Well folks my 50lb Hickory bow that I put eight coats of tru oil on absorbed a lot of moisture 18.5 to be exact.

The poundage has dropped to 30 @ 27.5.

I was totally disgusted with my self then I said at least it was my first and it did work in the beginning, if it doesn't go any lower I can use it when I get in my eighties.

I put it in the oven and will slowly start drying it back out, and maybe I can put something else on it to keep out the moisture.

In the meantime I have two more staves I'm working on.

I need to move to Wyoming or Nevada...Ha!Ha!

Hi RON, Hope that the bow will dry out and get some weight back. Good luck with the other staves. Maybe YOU will find something that can keep moisture out?? BLESSED BE! BTW? What other bows do You have to fling arrows with?

I have not found anything to seal a selfbow enough to completely keep humidity at bay. I live in the Deep South but have no trouble with my hickory bows. I let them live inside the air conditioned house and only take them out to shoot or hunt with, then they go back indoors. How do you store your bow Ron?

Paraffin

I have the same thoughts as Mr Rhodes..I live in the Ohio Valley with high humidity, I keep my finished bow s in the house where there is heat and air and have no problem bringing them outside for a day or two. DBar

I was told by a master gunstock maker that he uses Spar varnish made for outdoor marine use. It is moisture waterproof. Oil will soften wood. I had to bend some wood and I put oil on it and let it soak and then heated it and it bent enough to the point I needed.

Howard, my bows are in the air conditioning, like you, I just bring them out to shoot.

Batman, I believe you can't restore the poundage, I will just have to keep it from getting lower.

Bruce, I will try that after I dry it back out, do you put it on cold or heat it?

I could dip it in 40# motor oil, but it would be a little messy...Ha!Ha!

Hey folks, I wonder if my next two bows will be affected the same, one is an iron wood bow that I am going to heat temper and the one after that will be an Osage.

I sure need a cure for this, maybe a humidifier in the building, I insulated the building and installed an air conditioner, I even did the ceiling hoping to keep the moisture out.

It's 15x30 feet with an eight foot ceiling.

Thanks everyone

My hickory bow is stored in AC, Ron. I think you are right to do that.

I think hop hornbeam is a bit better in a moist environment but I've only made a couple of bows fro that wood.

Osage should do well for you in FL.

Jawge

Dropping 20# is unheard of to me. Wow....that's all I can say. Especially considering you keep it in the AC, which should keep the house in the low to mid 50% range.

Chris I couldn't believe it myself, the bow was holding 48 pounds for along time, we have had constant rain here for over two weeks, I finally saw the sun this morning. The bow has not increased it's backset, but some how lost it's resilience, it has dropped to 30 pounds, I am going to recheck that today. I am going to check the moisture content on some 2x4's in my building to see what they are, the bow was 18.5%

Maybe a larger a/c unit.

I don't know much about wood, but I put this bow in my oven yesterday and this morning I checked it and it was 7.8% moisture, it went from 18.5 to that number near the surface of course.

I put it on my tillering station and it measured exactly 40lbs at 27.5

just removing some of the moisture added ten pounds to the bow.

Call me crazy or wrong, but these measurements are taken precicely. I went out and shot with my arrows spines for 40 and it did well.

I never thought I would gain any weight back from just drying it out a little, I put it back in the oven and will leave it there at 85 degrees and keep checking and shooting it.

Hey guys, nothing happens to me that is normal, if it possibly can happen regardless of how weird it is, it will happen to me.

So STAY TUNED for the next adventure of.......THE UNKNOWN!!!!!

Ron, just because an area is air conditioned doesn't mean it's dry. I often have to run a/c and a dehumidifier in my shop in the summer.

I have some hickory in the shop, but I also have staves in the next bay of the garage, right on the other side of the wall. That bay has no climate control at all. Just for the sake of curiosity, I'll compare them with my meter when I get home. I'll bet the difference is huge. It's been soooooo muggy here.

I was gonna say, if your bow didn't take any additional set, the draw weight should return when it dries out.

You need to find a dry place to keep it. And/or not string it and draw it when its moisture content is high. If you keep drawing it when it's high, it WILL take set, and lose weight that WON'T come back.

I couldn't tell you if HHB is any better. I keep all of my bows in the house where it's dry. Sometimes arguably too dry.

Has anyone used desiccant bags for use in gun safes? Could one not store bows in a pvc tube with screw on cap? Has anyone tried this? I bought one for less than 20.00 at Scheels for another purpose.

I've seen otherwise good, well-sealed, 2 1/2" wide pyramid hickory bows take on set and permanently lose their snap in only one day of shooting on a hot, humid day here in AL.

Whatever it takes, get osage.

Thanks guys a dehumidifier sounds like the way to go.

I got ten pounds back over night may get more after a few days in the drier.

It's like breathing water down here, the air is so humid it's like walking underwater.....Ha!Ha!

Jeff, I may have gotten lucky and get most of my poundage back, I didn't think it was possible.

It's been raining for two weeks down here and that took my attention from continuing on my HHB.

Humidity is bad here also.. I started making my hickory bows 2-4 inches longer than my desired finish length. Once everything settles where it wants to be, I shorten the bow length and the poundage comes up and the tiller stays good..

chris

Hickory in shop, with just dehumidifier running, no a/c, is 8% m.c.

HHB in shop is 9%.

Hickory in the next room, with no climate control, is 16% m.c.

sounds about right.

woodsman you have a good idea, this is a 68" bow from nock to nock, a 66" would be fine also, so maybe all isn't lost after all.

Thanks Jeff

Storage is a problem for a lot of us. I started building a drying box recently and decided I didn't want to leave something plugged in all the time. I started reading up on common desiccants for removing moisture and it does look like a much better solution for long term storage. Calcium Chloride used for melting ice will absorb twice its weight in water and is inexpensive. I am thinking now storing in sealed containers with calcium chloride might be a much better option. PVC tubes are inexpensive and compact.

Thanks Badger, yes you can glue on a fitting that use screw on caps for a real seal if needed.

I'm going to check my bow again in a little while and see what the moisture and poundage might be, now I know why fiberglass is used.

Sorry Rod, I missed your post, you mentioned PVC with threaded cap.

Badger After thinking this over (that is difficult for me) You have the best combination that would guarantee a dry bow.

unless you stored it in the cold or in the sun, condensation.

I am already thinking about a rack of PVC tubes mounted on the wall to store the bows, Darn, my brain is getting me in trouble again.

I pulled my bow from the drier this morning and it was 6.1% holding at 40lbs. doesn't look like it will do any better, obviously damaged from the 18.5% moisture.

I will shorten the bow to AMO 66" and see what I have, that still is a good length for me, and I will store it more carefully.

BuzAl, mentioned no matter what get Osage, so I'm assuming Osage isn't bothered to much by the humidity.?

It certainly does better, but it isn't completely immune either. All of them suck up moisture, just at different rates.

I'm moving that's all there is too it!!!!!!

I took the bow out of the drier this morning and measured 7% I let it cool down then it measured 44lbs at 27.5. I took it out and shot several arrows, the first ten shots felt good after that you could feel a little difference, I shot a bunch more and took it in and it measured a good solid 40lbs.

I may leave it as such and set up a good place to store my bows, I will need to see how my next couple turn out and decide if I want to shorten it a little. The temps today are predicting 100 with the humidity at 80% welcome to Florida....Ha!Ha!

Thanks everyone, the bow will be fine.

Ron send me the all wood bows in the summer ill store them on the mountain You just shoot fiberglass lams till winter time ill send them back down ; )

80% RH is a killer on all of them, hickory isn't alone. Keep em' dry Ron!

i gave the neighbor boy a hickory bow one time ,he kept it in his garage in stead of his house and ruined the bow. it took awful set.

Thanks Scott, but I got some good ideas from the peanut gallery here on how to seal them in between shootings.

Thanks Pearl, I don't want to ruin these pieces of wood, I will come up with a Storage solution. Thanks

Bassman, I put eight coats of tru-oil on this bow and it filled the pores, but still didn't keep the moisture out, I'm thinking about Mobil 10w-50........Ha!Ha!

Ya know im not a self bow guy Ronny But i was reading a book i found last night by Don Carson,Early Adventures of Howard Hill Its alot of hunting storys from his Florida days and Don says they always had issues with there all wood bows and the only wood that could stand hunting in the Glades for weeks on end was Iron wood,because it was native to the swap They still had to oil there bows but it was the only wood type that didnt drop draw weight drastically That and Howard brought big weight bows for that reason and others but i guess his 110# 6' iron wood bow was best suited for the humidity

Thanks Scott, as much as I have followed these guys through Florida in the olden days I never saw that.

Well I'm building an iron wood bow now, we will see, I will have to check out iron wood down here, never heard of it being in Florida, Thanks for a new adventure and learning experience.

Howard liked ironwood,and osage in the early days when he lived in Miami Long before fiber glass

Finish with high gloss spar varnish to completely filling the wood Then finish with a couple of coats of matte spar varnish. This should make the bow moisture proof. God bless, Steve

Thanks Steve and Scott.

I checked my yew bow and it was 14.5% moisture and I shoot it everyday and the weight has not changed, telling me that yew is pretty tough.

I haven't been bow scraping in a few weeks due to projects, weather and working on my truck, I have been waiting two weeks for a fellow to come buy and get all my airplanes, then I will change the shop over to bow building and general wood working....Can wait, I hope he hurries I am not getting any younger.

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