Hickory backing

[Rick James]

Where's the place to get hickory backing strips or boards you can cut them from? Do you guys that use them cut your own or get em from somewhere? Thanks, Rick

[Roy from Pa]

http://www.woodgallery295.net/

[Pat B]

Pine Hollow and 3Rivers, both sponsors carry hickory backing strips.
I cut my own from lumber I hand pick from a specialty lumber company.

[PEARL DRUMS]

If you can rip your own down, I would. Anywhere you buy them will be way too high priced and cost too much to ship for what they are worth. I see places charge $25 for a 3/16 thick strip of "whatever" cut hickory, that's too bad.

[Bowjunkie]

I drove by a patch of timber yesterday that I've been eyeing up for a couple years... full of straight hickory. Kept putting off finding and talking to the owner. Yesterday it was all dirt and they were grinding the last few stumps out. They cut the trees down, kept only the massive oaks and ground everything else up with a monster chipper... all that hickory in a pile of chips 3 stories high. I heard they're putting in a restaurant and a Dicks sporting good store.... so essentially they cut down tons of bow wood to sell compounds and crossbows  :(

[takefive]

That is a shame, Jeff.  I really like hickory as a backing and it makes for a good selfbow, too.
Like it has been said, it's a lot cheaper to buy a board and cut your own strips.  Plus you get to see the wood close up to assess the grain.  I get mine from a hardwood lumberyard, but I've also seen hickory boards at the local Woodcraft store.

[bigfoot1408]

see if you can find a shop where they make flooring and molding , they make a lot of hardwood flooring out of hickory .
take an experienced person with you, pecan is a hickory as pignut,  pecan is not good , some pignut is. look for long straight grain.
if you can find a tool handle company they may let you look through their stock of logs. I did and got an 8 foot 11inch dia. log and made 4 good shooters out of it, even gave two staves to another maker.