Main Discussion Area > Bows

how long inside a hotbox to keep a hickory selfbow snappy????

<< < (2/2)

Pat B:
I have experience with sinew backed hickory and hickory self bows. Both take on moisture when the humidity is high and loose it as it dries in the winter, no matter what finish you use. You want your wood to breath anyway or it will rot(dry or wet). On the sinew backed hickory I used TBIII over the sinew and to attach and over the rawhide backing. Then I used Massey finish(2 coats) and Tru-Oil( 2 coats). This bow fluctuates from about 45#@26" to over 65#@26" depending on the time of year and R/H. The hickory self bows seems to be less susceptible to such a wide swing in M/C and draw weight.
   Store the bow as and where you would any bow. A month or so before hunting season start putting it in your heat tube to reduce the moisture before the season begins. Air movement is as important as heat when moisture reduction is your goal and your tube will do that without a fan. You can keep your heat around 100deg with air movement and you will get moisture removal with no chance of wood damage.
  I like your idea of using a strand of Christmas lights. That would give you a more even heat source.      Welcome to PA!  ;) Pat

shaun748:
Thanks to everyone for the replies..

Thanks for that info also PAT...I only have the single selfbow so I didn't need a full heatbox so I used a 5 inch Diameter plastic pipe and found a string of the larger clear bulbs which I also felt would give a more even heat source.   I attached the string of lights to a small pole, then attached this to the interior roof of the pipe.  As you said it does a good job of keeping an even heat distribution..   There is no worry of overheating because it allows constant airflow and it appears to max out around 110 degrees though I got it down to 20% humidity, which was why I was concerned about over-drying....

I have really learned a lot here and someday I might again attempt to build bows (built a few crappy ones when i was younger), but I gotta say after using one of Crowshead outfitters selfbows I will just let them build them for me from now on..LOL..

 All you talented self-bowyers got my respect, but my clumsy attempts proved to me that I may be able to shoot'em, but I sure can't build'em....
Some people got the touch, but I aint one of them unfortunately..LOL

Pat B:
After 20 years and a couple of hundred bows I finally became confident in my bows after logging on to PA a few years back. If you are having fun and learning and improving as you go, you will get there. Take it from one that knows first hand. ;)     Pat

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page