bow oiling

[willmc349]

Hey guys, I purchased a bow during the winter, and I've been waiting for it to warm up to apply some oil. where I live it's extremely humid this time of year, and I was wondering if this will affect the oiling in anyway? Any info on this will be very helpful.

[ineffableone]

Well if your bow was decently sealed and finished then you shouldn't have too much issue.

However since this is a new bow your right to wonder if too much humidity could effect the bow. Both too humid and too dry is bad for a bow.

My best suggestion would be to get a dehumidifier and place the bow in a room with it. You don't want the air too dry,

Here is a post about relative humidity and how it effect's a bows moisture content. http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/ ... rying-Wood

Relative humidity at room temperature is given on the left, equilibrium moisture content on the right: Numbers vary only slightly at higher/lower temps. Its convenient to post this chart on your shop wall. A handy key to remember is that 55%RH yields 10%mc.

30% = 5%
43% = 8%
55% = 10%
65% = 12%
75% = 14%

Between 6%-10% moisture content is where I would say is reasonable to oil seal most bows though different woods the optimal range might be different (hickory and most white woods tend to do better with lower MC down in the 6-8% range). Remember that sealing your bow with oil does not stop moisture from entering or leaving a bow, but just slows it down. This keeps the bow from large quick jumps in moisture which cause cracks and damage.

Hope this helps you some.