hickory for a bow

[Jake Rhea]

were I live there is a lot of hickory trees ,and I was wanting to make a bow out of it. I have made a bow from osage and was have been itching to make some more. so I was wondering how you would go about making a bow form hickory.Is it different form osage and i herd that it is like a sponge i soaks up a lot of moisture. any info would be much  appreciated thanks!
 jake

[dutchwarbow]

It's great wood, and very, very tension strong. Really tough stuff. It's good to trap the back and temper the belly.

Nick

[ALW]

You'll get a lot of good advice here I'm sure.  You could also do a search on hickory bows and I know you will find a ton of good info.

I haven't built an osage yet myself, but I've made a few hickory bows.  If you cut it yourself, just peel the bark and that's the back of your bow.  Not ring chasing necessary.  Hickory bows are usually made wider than an osage bow, but a lot depends on your draw length and bow weight.  Conservatively I'd say 1 1/2"-1 3/4" wide to mid limb, then taper to 1/2"-3/8" tips.

But like I said, do a search on here and you should find a lot of info.

Aaron

[Jake Rhea]

thanks guys that helped I thank i will start to make one .

[Art B]

Hickory bows are great! Everyone should have one or two in their arsenal.

Hey Nick, help me out here. Wouldn't heat treating the belly build up the compression side eliminating the need for any serious trapping? Maybe just narrow the limbs a bit to take advantage of the extra compression strength since hickory is so strong in tension. What are your thoughts? ART

[dutchwarbow]

Art,

I use tempering for three reasons, the first is increasing the compression strength and performance, the second is assuring it's dry. A week of rehydration will balance the moisture to a nice percentage. The third reason is that tempering will allow you to create a more efficient profile, or at least a more even one(usefull for tillering!).

I think the strengthening of the belly is very usefull and narrowing the belly would undo the positive effect.  trapping the back though would give a nice weight bonus and even more relief on the belly. The tension strong hickory wood will surely take this, and the bow will be way faster.

There are many hickory backed ipé bows around with a square crosscut(what was the right word for this?). Keep in mind Ipé has an s/g of 1.1 and the hickory an s/g of 0.7.

a 1.4" wide HBI (pretty normal) would be comparable with a HBH with an 1.4" wide back and an 2.1" wide (as ipé is 1.5times heavier than hickory) belly. this is a HEAVILY trapped bow. To give you an idea  

What do you think?

[Bob Barnes]

it's good bow wood but it will be a little more sluggish in Arkansas humidity...as a rule...we made and took lots of them to mojam a few years back and they shot GOOD...some of our western friends took them home to California and after they got in a less humid climate they shot GREAT.  Those guys brought them back to mojam to show us the improvement and the MO. humidity reversed the west coast drying/improvement...
Bob

[Jake Rhea]

Bob thank for the info i decide that i wont use it for know .I want to make a bow that will shoot fast. with that said what would be a good wood for a bow and is easy to find and will last for a long time. thanks guy of the info I rely appreciate it.

[George Tsoukalas]

Hickory is very good bow wood. If you do your part it will shoot fast. There are buildalongs on my site. Jawge
 http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/

[Bob Barnes]

Jake, here in Arkansas osage is about the best wood you can use...hop hornbeam is good too, but osage is best.
Bob

[Jake Rhea]

thank bob i rely wont to find some i have not been able to find some.

[Jake Rhea]

thank every body i helped a lot

[Bob Barnes]

I sent you an e-mail with info on a guy here in arkansas that has lots of osage...Mike Yancy at Van Buren also sells it...it grows in most parts of the state too... I have access to quite a bit of good osage but have never went to get it...a farmer friend has lots of big old trees.
Bob

[Art B]

Some good insight there Nick. Cross-section is the word I believe you're looking for. I agree about the narrower belly, never a good idea when using natural materials IMO. I was just thinking that a less trapped cross-section would be more benefical to heat treated bows. Especially with tension strong woods like hickory and others. If for no other reason then to take advantage of the extra compression strength. Still trying to wrap my mind around the benefits of trapping with heat treated bellies. Thanks-ART

[ALW]

Even if you have osage in abundance you should give hickory a try.  You might like it.  It gets really humid here in WV in the summers and I haven't noticed any real differences in my hickory bows from summer to winter.  If you use a drying box while you are tillering to keep the moisture level down, and start with well seasoned wood, you should have no problem if you seal the bow up really well.

Again, I haven't built as many bows at these guys (especially Art B)but I like the hickory just for the fact that I don't have a lot of spare time and you don't have to chase a ring on hickory.  Just me I guess.

Aaron

[Jake Rhea]

I plan on trying it . I have a few logs of it that I cut a few days a go. I am going to let them sit a wile be for i try them . thanks

jake

[ChristopherO]

Hickory needs to be dryer than the other woods for top performance.  Osage, walnut or oak is dried down to 8%-10% moisture content to be dry enough but not too dry to be brittle.  But Hickory needs to be 7% down to 6% not to be too dry.  But if you dry it down it flips an arrow out very well.  SW Ohio is a humid place but once sealed well I've not notice the hickory bows I've made suck up moisture.  It is a good wood for heat treating, too.
I've used pignut but shagbark can work, too.
I just built a custom jamb for a door installation, yesterday, out of left over hickory heart wood I had on hand.  That was the last straw for the Delta planner's belt pully!  (that's going to cost some bucks to replace)  But, it sure made an impressively strong jamb to bolt the security door to.
Working with it makes me want to scrape out another bow from the few clean boards I have left.