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Boiling Hickory

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gutpile:
I got a video posted on my instagram.. I think it made it on here under a boiling recurve thread. I have never had mine check like that.. I boil 15 min per 1/4 of thickness and use a metal band on belly too prevent lifting a splinter.. I leave it on form overnight regardless... I saw where many use dry heat to set curve , but I too would be worried the hickory would check from that especially here in the south as hickory is so hygroscopic on soaking up moisture and it takes its time releasing it. When I leave overnight on form the curve hardly moves back enough to worry about as my curve form is fairly radical to start with.. I am building the hickory recurve now that I boiled in the video. It is about to hit the tree. After boiling I have to put the bow in a closet for about 6 months to get it back to where it needs to be in MC.. Hickory is a pain in the butt down south but if treated right and watch the moisture content  it will make a bow as good as osage.. the check you have isn't going to be a problem especially if you put on overlays... wish I could post the video here..gut

Gimlis Ghost:
One of my first jobs was with a factory that produced "Bentwood" furniture. I didn't work in that section but IIRC they bent the wood by steaming the inside surface of the bend which caused the wood fibers to swell in turn causing these fibers to become shorter as they increased in diameter.

Since the bent sections held their shape for decades of being placed under lheavy oads and flexing a bit I think the process might be suited to recurved wooden bow limbs. I expect the species of wood would be the deciding factor.

ShorterJ:
The stave should have been dry but who knows.  It was cut over a year ago and has been roughed out to 1/2 inch for several months as well as smoked over a fire overnight and stored inside.  I boiled mine for an hour. It was 1/2 inch thick and 1.5 inch wide. I used a metal backing but later found I didn’t need it and never popped a splinter.  As for the crack in the ends I noticed them as soon as I took them off the form, and I took them off the form when they were cool to the touch instead of leaving overnight.  The wood still feels very wet hours after bending.

Hamish:
"as well as smoked over a fire overnight ". For steaming wood, air dried is more amenable to taking a bend. Kiln dried or force dried, like smoked over a fire removes too much moisture, reduces chance of success for steaming, without degradation.
Guys take a fresh, green, hickory, roughed out stave, to seasoned over night by hanging it quite a way away from a smoking low heat fire.
For KD, or heat treated woo d dry heat is your best bet, though you probably won't be able to achieve radical recurves.

I'd avoid any excessive drying/heat treating in the future, for bending attempts.

superdav95:
Ya I agree with hamish here.  I’ve learned the hard way that you should get the wood down to below 10% mc before heat treating or fire hardening if that was what you were referring to.  I found too that after heat treatment of various types it’s very difficult to put curves in without splitting the wood.  The wood changes state and the cells become less pliable.    I do all my curves with boiling the tips prior to any heat treatment and don’t have issues.  Get a Mc meter to let you know when you get down to under 10% prior to heat treatment.  Hickory takes heat treat really well and makes great bows imo.  Using seasoned dry wood and letting it dry in the sun after the recurves or flipped tips are put in helps to slowly dry it out safely without checking and splitting.  On more humid days where I’m located I’ll bring the entire form with bow attached inside ac house to get mc down.  Doing it this way will avoid most of your splits when heat treating over fire.  There’s lot a good info on here about heat treatment of white woods.  Best of luck. 

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