Need advice on hickory self bow

[Dennis G]

Have a hickory self bow almost ready for tillering but after scraping the back to get it smooth I still have lots of little lines perpindicular to the grain that are indented into the top layer of hard wood. I was hoping not to have to back this bow so do I need to sand them out? I'll try to load some pics but am having a problem with my photobucket app on my phone. These indentations range from 2-3 per inch to 1 every inch or so.
Thanks, Dennis [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]  [/url] [/IMG]

[John Scifres]

Those almost look like drying checks.  Hard to tell though.  Is that a stave that you pulled the bark off?

[Dennis G]

Yes, I had split it and left the bark on while it dryed in my garage for almost a year. When I started working on it the bark came off very easy, some of it pulled off by hand.

[Black Mockingbird]

Hard to see from those pics...BUT are you sure all the bark is off? It almost looks like the cambium(inner bark) is still attached?????

[Sidmand]

aren't you supposed to (or at least not worry to much about) leave the cambium ON with a hickory bow?  I don't know the answer, but I do have a hickory stave drying in my garage right now that I haven't debarked yet, so would certainly need the answer.

[halfseminole]

Yes, that's the cambium.  I can't tell you to leave it on or not, but I can at least ID hickory cambium.

[Drewster]

Those horizontal lines look like where insects have tunneled under the bark.  It appears that you need to chase the next ring down to get a clean back.

[John Scifres]

The more I look at that, the more I think something just isn't right.  It almost looks weathered, like barnwood.  Can you tell us more about the tree you cut.  Was it live? What conditions did it dry?

[Dennis G]

Yes,it was a live tree 4 to5 in in diameter. 1st I just painted the ends, then a few month's back I split it and stuck it back in the garage to continue drying.

[Dennis G]

I stored the stave over the rafters in my non air conditioned garage through the summer here in Texas, could the heat have over dried it out? I don't think it is insect damage because the lines only run perpendicular to the grain. Whatever they're from I've started sanding them out.

[John Scifres]

You got me.  Something just looks off.  hard to tell not holding it though.

I think I'd hafta go down a ring if it were me.

[Dennis G]

Thanks everyone for your help, unfortunately the bow cracked during tillering. I'd gotten it bending decent, moving 10 " @30# with a long string. so I tried to string it up and it cracked somewhere around the handle. I can't see the crack but it was unmistakable.

[Drewster]

Sorry to hear your broke this one.  Take what you learned and build another one.  Hey, don't waste knowledge :-)