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Author Topic: Got some hickory!  (Read 1660 times)

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Offline Brent.Mac.

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Got some hickory!
« on: January 14, 2012, 12:19:01 am »
Hey guys I haven't posted in a while, but I've just finished my first board bow (red oak) and a crossbow(elm or HHB?)!  I hope to have some pics soon.

So ya I got a hickory board today and I can get 4 bows out of it.  So I'm wondering what kind of bow 'designs' I should try, I'd like to try and make a different design with each board so if you could post names and or pictures that would be awesome!

Also has anyone tried working with butternut? I saw it at the store and thought if it would work.

Thanks,
Brent

 
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Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2012, 01:41:32 am »
It's alot of fun (for me) to butt joint siyahs onto board bows. (with the proper sinew/fiber/thread binding on course.)
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline soy

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2012, 07:00:31 am »
I have tryd butternut as a carving wood it is very nice looking...have not tryd as a bow :-\
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Is this bow making a sickness? or the cure...

Offline Dazv

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2012, 09:39:58 am »
I haven't worked hickory myself but i know it is great in tension but not so good in compression, so if i was making a bow from hickory i would be making it wide and long. I also would keep the limbs as wide for as long as i could, so maybe start the taper to your tips at around 8 inches from the tips.
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Offline JonW

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2012, 02:48:03 pm »
here is one I made. Not a board, but the design can be done with a board

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,25867.msg347523.html#msg347523
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2012, 03:20:34 pm »
Brent, butternut(aka white walnut) is a cousin to black walnut but weaker as far as bow wood. It would good for risers and accents though.
  For a 68" hickory bow 1 1/2" is as narrow as I would go. The shorter you go the wider it should be. Why not start with a 68" ALB, 1 1/2" at the fades and out 8" then a straight taper to 1/2" tips(norrow to 3/8" later). 
   Your next could be a 64" to 66" flat bow, 1 5/8" wide at the fades and out 4" then a straight taper to the tips(same tips as above).
  Hickory makes a marginal ELB but for experimentation a 68" to 72" ELB style bow. For this do not make the belly deep and round but more rectangular(or slightly trapizoidal) cross section with a flat belly. Maybe 1 1/4" at the handle with a straight taper to 1/2" tips.
 For your final bow make a 60" to 64" Eastern Woodland style bend through the handle bow. Very simple design and easy to build but if done right it will stand up to the big boys. Make this one
1 1/4" wide at the handle with a slight taper to 3/4" tips.
  All of these will benefit from tempering the belly and you can add reflex while you are tempering.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Brent.Mac.

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Re: Got some hickory!
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2012, 10:00:41 pm »
Thanks everyone for the replies.  Pat thanks for all the dimensions.  and Jon that looks unique which is what I was looking for.

What is tempering? 

For the ELB would the back be flat? or make it trapizoid-y?

Thanks for everyone's replies!
If there are any designs different from the 'norm' please share=D

Thanks
-Brent





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