I'm figuring out a quicker and easier way to cure a stave.

[Bushman452]

Anyone who has some experience in bow curing please tell me.

[Little John]

Reduce the stave to near bow demensions and it can dry out quicker. Also keep it in a warm dry part of the house or a hot box. I keep mine behind our wood stove.    Kenneth

[Badger]

Ditto what john said and I also rub the back down with tightbond or latex glue. if you have a tick handle section it might not hurt to rub the handle and fades down with glue either as sometimes they split or check. Steve

[Bushman452]

Thanks but how long will it take with those methods.

[sailordad]

remember 



PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

[JustAim]

l dry mine the same way and usually let them sit there for a month or two.

[Badger]

Bush depends some on the wood, a lot of whitewoods in a warm dry place just a couple weeks is often enough, I am working on an osage longbow right now about 1" thick, I have it all shaped out but wont start bending it till it looses no weight after 2 days setting at least two times in a row, has been two weeks now since I roughed it out and I am still getting small weight losses. Steve

[ozarkcherrybow]

What Little John said, but don't submit freshly cut green wood to alot of heat and low humidity.  I like to let mine dry slower for a week or so before bringing them into a "hot box".  I think it is better to let the higher MC leave the stave slower.  This is expecially true with whitewoods taken during the growing season while the sap is up in the tree, or osage taken anytime. Just my 2 cents....Terry

[El Destructo]

I buy so many....there isnt any problem with them being dry by the Time I get to them!!! My Wife says I have a more Wood in the Garage...than there are Trees in the Texas Panhandle!!

[Shooter_G22]

ok soo if i may ask???   if its ossage and cut fresh like a off a green tree or a sappling or even a tree trunk cut and splite   then what im understanding here is let it sit for about a week and then cut it to close demminsion and place in hot box for a couple of weeks and then it should be ok to start working on it???

i only ask becuase i just ran into serveral ossage tree's here in my woods that i hike in and ws thinking of harvesting some stave from the few trees i have found and actually it might be closer to 6- 7 trees i have located soo i wasnt planning on choping them down more of a tree trimming to my advantage... with out trying to damag the trees too much...  but i was thinking that i would have to wait about a year or soo befor i could attempt to build a bow??

[Kegan]

ok soo if i may ask???   if its ossage and cut fresh like a off a green tree or a sappling or even a tree trunk cut and splite   then what im understanding here is let it sit for about a week and then cut it to close demminsion and place in hot box for a couple of weeks and then it should be ok to start working on it???

i only ask becuase i just ran into serveral ossage tree's here in my woods that i hike in and ws thinking of harvesting some stave from the few trees i have found and actually it might be closer to 6- 7 trees i have located soo i wasnt planning on choping them down more of a tree trimming to my advantage... with out trying to damag the trees too much...  but i was thinking that i would have to wait about a year or soo befor i could attempt to build a bow??

Cut it to dimensions, seal it, let it sit for one to two weeks, then put it in the hot box at a lower temeprature, checking it frequently. Let a whole split sit for a week or two won't do nearly as much towards making it "safer" as doing so with the roughed out bow.

[Shooter_G22]

got it   thanks this helps alot...

i thought id have to wait for ever befor i could have a workable stave  if i harvested here in the next week or soo...   i might try and harvest serveral and maybe put some away also just for keep sake...

but thanks this really gives me a better understanding on it...   now all i got to do is make a hot box...lol...

another one for the project list...lol...

[shamus]

I prefer working the stave to bow a bow blank, clamping it to a 4X6,  and letting it dry it from there. You can floor-tiller it to hasten the process to just a few months. There are faster ways, but I don't like them for me, personally. I've written more about it here: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2008/08/drying-and-seasoning-wood.html