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Hickory bow

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Muskyman:
Found this laying around in my shed. I think it’s the first bow I ever started on. Handle is 1 inch wide. It’s a thin on the limbs in width. 1 1/4 to 1 3/8th to about half way down the limb then tapering to the nocks. Probably about 70 - 72 inches tip to tip. The reflex is natural. It’s got a little bit of violations on the back, I think I used a machete to peel the bark off. Didn’t know I could have peeled it when I first cut it at that time. It’s not real bad but I’ll probably back it with rawhide and make a little lighter draw weight bow out of it. A little to much MC right now 11.5 on my meter so I brought it inside to dry for a week or two before I start working on it. It’s at floor tiller now so I’ll probably heat treat it before I start working it down and shaping it up. I’ll probably be asking some more questions as I get into it.
Any suggestions on what you might do with it I’d love to hear them.
Thanks

Pappy:
That's a good looking start.  :)
 Pappy

Pat B:
Yes, a good looking start.  If the violations worry you a soft backing(rawhide, silk, linen) will help.

superdav95:
Good timing mike. That natural reflex looks good.  I just heat treated a hickory long bow with similar dimensions.  I’ll post my set up for heat treatment for your reference.  I normally use off cuts from hickory or ironwood but just didn’t have enough so went with the 2 bags of bbq brickets it worked good in a pinch.  Not quite as long of a cook but still good cook.  I’ll post couple pics.  Let me know any other questions too.  You can see that my bake has gone through a little over half way into the limb thickness.   About 3 hours to get this cook is good.  I would get it close to floor tiller then heat treat it. 

Muskyman:
Thanks Dave, I’m pretty much at floor tiller right now. My heat pit is 8 inches wide and deep lined with firebrick on the bottom. I have 8 inch concrete block on the sides. I built it about 7-8 months ago and haven’t used it yet. Point is I’m not sure how far to put my bow above it. I recall a three second rule so I guess whatever that is or a fuzz higher. There is one limb that’s going to need some straightening to line up with the rest of the bow. Not to much but looking down the limbs I can see it’s not in line with the other one. Can I straighten it on my form while heat treating or should I do it before I cook it, or after?

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