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Author Topic: Dry time  (Read 7554 times)

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Offline Pat B

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2016, 02:40:51 pm »
Justin, I consider all the wood you mentioned as whitewoods so they should dry relatively quickly. Taking your staves down to floor tiller stage and keeping them in your house with A/C will help to eliminate moisture in the wood. A hot car with the windows slightly open for air circulation works too but inside your house will be dryer. You can probably get the M/C down enough in a month or 2 under the right conditions. Start a bow. If you notice it taking set, put it aside and start another. Eventually you will have more ready bow wood than you know but until then just work a little at a time and don't over stress the wood. If set begins you know you are over stressing. If not over done, that set early in the drying process, can be reversible with minimal damage.
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Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2016, 02:54:17 pm »
Ok I'll take them in the house. They're sitting on a top shelf in my garage right now so I'll bring them In. Is 3/4in decent thickness or should I bring is down. To 1/2?
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #17 on: August 13, 2016, 03:34:46 pm »
Start floor tillering at 3/4" and work them down with a rasp and scraper.
 Your garage is the same R/H as outside unless you have a controlled environment in it. There is less R/H inside the house and having your staves in that lower R/H will bring down the M/C of the stave.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2016, 04:06:35 pm »
Awesome.  Thanks pat. Imma go Google r/h and m/h now lol
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2016, 04:08:23 pm »
r/h = relative humidity   m/c=moisture content.
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2016, 04:27:41 pm »
Now it all makes sense thanks again
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Offline scp

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2016, 05:36:03 pm »
Just keep on working on the staves without bending them more than several inches. Do not put nocks on them so that you are not tempted to string them. That way you can work on bows while you are waiting for them to dry. I have dozens of staves in that stage. I enjoy working on them more than actually tillering them into shootable bows. I already have dozens of those. Enjoy each and every stages. Dreaming about the final stage is more enjoyable than actual reality of average bows. Good luck.
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Offline George Tsoukalas

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #22 on: August 13, 2016, 05:37:28 pm »
Dry vs seasoned ...there's no way to actually scientifically decide it.
At this point, after many years of bow making,  most of my wood is seasoned. LOL.
Dry will work just fine. Get it dry and don't worry about it, Justin. :)
Good advice above.
Jawge
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Offline mullet

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #23 on: August 13, 2016, 08:15:04 pm »
Like I said before, I don't live that far from you. Make a run down here and I'm sure I can find a cured piece of wood. I'm looking at a Winged Elm that was cut in 2004, now. Let the other ones sit for awhile. And, I spotted the devastation you are reaking on Central Fl. on Google Earth yesterday. :o :'( ;)
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Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #24 on: August 13, 2016, 11:45:05 pm »
Quote from: mullet on August 13, 2016, 08:15:04 pm
Like I said before, I don't live that far from you. Make a run down here and I'm sure I can find a cured piece of wood. I'm looking at a Winged Elm that was cut in 2004, now. Let the other ones sit for awhile. And, I spotted the devastation you are reaking on Central Fl. on Google Earth yesterday. :o :'( ;)

I'll make a run down that way after you get back from your trip. I just don't have the gas to get down there right now. This hackberry sure is harder than the laurel oak stave I'm messing with now :)
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Offline BowEd

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #25 on: August 14, 2016, 12:13:01 am »
Personally I do keep humidity meters in the house.No moisture meter though.Just a scale too.Here's a graph to go by.
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Limbit

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #26 on: August 14, 2016, 01:12:57 am »
Well, don't worry about trying the camphor! It doesn't make a bow. Makes awesome smelling furniture though. I think the oak will have issues with set at well if it doesn't season thoroughly in the wet climate. I imported some white oak to Taiwan where I live and noticed it took considerable set even though the wood was well seasoned. Could be design failure, but it really seems like moisture to me. Hackberry might be a better choice, or at least heat treat the belly of the oak. You've probably got crape myrtle, guava, mulberry, podacarpus, orange jessamine, cassaurina and plenty of fruit trees lurking all over the place around there. Just learn to ID them. New bowers get stuck on the traditional bow woods without realising that there has been a lot of experimentation with other promising wood. They will never be osage, but you will be plenty satisfied with them. Fun to learn about as well.
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Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #27 on: August 14, 2016, 02:26:48 pm »
Quote from: Limbit on August 14, 2016, 01:12:57 am
Well, don't worry about trying the camphor! It doesn't make a bow. Makes awesome smelling furniture though. I think the oak will have issues with set at well if it doesn't season thoroughly in the wet climate. I imported some white oak to Taiwan where I live and noticed it took considerable set even though the wood was well seasoned. Could be design failure, but it really seems like moisture to me. Hackberry might be a better choice, or at least heat treat the belly of the oak. You've probably got crape myrtle, guava, mulberry, podacarpus, orange jessamine, cassaurina and plenty of fruit trees lurking all over the place around there. Just learn to ID them. New bowers get stuck on the traditional bow woods without realising that there has been a lot of experimentation with other promising wood. They will never be osage, but you will be plenty satisfied with them. Fun to learn about as well.

Well actually have quite a few fruit trees. Mainly black cherry.
Ivery actually heard that pretty much any fruit tree will make a good bow. Does anyone know why that is? Just curious
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Offline SLIMBOB

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #28 on: August 14, 2016, 02:57:08 pm »
Black Cherry is gorgeous wood...and I always felt it would look really good in a self bow.  Tim baker talked a bunch about it in a positive way, and the technical data on it looks really good.  Having said all that, I've never been able to get a bow from it after repeated attempts.  Sap pockets killed one during the early tiller stages, another was a glue up with a hickory baking that blew shrapnel  into my ceiling that may still be there.  My backing strip was less than perfect so there's that.  Another one just popped about midlimb for no reason I could see at all.  One of my staves I had drying checked clean thru from back to belly, you could have lost your car keys in the crack.  I have seen a few on here, so it can be done.  Just be prepared for the temperamental stuff to give you fits.
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Offline Justin.schmidt23

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Re: Dry time
« Reply #29 on: August 14, 2016, 04:32:24 pm »
Quote from: SLIMBOB on August 14, 2016, 02:57:08 pm
Black Cherry is gorgeous wood...and I always felt it would look really good in a self bow.  Tim baker talked a bunch about it in a positive way, and the technical data on it looks really good.  Having said all that, I've never been able to get a bow from it after repeated attempts.  Sap pockets killed one during the early tiller stages, another was a glue up with a hickory baking that blew shrapnel  into my ceiling that may still be there.  My backing strip was less than perfect so there's that.  Another one just popped about midlimb for no reason I could see at all.  One of my staves I had drying checked clean thru from back to belly, you could have lost your car keys in the crack.  I have seen a few on here, so it can be done.  Just be prepared for the temperamental stuff to give you fits.

Well definitely keep that in mind! So far this laurel oak I have is really easy to wok compared to hackberry which is tough as nails!
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