I have a Jeremiah Rutherford hickory bow. 57lbs@28in. Its 70inches long. The bow has never been used. Jeremiah built it for a young man to compete in longest flight contests. However, no knows what the brace height should be. If anyone out there has info I sure would appreciate it.

Also, is there any special care that needs to be given to it? I've been shooting longbows for 20 years but never an all natural wood bow. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

I just checked my 70" hickory longbow and it is at 6". I would say 6-7" should be good. I only draw mine 26". I give mine a coat of poly from time to time.

Nomad: Thanks for taking the time to reply. Playing around with the brace height, 6" seems to be the sweet spot. Although I expected more kinetic energy from a bow designed to compete for fartherest arrow flight. I heard tung oil lightly applied is good for hickory. Thanks again for your answer.

I would think an oil would be good. I make my own hickory bows and when I am all done I put a walnut stain on them(so the deer don't see the white wood!) and then spray a couple coats of poly on them. After 20 plus years they are still going strong. Oil is another way to go and if that is what it looks like it has now I would stay with it. Good luck with the bow!

Nomad: I don't think it has anything right now. It appears to be bare. I will investigate the poly approach. The bow shoots really well. At 25 yards I can put two arrows within 1/4 inch of each other. Very smooth. I am going to try 5 7/8" brace and see what happens. When you are hunting in the rain, how do you protect it? The poly? Thanks again.

A bare wood hickory bow should be adequately dried to a moisture content of 7-9% before it is strung or shot much, and before a finish is applied. Yes, poly will help seal the bow from the elements.

Yes, the poly repels the water and keeps it from soaking into the wood. I guess rubbing tung oil or linseed oil into it may repel the water also, but I have no experience with that maybe someone else will chime in. One of the things that caught my eye in your post was the Rutherford longbow. I bought one from a guy in my area(NJ) maybe 6 years ago along with another bow for very cheap. I sold the Rutherford bow a couple of weeks after I bought it because I really didn't need another hickory bow. Some guy from Sweden bought it from me off Craigslist. I thought it was a scam but I got the money in my PayPal! lol

Jeff: Thanks for the reply.

Jeff always let my staves sit in the shed for a few years to dry out. Couldn't give you a percentage though.

The moisture content that a piece of wood will settle in at depends on the ambient relative humidity... and this varies depending on our area, season, weather, etc. In many areas, leaving it in a shed, garage, basement, etc won't be enough. In other areas, it could be too dry.

In some places, hickory needs to be further dried by artificial means or it will never get dry enough that it won't take set due to moisture alone. Artificial drying can be as simple as putting it in a heated or air conditioned house, setting it near a hot water tank, a box with a low wattage light bulb, etc.

Once a wooden bow is seasoned/dried and well sealed, keeping it in the house should be adequate.

This bow was finished for competition in 2006. So its dried. It has a very light stain on it. I might put poly on it, will have to read up on that.

thanks for the replies.

It's always a safe bet to start with a 'fistmele' for a brace measure. That's how they did it for many a year or hundred. Bottom of fist on grip with thumb extended. No one seems to remember it, or maybe never heard of it. Gotta keep these old terms current since they are very effective tools.

Ha,ha George I was going to say that but I didn't want to misspell fistmele. lol Mine is about 7 inches which I find pretty close for a 70" hickory longbow.

George: thanks for the reply. Mine is 6". Knew the term and technique.'

The brace height should be set at the lowest distance at which good arrow flight is achieved. I really like spar urethane in a spray can for the final finish. Jawge

I use the fistmele distance to start. I think there is a sweet spot for every longbow. Too low and it shoots noisy and shocky. I twist it shorter/increase brace height until the bow quiets down and shoots sweet. You hear a lot about hickory soaking up moisture and taking set. I live in a hot and humid environment, but keep my bows indoors in the air conditioning and have no problem with hickory.

Hey George - what about 'cloth yard shaft'? You never hear that one very often either. Or the term 'loose' to mean release. And what about 'end', meaning to repetitively shoot the same number of arrows from one end of the field to the other end, and then back again and again.

And the list of old archery terms could go on & on,.... Still tho, fun to dig up old terms from the memory bank.

Hey George - what about 'cloth yard shaft'? You never hear that one very often either. Or the term 'loose' to mean release. And what about 'end', meaning to repetitively shoot the same number of arrows from one end of the field to the other end, and then back again and again.

And the list of old archery terms could go on & on,.... Still tho, fun to dig up old terms from the memory bank.

I've tuned 100's of wooden bows. This is how I do it. Jawge http://traditionalarchery101.com/selfbowcare.html

Thanks George.

George T: thanks for your comments. And thank you all for your input.

great advice above,,:)

A hickory bow will absorb and lose moisture from the environment around it if it is not sealed. it really does not matter how old it is. I recently took the bark and sap wood off an Osage stage that I had stored in the garage for at least 6 years and did not seal the back that same day. Well the next day I had drying checks so deep I could not salvage it. Before I shot your hickory bow much, I would make sure the moisture content is down then seal it good. Otherwise you run the risk of it taking permanent set and loss of cast.

I used VHt wheel paint Matte clear on the bow i just completed.Put on 3 coats.we will see how well it holds up.

thanks for the comments.

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