hickory

[nkw880]

i cut a 60" tree truck of hickory cut it into for pieces do i have to have some kind of backing or can i just make it a bow all out of wood need help  thanks

[Asher]

you can make it out of a single peice of wood and have it work fine, but i've found that if you back it with another type of wood, the bow will have more spring and will be less likly to break. or you could go a more modern way and put on fiber glass, to be honest that works the best and you can keep it strung fow weeks at a time.

[Dano]

Nope, once you get the bark off, the first layer under the cambium is the bows back. If you take the bark off now you'll need to seal the back and ends with shellack or some kind of sealer.

[Pat B]

I agree with Dano. Hickory(IMO) is one of the strongest bow wood I've used. If you peel the bark the wood under is stronger than any backing you put on it. Also IMO FG backing is too strong for most self bows and not necessary if you achieve a clean back ring.
 The only problem with hickory is it ability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere(hygroscopic). If you can control that intake of moisture, it is one of the best bow woods(for self bows) there is.

[R H Clark]

I would take the bark off now.Sometimes a kind of grub lives in the bark and will eat up a stave.Seal the ends.I've never had any problem with the back checking but I live in a more humid state than Dano and leave mine inside for a month or two so the initial moisture loss won't be so fast.Then I place them in an old parked van to cook in the summer heat.It wouldn't be a bad idea to soak them with bug killer.

On staves from large diam trees you don't have to back them at all.Just don't cut into the back when you peel the bark.

[Roy Steele]

Listen to PAT and DANO they've got it down.

[Springbuck]

Hickory is used to back other woods.  It is very strong and tough.

 Unless you aren't that tall, make those bows as wide as you can.  60" isn't that long, but perfectly do-able, just think wide side to side and thin front to back..