Could it be pecan?

[Don Armstrong]

I bought a hickory board from a retailer named Wurth in Roanoke Virginia the other day. It was a lot whiter than the hickory I've been getting from an independent guy that sells flooring. His rick of hickory has a rick of another kind of wood on top of it so I will have to wait till he moves it to pick some more. I have started 3 bows from the board I got from Wurth and they seem to be lighter in fiscal weight and have come out light on draw weight compared to the other hickory I've been getting. The dust seems to bother me more to. Could this be a Pecan or a different hickory.  Don

[Dano]

Pretty hard to tell in board form, hickory does weigh a tad more. You might have been getting heartwood, that's a lot darker and heavier. Pecan still makes a good bow, maybe with a wider limb design.

[Pat B]

Pecan and hickory are cousins. Both Carya genus. I believe pecan is one of the weaker hickories but still stronger than many whitewoods. The hickory I have used is very white.

[Aeronut]

It depends on the varitiy of Hickory.  Pignut Hickory is Darker and Shagbark is almost as white as Ash.

Dennis

[Don Armstrong]

I think what I have is going to make some good bows but I have to change my limb taper a little. The wood I got from the independant guy did have some heartwood in some of the pieces but the white wood wasn't pure white but kind of off white if that makes any since. I was just wondering what kind of hickory I am dealing with. Thanks, Don

[CarvedTones]

The pignut I am using is quite white and I am getting it directly from the sawyer; no confusion about what it is. The bark slabs were still in the firewood pile. If they hadn't been buried under tons (literally) of other wood he would have given them to me. He is setting aside the bark slabs from some other large hickory logs he has on the ground now. They are the first cuts to square the logs; worthless for lumber, but there are plenty of staves in them. Anyway, the boards I got are outermost flat sawn, as close to stave wood as I could get in a board. I don't know if the heartwood is any darker. I didn't pick through the pile; he did, using my criteria. I was lucky enough to find a local sawyer interested in bows and he was trying to give me the best wood for it. He even gave me a 64" long 2"x6" slab of persimmon that had bark on the corners to try. When I go back for hickory bark slabs, I hope to have a persimmon bow for him.

BTW, for point of reference for you semi-locals in NC and VA, his price on hickory is $1.25/BF even in piddlin' quantities (like one 8' 1"x6" for $5; I bought 4, but he would have sold me just 1). He is just north of Raleigh.