Tempering a hickory ramrod...

[catman]

I can tie my ram rods in a knot after using lizard spit.. :surrender:

 

[flashpoint]

I read years ago in the Dixie catalog that a hickory ramrod can be tempered by soaking it in coal oil for a few months. The problem is that coal oil may have been common in the 1800's but it isn't now. Some people say coal oil is the same as kerosene but taint so. Does anyone know of a chemical or product that will work to temper hickory ramrods? Ballistol is made from coal but I have never read of it being used for ramrods . Any ideas? :idunno:

Soak it in Linseed oil

 

[Artificer]

Well, I gotta add a thought from someone who makes a few long bows, and who knows a little about hickory. As to keeping hickory from drying out, any bowmaker who knows his wood will tell you that hickory absorbs ambient moisture and is very, very difficult to dry to the moisture content required to make a bow, without a dry box. In addition, Hickory is difficult to seal, long term, to prevent it's absorbing ambient moisture.

It's hickory's affinity for absorbing moisture is what makes it take a set, even in well designed and well tillered bows.

The bottom line, is, hickory doesn't need to be treated to remain flexible. Use good straight grained hick and you won't have to worry about breaking ramrods. There are dealers who sell good hickory rammer blanks, or one can split their own hickory rammer with a little effort.

Hickory rammers do need to be made a little smaller in diameter than other woods, as it can, and will expand and bind in the pipes in wet weather.

J.D.

Very interesting. Thank you.

From your experience, what do you use to seal hickory bows?

Gus

 

[LawrenceA]

Is there a botanist aboard that can explain the interaction among the several natural components in wood (lignin, pectin, cellulose, etc.) and the ability of its properties to be changed by the introduction of any oil soak? I am thinking that water might not leave the wood so fast, thereby preventing it from drying, but actually adding to its flexibility?

Or perhaps breaking down the cell walls making the fibre more flexible

 

[LawrenceA]

I can tie my ram rods in a knot after using lizard spit.. :surrender:

Gotta piccy?

 

[Rudyard]

I've used Tawa a NZ native & lots of ramin & hickory but the rod I made for my maple stock W lock came as off cut of the same maple. Still good near 50 years later never used whale bone but they did as lots of small pipes attest .
Rudyard

 

[Notchy Bob]

From your experience, what do you use to seal hickory bows?

Gus

I can't speak for j.d., but I do recall Al Herrin, the Cherokee bowyer, writing about older Cherokee bow makers in Oklahoma rubbing their bows down with a rag soaked in turpentine. They would apparently do this frequently when the bow was in use, and the wood eventually turned almost black. These would have probably been made of bois d'arc, and I believe some sort of locust was a second choice. Hickory was a little farther down the line for preferred bow woods. I would think the rubbing might aid penetration of the turpentine. They must have had some practical reason for doing this.

I'll try to find the actual quote if you're interested.

Notchy Bob