looks like its goin around.lol

[walkabout]

seems to be that i was just reading a few others like this. well have a look for yourself. my work in progress selfbow blew tonight. almost done, aside from lightening the tips and finish. too bad it was showing some promise, no signs of stress at all before it went. anyway on to the snaky stave i guess....

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[aero86]

wow  lots of breaks lately!  makes me feel better!  lol  sorry man!

[half eye]

Aint nobody I know that aint broke some, hell I still make my share of kindling.   Did ya have a grain whorle, or pin knot at that spot or just seem like the bow fairy came callin? Sounds like you have the next one allready perculating in the brain pan. Good for you.......
rich

[Pat B]

Is that break across the back?  The only times I've seen hickory break across the back is when fungi had gotten into it. Hickory is quite strong in tension and it rarely breaks like that. Had the back ring been violated?

[walkabout]

actually on the oposite side from this picture there are a few holes in the growth rings(not sure if that is an early stage of a pin knot) that the grain swirls around, but that side doesnt apear to be where the wood seperated as it actually held better than the side the pic is showing. as you can see in the pic the crack split rather wierd in relation to the grain so its anyones guess. i do have the next one planned out, staves sitting right here in roughed out shape after drying for awhile.not sure if it would be of any consequence or not, but my shop is in the basement, where its definitly more humid than where i store my bows and staves. first time i brought this one back up after working on it , left it sit for about 3 days in the a/c it felt like it picked up about 5 # of draw weight.

[walkabout]

it did break across the back, didnt find any fungi on it at all unless its something i cant see. back is pristine growth ring, right under the bark. actually i half expected it to break anywhere but that spot, as there are a few significant knots in it but none near that spot really.

[Pat B]

Some fungi will get into the wood and do their damage before you can see the evidence. It doesn't take long on the ground or in a damp environment for whitewoods to be infected. After all, that is the job of the fungi.
  Hickory just doesn't break across the grain like that unless there is an internal problem.

[walkabout]

could be, there are some spots in the heartwood that were very dark, almost black. it was fun working on though, and i know i did my best tillering it so no big deal, the next one up has no heartwood and was very much healthy when i harvested it. will be my toughest stave to work yet because of character, but it will be fun nonetheless. im salvaging a few bits from the broken one though, might be able to use them on some of my other woodworking projects.

[ken75]

sorry bout your bow ...maybe the moon phase is wrong right now causing all the breaks. anyone every study buildin under the right signs.... outta be in the almanac

[profsaffel]

I unfortunately have a corner of shame of would-have-been bows that looks much like this one. I sympathize.

[artcher1]

A real shame about your bow Walkabout. What type string material were you using at the time? That break looks just like the two hickory bows (time tested) that broke on me when I started retesting with the FF material again. ART

[walkabout]

i build B50 flemish twist strings for all my bows, have never used FF. i think maybe the tree had something wrong with it, because of the presence of the very dark spots in the heart wood. not sure if its fungi like pat said or something else. i know after i harvested it i kept the stave in the a/c part of my house to dry, and never left it on a concrete floor or anything similar.

[artcher1]

That black around knots in hickory is some type of rot or decay and needs to be avoided like the plague . I keep my wood inside the house under the AC also.  But you really should have a humidifier to counter over-drying from the AC. I know when my humidifier was down for repairs the R/H dropped down into the low 20's. Could be your wood was just too dry..............even for hickory! ART

[Del the cat]

Blimey, there is a lot of it about, I'm going to dissinfect the keyboard and monitor in case it's catching.
Del

[straightarrow]

I hope I'm not the next victum.... I started this obsession eight months and broke my first three. I am now six in a row and probably feeling to cocky for my own good. Sorry about the break Walkabout.....Its like having a knife stuck in your heart when happens. When my breaks occured I didn't get mad or upset I just simply....bow my head in greif.....put my tools away.....shut the lights off in the shop....and seen what was on tv. I am usually good for one day of that and I am back in the shop.........chugging away. I guess thats one good thing about all crap on TV....it keeps me making bows..

Jon