how long inside a hotbox to keep a hickory selfbow snappy????

[shaun748]

I have a hickory selfbow that I want to keep at reasonable MC....

The average humidity here at the ocean has lately been around 70% with temps around 75 degrees and I found this gets wood to about 13% MC once it adjusts itself, which sounds high for hickory..

So I made a little "redneck" hot box from large diameter pipe with a string of christmas lights hung inside.  This set-up will max out at around 108 degrees and it shows about 30% humidity near the middle.. I found this can get wood to about 5% MC, which would be pretty low based on my research here.

I would like to rotate the bow thru the "hotbox" every so often to keep it snappy, but I have no idea how long at a time I should keep it inside without over-drying?

My bow(not made by my clumsy hands) is finished in a nice "spar/poly??" type waterproofing and I understand this slows down the moisture loss/gain compared to unfinished wood, but I'm lost beyond that.

To stay at a reasonable MC how many days a week or how many hours a day does it need to be in the hotbox to hold a reasonable MC level thru the hunting season.

Thanks for any wisdom on this as I have no knowledge of such things..

[jamie]

if my  bows feel sluggish i throw em in the box overnight. then shoot em the next day after they have cooled down and they are fine. peace

[Ryano]

With the humidity around here you would need to keep a hickory bow in the heat box all the time.
The Drier the better!

[tom sawyer]

I'd keep it there whenever you aren't using it.  I think hickory performs better at a slightly lower MC than a lot of woods, I've seen where you want it at 6%.  You gotta figure that it won't ever really get to 5% in your setup.

[shaun748]

Thanks for the replies...  My main fear is over drying it.. 

Anyone ever tested finished bows to see how long it takes in the heat box before the bow adjusts its MC..

I know bow dimensions vary, but I am curious if it takes hours OR days for a typical finished flatbow to adjust to surrounding humidity??

I do not have a pin meter and do not know enough to test by sound, though I am starting to weight the bow to see if there is any changes.

[Pat B]

I have experience with sinew backed hickory and hickory self bows. Both take on moisture when the humidity is high and loose it as it dries in the winter, no matter what finish you use. You want your wood to breath anyway or it will rot(dry or wet). On the sinew backed hickory I used TBIII over the sinew and to attach and over the rawhide backing. Then I used Massey finish(2 coats) and Tru-Oil( 2 coats). This bow fluctuates from about 45#@26" to over 65#@26" depending on the time of year and R/H. The hickory self bows seems to be less susceptible to such a wide swing in M/C and draw weight.
   Store the bow as and where you would any bow. A month or so before hunting season start putting it in your heat tube to reduce the moisture before the season begins. Air movement is as important as heat when moisture reduction is your goal and your tube will do that without a fan. You can keep your heat around 100deg with air movement and you will get moisture removal with no chance of wood damage.
  I like your idea of using a strand of Christmas lights. That would give you a more even heat source.      Welcome to PA!  Pat

[shaun748]

Thanks to everyone for the replies..

Thanks for that info also PAT...I only have the single selfbow so I didn't need a full heatbox so I used a 5 inch Diameter plastic pipe and found a string of the larger clear bulbs which I also felt would give a more even heat source.   I attached the string of lights to a small pole, then attached this to the interior roof of the pipe.  As you said it does a good job of keeping an even heat distribution..   There is no worry of overheating because it allows constant airflow and it appears to max out around 110 degrees though I got it down to 20% humidity, which was why I was concerned about over-drying....

I have really learned a lot here and someday I might again attempt to build bows (built a few crappy ones when i was younger), but I gotta say after using one of Crowshead outfitters selfbows I will just let them build them for me from now on..LOL..

 All you talented self-bowyers got my respect, but my clumsy attempts proved to me that I may be able to shoot'em, but I sure can't build'em....
Some people got the touch, but I aint one of them unfortunately..LOL

[Pat B]

After 20 years and a couple of hundred bows I finally became confident in my bows after logging on to PA a few years back. If you are having fun and learning and improving as you go, you will get there. Take it from one that knows first hand.      Pat