This past Spring I cut a fine hickory sapling and table sawed it into two equal halves. I then roughed out the green wood and set them in my bedroom for a 6 month drying period. This December, I made two hickory longbows that were 72 inches long for these two brothers that I am kin to for their Christmas presents. They were slightly bendy handled, just like I like em, and they drew and shot like a dream. They both came in at 53 pounds each at 28 inches of draw. I toasted the bellies on each and induced a bit of reflex into the Old Hickory bow with some steam. They both shot sweet, but one of the staves really wanted to be a bow. My bowmaster, Hrhodes, said that with my making of these twin bows that I had officially graduated to novice bowyer with all the toasting I did. He said we would have a graduation ceremony when it quits raining!
