I found a lumber yard in my area that has elm boards recently. The problem is that the air has been very dry here, about 20-25% RH and the board was at 6% MC when I brought it home. I turned my drying box into a moisting (my Mac is telling me that's not a real word :-) box and got it up over 9% after a couple of weeks. I'd like to make a hickory backed flatbow with it; just a nice, safe design. I'm thinking 68" long (my draw is 27"), 1 3/4" wide at the fades, and glue in a couple of inches of reflex at the tips, figuring that I'll wind up losing half of that reflex. Anyway, is it worthwhile to toast the belly on the elm? I'm guessing that will make the wood very dry and it'll be back to the moisting box again. :(
It will make the wood dryer but it will improve the compression strength. Definitely worth the time in the moisting box. (my spell check doesn't like that word)
Thanks Pat, I guess I should call it a rehydrating box, but that sounds way too technical for a few jars of water and some wet rags :) I"ll toast it then. I plan on making the hickory backing 1/8" and hopefully try to trap it a bit.
Sounds good. Looking forward to pics when you're done.