does it matter if the hickory rings are super tiny? *with pics*

[Dogbyte]

good grief, if i take the bark off to the first layer, and this being my first bow, i doubt i can keep from violating some of the rings directly under the bark. nevertheless, im gonna either do it or break some trying i guess.

sorry but i like to ask a lot of questions.

there are 4 full sized staves, 69-70 inches, and the smaller ones are for the kids. only took pics of the full stave ends. two for each stave.
 

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

[Dogbyte]

and the stave splits, me and a friend cut this past saturday. Shellac'd them today, gonna debark a few tonite, or all of them maybe... and shellac the backs, although i know some folks say you dont really have to with hickory, i just wanna be super careful since these are all i got for now...

me and the same friend are gonna both make bows out of this batch, hopefully some bows for us big kids, and some for the little kids too.


   

[broketooth]

some good lookin wood right there rv

[okie64]

Start from the end and the bark should peel right off in big strips. Stick a knife or chisel under the bark on the end to get it started. If it doesnt come off in big long strips you're not all the way under the bark. It should peel off like a banana. Doesnt really matter how thin the rings are with hickory, almost all hickory has pretty thin rings.

[mwosborn]

Agree with okie64 - should peel right off if you just cut it.  I found a small pry bar slid under the cambium layer works well in getting it off.

[Dogbyte]

well we did all but one split. its one of the short ones, i thought i'd leave it as is, to use as a control. it will eventually be a kid's bow.

dunno if we did it right, but we got all the crumbly stuff off. shellac'd the backs and sides, two coats.

 
So once we start to rough these bow blanks out, it doesnt matter if we run in and out of a few rings since they are so close? nearly all the rings near the edge are touching, i dont know how i'd be able to tell if i went through one or not...would you guys go deeper to a thicker ring? or just go down a ~1/4 inch and even it out the best you can for the back?

   

[TroutGuide]

With hickory you use the back as is and don't do anything else to it except sand before finishing it.

[okie64]

Like troutguide says, you use it as is. Thats the good thing about whitewoods, you dont have to chase a ring, your back ring is already there when you take the bark off.

[Art B]

One thing that I've noticed about thin hickory rings is that it doesn't heat treat well. And when reflexed using heat the thinner belly ring is prone to cracking. But I think heat bending any wood with thin belly rings could be problematic........Art

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't ever intentionally use a violated ring as the back of a bow.
I don't know what else to say. Those look like primo staves to me.Chasing would be difficult. Careful.
Make them wide say 1.75 in -2.00 in. That way stress is distributed over a thin ring. Jawge

[Dogbyte]

well the bark didnt come off as easily as i would have liked, and i know from the draw knife that there are places all over the backs of these staves that cut through the very first ring below the bark, got some gouges here and there from just not being familiar with a draw knife period....

i will worry about it once i get some blanks roughed out i guess, and see what we got to work with...

[TroutGuide]

You can always back it if you are woried about your ring violations. Next time be more careful.

[Dogbyte]

Originally posted by TroutGuide:
You can always back it if you are woried about your ring violations. Next time be more careful.

careful had nothing to do with it, i was careful as could be, inexperience more likely though. The bark didnt peel so if there was a way to get the bark off without touching the first ring with a sharp edge, then I'll have to just wait and learn i guess.

[briarjumper12]

I use my drawknife to carefully get the outer bark off.  Then I scrape the inner bark off with a cabinet scraper.  I got some hickory last spring that the bark just peeled right off.  You have to harvest it in the spring for that to happen.

[Dogbyte]

Originally posted by briarjumper12:
I use my drawknife to carefully get the outer bark off.  Then I scrape the inner bark off with a cabinet scraper.  I got some hickory last spring that the bark just peeled right off.  You have to harvest it in the spring for that to happen.

ive read where others want to harvest it in late summer. August. Im sure the bark would have peeled off fine if i would have debarked it immediately. but i waited near a week.

[TroutGuide]

Sorry about the careful comment it was more of a joke than criticism.

[Dogbyte]

Originally posted by TroutGuide:
Sorry about the careful comment it was more of a joke than criticism.

haha nah, no offense taken at all... I was being serious though, i was all over the place like sea biscuit with that draw knife, getting through that crumbly layer under the bark. It was the first time ive used a draw knife to debark.  

it would start to peel good, til i get to a knot, and it wouldnt pry up anymore. I had the draw knife really good and sharp, and one little slip and it would dig up a curl of wood down a few rings, they are so close. i felt like a monkey lovin a football, but the next splits i bet will go a lot better, always does after you get the first ones under your belt... already lookin for another tree...