that rawhide. On your next one, if you'll get the whole limb working, that'll go a long ways toward minimizing set. You've basically got short working limbs sitting on the end of a 2 foot long stiff handle. That makes a sweet shooter sometimes, but you are going to get more set with only a portion of the limbs doing the work.

[hedgeapple]

Hillbilly, thanks for the advice.  I'm going to rethink the rawhide backing.  When I was scraping off the inner bark so I could better see the vertical grain of the wood I got into a zone watching those little curls rise up under my scraper.  About 2/3 of the way through I realized from the discriptions on here of the sound and feel of the wood under the scraper that I was actually chasing a ring on this bow.  I didn't set out to chase a ring.  It just happened while I was zenning out with the wood.  haha.   It was my first ring chase.  So, I'm pretty confident in the back of the bow.  It's one growth ring with no violations.

My next bow is going to be a 55" D-bow.  I'll have to have the middle part of the bow bending with this one.  haha

[adb]

Whoa! That's a really short bow, with a long handle! 

[Hickoryswitch]

Yeah it's been a while been busy with lives not so fun stuff. Glad to hear that hickory is workin out for you. I've built several bows from that tree. It is shagbark hickory and was a blow down I helped cut up.

[hedgeapple]

adb     Well, it does bend slight in the handle.  So, my next bow will be a 55" d-bow, basically the same bow without the handle haha.