What to clean hickory with.

[ChrisM]

Ok my first bow ended with some great education so its on to my next.  In the Bowyers bible it says that for a hickory backing that you should wash it with soap before glueing.  What type is not explained.  So what type should be used?  Thanks.

[k-hat]

I would think a mild dish soap would be fine.  Just something to cut any oils or filth that might be on there (probly mostly from your hands.)

Got family in Broaddus, don't hear that name much!  Think i've only been through there once though.  I believe it's my grandmother's side, the Wise's.

[ChrisM]

If your family is Alva Wise then I live very near her.

[k-hat]

Sounds about right! callin Granny today for her birthday, I'll ask her.  

Good luck on your glue up.  My first and only so far was an utter fail!! Glued it with reflex but i didn't have enuff clamps so when it dried i saw that there were gaps in the glue line.  Off to the corner of shame it went, still there   :rolleyes:

[macbow]

If it is a dry slat all I've ever done is sand it and glue it.
If using tight bond I'd leave it smooth. If using a gap filling glue then rougher is ok.

[vanillabear?]

[Pat B]

I wouldn't use water on the hickory. It will raise the grain which may make voids in the glue up. Alcohol or acetone works well. If it is freshly cut backing strip a good brushing to remove the saw dust should surfice. Fresh cut wood is pretty clean and unless you get hand oil on the glue surface this should work fine.
  What glue are you using?

[ChrisM]

TBIII

[Pat B]

Like I said I would wie it down with denatured alcohol or acetone.
  What belly wood?  I've used TBIII on lots of hickoty backed bows and many different belly woods, all with good results.

[LittleBen]

I've never wiped it down. Just a quick hit with some sandpaper and glue up with tb3. Never had a problem. Glued it to everything from cumaru to maple

[Roy from Pa]

Chris, the Bowyers Bibles have a lot of good info, however I do not agree with everything that's written in them. On Osage and Hickory or most all the materials I glue up, I blow off the dust with an air hose, then wipe it down with a rag with denatured alcohol, let it dry a few minutes and glue it up. I've never had a glue failure in 11 years of bow building, I also have never used TBII or III. I used Urac 185 in the past and now will switch to Unibond800. They have great gap filling properties which I don't believe TB has. Not saying TB is bad cause lots of folks use it.

[Buemaker]

There has been done research on this and the least suitable for degreasing wood is wiping with a rag and acetone or alchohol. If you look at a planed wood surface it looks very smooth, but look at it through a microscope lens and it looks like mountains and valleys. If there is a greasy spot on this surface and you wipe it down then all you will do is thin it out on the "mountain tops" and scoop the rest into the "valleys". Still most of what we glue up stays together and I guess it just shows how good modern glues are. Bue--.